I am going to be building a 455 for a 70 skylark. the skylark was originally a 350, but i am going to be getting a 71 455 soon hopefully. i dont have a ton of money to put into the motor and exhaust (~$2000-$3000). it will mainly be a street car that will see some "friendly" competition against friends in Mustangs, and non-friends in ricers. so, i dont need to be able to run outrageous times, but i would like sub 13's, if that is possible for the money available. i know it isnt all about the motor to get good times, but its the place i am starting at, i will be putting new gears, etc.... in after the motor is complete. so, where should i concentrate my money. i am thinking about doing a rebuild for practical purposes, and for the experience that comes with it. please help me with all your vast amounts of knowledge. thanx for all the help guys. also tips and ideas on transmission and converters would be great. nate
I'd drive up the road 4 hours and have Jim Weise look over your motor. Give him a budget, and I'm sure he'll treat you right. - Freed
The baseline condition of your 455 will be the driving factor. If you can keep the original bore dimensions that will help a great deal as there are typically alot of standard bore pistons avail from guys who had to step up to the next size. Crank and heads condition will also be a concern, lotsa old heads out there with cracks in them. Just as a baseline consider this: Block, intake manifold and heads boil and manaflux- $150 Valve job with guides(minus parts)-$400 (this is cheap) Resize Rods-$160 Install cam bearings (minus parts)-$40 Grind Crank-$80 Balance Rotating assy-$175 Bore/hone block-$160 - As you can see you can easily spend over $1000 just in machine labor (there's plenty more I could add like sonic testing and oil passage enlargement and crack repairs)and this is at a medium priced shop. Parts is a whole other world. Paying the machine shop to assemble and dyno is another big expense. Replacing the bolt on accessories adds up quick too (fuel pump, carb, distributor, alternator, starter, headers, power steer pump, plug wires coil, water pump). I think by the time I was done, machine labor, parts, assembly labor, bolt ons (including shorty headers), and dyno time I hit $4200. Mind you this is not a big hp engine, after a last minute cam change and some extra dyno time I made 385hp.
