Wondering how I have a set of '66 valve covers on a set of 1977 heads with roller rockers? I've installed 3/4" valve cover spacers from Indian Adventures under them, allowing me to use the distinctive early "humped" covers.
The engine I chose for this project is a 1974 YY code 455 that, in it's previous life, powered a full sized wagon. I purchased it at Carl's U Pull It, (Wauchula, FL) not too far from my home. After several hours (and calls to DOZENS of yards!), I finally found a PONTIAC 455 (I almost wish I had an Olds......I could have had about 10 of them!!!!) The engine was running when it was removed several years ago by the yard owner, destined to go in a 62 Catalina. In the process of the resto of the big cat, the owner found markings on the car indicating a racing history. After a PHS search, he decided to restore the car to reflect it's racing past, which could not have included a 455, due to the fact that they weren't introduced until 8 model years later, in 1970. He put a correct 421 in it, so the 455 went on a stand in his workshop (which also housed years worth of "good stuff"!!!), covered in the grime that covered it when it was removed from the car. It sat for about 5 years before I came along to wake it up from its slumber! After looking it over, I decided to buy it. Carl said that his yard guy was a little backed up, and would I mind waiting. I had set aside all day for this, so I said no problem. Carl, the owner of the yard, has been a Pontiac nut for at least 30 years, and is a fascinating guy! He invited me to breakfast in greater metropolitan Wauchula ( a sleepy little central FL town). We jumped into his truck and after a GREAT home cookin' (Can you say CHOLESTERAL bomb?) kind of breakfast , that he wouldn't let me pay for, we went back and loaded up my engine. He is a wealth of info about Pontiacs, and is not your typical salvage yard guy! I also got my aluminum brake drums from him.
Fresh from the salvage yard, $250.00 of Detroit's finest cast iron!
Machine work to the short block includes:
Balanced bottom end
Align honed mains for ARP main studs (2 bolt mains)
Bored .030" over
CAT H beam, press fit rods
Crank cut .010"
Camshaft: Comp Cams Extreme Energy 284H ( 240/246 duration @ .050 .507/.510 lift on 110 degree LSA )
Pistons: Ross forged flattops, .030" oversized, from Jim Butler Performance
Rings: Total Seal Classic, file fit moly rings, 4.185"
Bearings: Clevite-77, main, rod and cam bearings
Timing chain: Cloyes True double roller
Oil Pump: Melling MS-54D
Windage Tray: stock 1972, 4/5 tray, notched to clear main studs
Gaskets: Fel Pro
Valley Pan: KRE aluminum, with PCV bung in rear.
Distributor: Stock points with a Dave's Small Body HEI conversion. Dave takes your old points distributor and reworks it with an HEI module and pickup assembly. I can't say enough about Dave's product or workmanship. For less than the cost of an aftermarket distributor, Dave cleans the base, installs new bushings, machines it for the hei conversion, installs the hei parts, installs a new adjustable vacuum advance, installs new mechanical advance weights and springs and recurves it to your specs! I sent him the NASTY distributor that was on my 455 when I got it!
Looks like a stock Delco Remy point's distributor, huh?
Under the cap it's a different story!
The HEI module is discreetly hidden under the base!
Can you believe that this is the same distributor as the one on top picture of this page?
Block ready to CLEAN!
Crank ready for the machine shop
Side view......almost too nice to put the heads on!
Nice Mug! Cam is installed straight up, which is actually 4 degrees advanced, according to my highly accurate Summit degree wheel!
Bottom end. Note 4/5 windage tray from '72 400. Harmonic balancer is new, from Performance Years.
4/5 Windage tray modified for main studs. Oil Pump is Melling MS 54.
Dipstick tube and extension through windage tray. Tray hold extension in place.
Here is shot of my Kauffman Racing Engineering aluminum valley pan. Almost too nice to put on the engine! When I run the engine, I'll see if I start sucking oil in through the PCV system!
The accessories mounted on the engine. Power steering pump/brackets etc are from a '70 GTO. I still need the rear alternator strap.....I swear that I had one when I moved, but it is nowhere to be found!
The heads are 1977, 6X-8's, from a 400 CID engine. The heads were done by Ken Keefer, of Ken's Speed and Machine shop in Brooksville FL, AKA the Pontiac Dude. He performed a basic port clean up with the roof raise for the RA IV gasket.. They have been surfaced on all 3 sides, and milled to 96cc, which should yield about 9.38 to 1. They have Ferrea stainless steel valves (5.1") installed in new bronze guides which give me 1.70" of installed height with my Comp Cams #995-16 springs. Retainers are Comp Cams 740 and keepers are 611's. I have installed a set of Harland Sharp 1.5 ratio roller rockers on the 7/16"ARP studs and poly locks. The pushrod holes are elongated in case I want to run 1.65 rockers, the exhaust seats have been opened to 1.77. The valve guides are cut for teflon and rubber valve stem seals, which are installed. Due to issues with the earlier tripower intake mating with later heads, the exhaust crossover is filled with aluminum, eliminating the requisite exhaust leak present with this combination. It also helps 4 tube headers to "tune", if I ever decide to use them. I am seriously considering a set of Dougs or IA headers, since they actually FIT on a 4 speed car without too much cursing or moving the oil filter! The choke will not work properly, but I'll cross that bridge when I start driving it. On the 1 day per year that I'll actually drive the car in cold temperatures, the lack of choke might be a problem.
I was originally going to use 1972 7K3 heads, but due to many issues with the 7K3s I have, ended up with the 6X's. The only advantage to the 7K3's is that they use the larger 1.77" exhaust valve, the chambers are already 96 cc's and the intake guide bosses are already cut for the umbrella seals. The disadvantages are the lack of end exhaust bolt holes and the fact that mine need to be surfaced on the exhaust side. I don't want to spend any money on these heads due to their exhaust limitations.
There is a problem with mating a pre '72 intake to later heads. The exhaust crossover on the passenger side of the intake is a bit taller than the crossover port in the head. The problem is that the '72 and later heads have a pocket cast into the head right above the port. The later manifolds address this by using a smaller port. If you use the early intake/late head combo, you will have an exhaust leak. You can either fill the air pocket with epoxy putty, molten aluminum or use a stainless steel shim in between the intake and head. I made a stainless steel shim from a putty knife on the 7K3's that I used in early engine runs. As previously stated, the 6X's have the exhaust crossover completely blocked, so this mismatch is not an issue.
These 2 pictures illustrate the problem of mating a pre '72 intake to later heads. Note the size of the crossover port on the intake compared to the head. The power port on the right hand picture is the exhaust crossover. The upper hole is a dead hole that is not connected to anything. It was there ostensibly to prevent coking in the center combustion chambers, but I believe that it was put there to discourage the use of non EGR intakes on later EGR heads. The removal of the end exhaust port on the '72 heads is further evidence that Pontiac was trying to appease the EPA in those years, since it makes header installation very difficult.
Engine mounted on chassis with accessories.....still a few more things to do!
Gotta love those trips!
Almost looks ready for a ride!
Exhaust was to be handled by a set of Ram Air Restorations reproduction '67 Ram Air manifolds with 2.5" collectors. I have changed my mind, and have purchased a set of Doug's coated headers from Pacific Performance Racing. I really resisted the urge to put headers on the car, since they are normally a royal pain in the butt on Pontiacs, especially manual transmission ones! These have gotten GREAT review for fit and performance, so I decided to take a chance. They are 4 tube headers, which will be nicely complemented by the blocked exhaust crossover on the ported 6X heads that I am using.. The primaries are 1 3/4" with a 3" collector, They are very heavy duty with a 3/8" flange. They come with all hardware and a set of nice, 2.5" adapters that will be a perfect fit for my exhaust! They can also be installed with ALL of the bolts, which will further reduce the chance of leaks. I have the pipes and mufflers partially installed. I am using Flowmaster American Thunder, mandrel bent 2.5" pipes with crossover. These pipes are very nicely made, but since they are universal, there is no provision to connect them to the manifolds. I had to have a lead pipe made up by a local muffler shop.
Mandrel bent lead pipe. A local shop charged me $20 for both sides!
The exhaust is 2.5" from the manifolds to the tailpipes. They fit the chassis like the factory pieces. For mufflers, I got Walker Dynomax Super Turbos. They are the 14" long ones. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the 20" ones, as I needed to add a piece of pipe to connect the pre welded "H" pipe section to the mufflers. All of the connections are welded, except the ones where the lead pipe meets the rest, just in case I need to remove the transmission.
2.5" reproduction Ram Air manifolds.
Doug's headers. These are VERY nice units!
Here's how I fixed the problem of no exhaust manifold bolt hole in the 7K3 head. I drilled and tapped the area in the head for a 3/8 X16 exhaust stud, then used JB weld to secure it in the hole. There is only about 1/4" of metal in the tapped hole. The tapped hole encroaches into the head bolt hole, so I ground the stud so it wouldn't hit the head bolt.
Flowmaster pipes and super turbo.
Well, I finally ran the engine! On 10/3/01, I finally got the nerve to light her up! I mounted the engine on the chassis, with the core support and original radiator installed and filled. I also plumbed the heater core inline to help dissipate heat. I made a control box, with an ignition and starter switch, tach and oil pressure gauge. After adjusting the valve lash cold, I primed the oil pump using my 3/8" drill. I just about burned out the drill motor waiting for all of that SAE 30 wt. oil to reach the rockers! Once the oil galleries were primed, I installed the distributor, set at 8 degrees initial (to facilitate fire up) and the vacuum advance disconnected. I primed the carbs with a funnel , and hooked up the fuel. I pushed the starter button, and she lit on the first rotation! I wound it up to about 2000 rpm (to break in the cam), and the oil pressure was 55-60. She heated up rather quickly, to the point where I couldn't even touch the head. I shut it down, and trouble shot the problem. Since I was running it without a thermostat, the radiator couldn't dissipate the heat. I also left the 62 jets in the center carb, which I have found out is likely too lean, I also had the timing set retarded a bit too much. While troubleshooting the overheat problems, I removed the valve cover on the passenger side to discover that one of the roller rockers was not on the pushrod, and the poly lock was loose! I guess I just missed that one when I was torqueing the polylocks! When I pulled on the pushrod, I could not remove it! Arrrrgh! I bent a pushrod!
Pics of bent pushrod on #6. Plastic box is my ersatz mission control panel! BTW, the valve covers are on the wrong side. They are only there to keep dust out in this picture.......
I spent the next day removing the intake and valley pan to remove the bent pushrod, and inspect for other damage. I got the pushrod out, and installed another one. While I had the intake off, I swapped the 69 jets from the front carb to the center, to richen it up a bit and I also installed the 160 degree thermostat. I reset the lash, installed the intake and other parts, and tried again! This time, I could not get it to light! After a few backfires, I realized that when I reinstalled the distributor, I put the plug wires on in the wrong order! I went clockwise, instead of counterclockwise! What an idiot! After fixing this screwup, I hit the starter, and once again she lit right off. I had the heater core in a bucket of cold water, and had the garden hose trickling over the radiator. I finished breaking in the cam at 2000 rpm, and the temp never went above 190 degrees! I set the initial timing at 11 degree btdc at 600 rpm, then I rechecked the valve lash. All in all, it runs pretty well! Oil pressure is 25 psi at 600 rpm idle and goes to 55-60 at 3000 rpm. She pulls 15"-16"hg @ 600 RPM idle! One of the lifters is tapping, and I can't make it stop through adjustment. I'll address that when I change the heads!
Click here to hear it run! Here also!
For extra cooling, I ordered a drop in aluminum radiator from Jerry Wirth at Rodney Red. He's gotten great reviews over on the Classical Pontiac Boards.
Most of my engine components were purchased from Jim Butler Performance, Ames, Performance Years Jegs and Summit Racing. Exhaust manifolds are from Ram Air Restorations. The short block machine work was done by Gulfside Machine in Naples FL. The 6X heads were rebuilt and ported by Ken Keefer.
UPDATE! 4/15/03
While installing my new heads, I discovered just WHY the lifter was tapping! It seems that one of my cam lobes went flat during break in!!!!!! The engine is currently apart for inspection and cleaning, and while it is, I am going to have a set of CAT rods installed and rebalanced and have the block boiled and shot peened to get all of the metal out of it! I am also going to have the machine shop tap the front oil gallery holes. Since I had to replace it anyway, I figured that I'd up the cam specs a bit, and, on Ken Keefer's recommendation, bought a Comp Cams XE 284H. I originally was using stock heads, which I why I chose the Summit 2802. With the ported heads, I figured that I'd go up a notch or two on the cam. I also am installing a Lakewood scattershield (pictures soon!) and a Pioneer SFI approved balancer.
Arrrgh!
Dougs Headers installed.....
