I'm starting the rebuild of my 75 455 with 71 Stage 1 cast heads. I've bored it out .030 over and bought new pistons from TA Performance. There 8 1/2 t 1. I wanted the 10 to 1's but they sent the wrong ones. I want a rowdy cam and want the 69 GS Stage 1 to fly. I'm not a mechanic but know how to work on cars. Any help on a cam selection would be helpful and then intake and carb. Thanks, Ron o No:
What cam.? Hi Ron; Here are my suggestions. Many ideas are available for your engine. This is mine... Send the pistons back and get the 10.5-1 or the ones you wanted. That is if you want it to fly! (I have 9.5-1 and wish it were higher.) Then I would go with the TA413 cam or similiar, with a TA Intake or Edelbrock, as far as a carb... a built Q-jet or 850cfm or larger carb. would work great. (I have a Holley 870 and it could be bigger.) Buicks like large carbs! It also depends on how much porting and other such work your going to be doing to the heads. This will make your car fly when tuned right. I have similiar to what I mentioned above and run low 12's. with 4:10 gears. If I were to have it tuned by a special Buick guy like Jim B. or the like I am sure it could be into the high 11's. Mine is also a very streetable car. I hope this helps some. I am sure others will have great advise to follow. Mike
I would have to agree that one of the meanest sounding cams you can run on the street and still keep your teeth in your mouth is the 413 cam. I run Poston's 113A cam, which is very similar and I love it.
Here's a clip of my TA 288-96H cam: http://itnmedia.com/alan/cam28896h.mp3 I'm running around 9:1 compression, very thoroughly ported iron heads with raised intake ports and a matched SP1, and a Holley 850dp. It's pulling 14" of vacuum which should work with power brakes, although I don't have them anyhow.
Hey Ron.From what I have learned you can`t go too big on lift/duration with a 8.5 "Smogger" comp ratio.A RV or TA212 looks like the most you could use IMHO.I would just send those back and get some forged 10.1`s.They cost a bit more than hypers but with forged pistons and a balanced bottom end the peace of mind is worth it!! The cam Steve uses seems to be a popular choice. Jim Weise and TA have great cam info.Good Luck!!Later,Tony.
I haven't ported the heads, but the machine shop guy said he could cut some off the bottom to raise the compression. I had to sign for the pistons to receive them so I had UPS send them to the machinist and he had already pressed them on to the rods. Unbenoist to me at the time they where the 8 1/2 to 1's. I called TA and they said there was nothing they could do for me. I was -issed because I told the salesman exactly what I wanted and they shipped the wrong pistons. The machinist said he could cut the heads to give me at 9 to 1 compession so thats what I'm looking at.I'll have to have my intake cut as well but he said that would be no problem. I converted my car to have power disc brakes already so I hope vacuum won't be a problem. They brakes and spindles came off a 1970 Pontiac Judge. I'll look into the cam you recommeded. Thanks all, Ron :TU:
I would definitely call T/A back and try and get the pistons you ordered. It was their screw-up, not yours. If you want to run one of those bigger cams, you must have the higher compression and 9 to 1 isn't going to cut it. And no amount of cutting on the heads is going to give you that. Ask them if they ever heard the old saying "The customer is always right". I've heard that they are usually pretty fair in these kind of situations.
