my 1968 riviera has a '73 455, rebuilt. Ta sp1 intake, stock 73 heads (redone), ta shorty headers (3 inch) 9.5-1 CR, hei/msd ignition. belive 248/480 cam. engine dyno only showed 412hp/490ft @ 32 degrees. kinda needing motor to have at least 500hp. wondering if TA SE heads will will bump CR up a bit and wanting to know if they will produce the power that i am looking for?.. i dont really know what else to do :/ might seem like a super long shot, but would love to run 12's (trying to figure out how to shave a couple hundred lbs off with ruining the car too) PS. has 8.2 BOP rear end. with 2.93 gears.. 44 teeth on ring and 15 teeth on pinon. if anybody has a 8.2 carrier that has 3.07 or greater i would like to buy it
Aluminum heads will add about 50 hp depending on the port work. Your rear is not a BOP 8.2; it is a Buick 9 3/8. Get one of the torque covertors sold by JW at Tri Shield Performance.
Going 12's in that car is wishful thinking. It can be done but will take more than a set of heads to get there. Including shop work I spent 10K on my engine and did a heavy port job/valve work on my iron heads and only make 420 @ 500lb Tq. Find yourself a 3.42 rear gear, get a better converter matched to your combo. Add fuel, timing and spray and you may get into the mid 13's Keep in mind that we have hood clearance issues so unless you want to cut your hood your limited on what you can do on the top side of the engine. Good luck.
that rear info is confusing...movin these barges from a stop is a huge plus in achieving your desired et. My car has a th400 with 3.00 first gear, and a 9 3/8 3:42 posi...the converter and the trans is what got it in the mid 13's. 12's is certainly achievable with the right recipe, which equates to $...at least to some extent. As they say...fast as you wanna spend. :grin:
Yardley has run 12.92 @ 106MPH, http://www.v8buick.com/member.php?124-Yardley http://www.1badriv.com/21st_century_riviera.htm ---------- Post added at 08:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ---------- Head flow is everything. Ported aluminum heads will outflow the best iron heads, but aluminum dissipates heat much faster than iron, so you need to run a full number higher compression. On a 10:1 engine, the TA heads are worth 60 HP or more. You can mill the TA heads to get the compression up.
yes, was hoping to be able to bump up compression to 10:1 with the TA heads. 13.5 ET would make me happy. have hilborn style scoop, so hood will have a hole in it someday. i was told that gears under 3:07 that you had to replace the whole carrier , was wanting to throw in 3:90. transmisson is getting looked at tthis weekend ,and having a shift kit installed. this project is depressing to me, was my dads car, he passed away. trying to do a good job, but im trying to get skylark profomrance out of a boat
Granted, I'm nowhere near 12's but I'm running a 430 in my 72 Riv and with a 1.9 60' I ran a 13.7@98. With some tuning I'm sure i can get mid to low 13's. I bet with some ported alum heads i could break into the 12's but if you want mid to low 12's get your car running right, some steeper gears and a little nitrous. That being said, why not port your heads and convert them to Stage 1 specs...I bet you'll be surprised with the results...just be willing to spend 40+ hours on them if its your first time porting.
There are ONLY TWO REAR GEAR RATIOS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR CAR! 3.07 (some say 3.08 buy my 69 shop manual shows 3.07) and 3.42. NEITHER are interchangeable. You need the ring, pinion and carrier for whichever gear you want to run. The ring/pinion wil not swap. They have a dedicated carrier. The 1st and 2nd generation Rivieras are unique. They share almost no parts with any other make/model. Especially the rear. You most certainly have the 3.07. Is your hood currently on your car? The 2nd gen Riv hood will not close when a TA SP1 is installed. So if it isn't already on, you will need to cut a hole in it first. If it is on and the SP1 is on and it closes fine, then something is amiss. A good way to know exactly where to cut your hole is to lower the hood with the carb stud sticking up. It will make a nice dimple right where the center of your carb is. I dyno'd 470HP and 530TQ. I run a 3000 stall converter. My car launches great and cruises fine. But to run 12's you need a good converter and 3.42 gears. I also have the steeper gear set in my trans. It all works in harmony. That is the key. You have to match the components. Race weight of my Riv is 4550 lbs. I run ported iron heads. If your iron heads are ported, how well are they done? If you get good compression with aluminum heads and a cam in the 235/245 range (@.050) you will run well, provided you get a gear and converter. Your cam specs are a little odd... do you know what cam you have? 248/480 is a little off.
im planning on getting 3.42 posi carrier w/ ring and pinon. i have 44 teeth on ring and 15 teeth on pinon= 2.93 http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=1462&sb=2 .. cam . removed as much weitght as i can while keeping it clean and original as i can, hoping to get it as close to 4k lbs as allowed. hood is not on the car at the time, not sure if i want to mold in a scoop or cut it for a hilborn scoop. tci streetfighter 2600-3100 stall. th400's kill sooo much power its stupid..475hp engine will end up with about 330 hp at wheels. getting gears, then saving up for some TA SE alum. heads with stg.1 valves..
