455 rebuild

[69olds]

hey guys aussie member i am curently doing a frame off restoration on my 69 delta 88 royale have had the frame blasted undercoated and painted in gloss black so wont be long before the 455 goes back in what i am looking for is any tips or hints about rebuilding what should i replace she is a high compression motor running 4brl rochester so wouldnt mind a bit more horsepower but dont want to go over the top look forward to your advice

[Roadstar]

Pay close attention to the heads, they have a tendancy to crack in the valve releve area. Other than that I know they make gobs of torque.

[69olds]

hey thanks for that roadster i know that they are c heads and had no problems with bubbling water in the radiator so pretty confident that there ok but will know more when i take the down to be re-ground

[enjenjo]

A W30 spec cam gives them a pretty good boost. And headers if you can find them.

[Arnold]

hey guys aussie member i am curently doing a frame off restoration on my 69 delta 88 royale have had the frame blasted undercoated and painted in gloss black so wont be long before the 455 goes back in what i am looking for is any tips or hints about rebuilding what should i replace she is a high compression motor running 4brl rochester so wouldnt mind a bit more horsepower but dont want to go over the top look forward to your advice

  I have experience with these as street cars,engines.
  I also had a buddy who had one(69 Delta).He spec'd it out to Police Pursuit unit specs.The Delta's had this as a rare option.B09.They ran a hi-perf Toronado cam(W34).This is VERY close to the lower compression 71 442 cam.There are many Olds cams.Some factory ones too hot for auto's or pwr brakes.True..the W's are great cams..and there were several.I always found they gave up way too much low end...and really liked above 5,000..then the motors came apart that weren't really well built or had bad gas.I lost one once to a bad dist..Another great cam was the marine cam.
  Keep the rev's below 5,000.Enjoy the torque.Above that very much..or close.. with a W cam WILL require very,very good(hi test) gas,close tab on timing,and a very good motor.Make sure the distributor is good.The reason the W's stayed together was because they were basically factory blueprinted.They referred to it as "select fitted".
 If you get more serious about it..5,000 rpm or much more.With a W or stout cam.Below 5,000.Don't waste your money.Above..You need rod work.Stock rods are weak and bad for stretching..this allows oil to get behind the insert when they get out of round.The oil acts as an insulator and the heat can't dissipate up into the rod.The back of the babbit burns black first..through the bearing,grabs the journal,spins.Toast.I've busted enough  or them up,and caught them a whisker before.A very popular and fairly cheap remedy is stock rods,new bolts.They big ends must be crushed quite a bit more out of round than other hi-perf rods during machining (honed)This allows for better/rounder bearing "crush" at high speed.Forget about any Pontiac type of boring on the big end.Honing..and reasonablly coarse too is needed here.This will help compensate for the stretch.Also an oiling slot is ground in the side faces of the rods where they meet to allow oil to escape and cool.This info is fairly common in Olds build ups.Most good Olds builders will have it and do it.
  "Steel" cranks.I don't know if any actually existed.Rumors.B.S.Special codes etc.,IF any steel crank existed most Olds authorities would agree it is in the Toronado series 69-70.Even then they can't agree on whether it was just a hi-nickel unit.All the ones I saw were cast NOT forged steel.dunno..I sure had and built enough of these things.I never saw one.Even with the so callled codes/casting marks.You don't need one for street use.
  Heads.Keep your C's or sell them for a good buck.You don't need them..or F's..for  street work below 5,000.Ditto for F's with cast crossovers.Old E's are a great street head.Any old run of the mill head will do.Clean them up.Multi angle..clean up and blend the ports.Gasket match them.
  The lower compression engines..with lower pistons from 71 on with the 71 442 or W34 Toronado cam produce the most power.The hi-compression engines need very,very good gas.Impossible to get.And require signicant reductions in timing to get them to run well on * gas.The lower compression units..can take some good timing.
  These are torque MONSTERS! and love to work..NOT rev.They like to be "loaded".
  Intakes..the Toronado intakes are best.Even though they have a lower plenum.Their port size and "straighter shot" are impressive.
  Blocks..the post 73's were said to have lower nickel content.I dunno.There were some HD 455 factory blocks available around the mid to late 80's for motorhomes.These found their way into a very few Police Pursuit units here in Toronto..that had TH400's and the dual bolt pattern/"corporate" trannies. I think the cops bought the engines from GM and stuffed them in at the big Police garage.The 307 Olds went in..so did they.
  A quadrajet and they like some sort of fresh air set-up.Most Olds have stinky factory timing curves and need the dist.re-curved.Exception..a low comp block with run of the mill heads done ,the 71-442 cam,q-jet jetted like the 70W and the timing curve of the 70W will produce big time low end real quick! on pump gas.

ENJOY!..I sure did.
Hope this helps you out some.

[donsrods]

Although I play around with Fords, Olds has always been my engine of choice. Got a 30 over 394 in my '39 Dodge truck I'm building, and we have a pretty good 30 over 455 in my Kids '29. forged pistons, G-a heads, Stainless valves, and the icing on the cake, a tripower set up from a '66 442.

The tripower setup was on my other Sons '65 Olds Jetstar 88 converible for years. We had it on a pretty strong 455. When those trips came in, that thing would scare you to death.    

You really don't have to do much to make these things haul.


Don

[sirstude]

They did make a steel crank.  I had one in a Toro motor that I came across.  As usual it had spun the rods and messed up the crank.  I don't remember what year it was, I think 67, but it has been a long time.  Was going to put it in my Olds, but got talked into a BBC.  Acording to "Uncle Joe" Mondello books, it was a 435 hp 455 and a Toronado only motor.

Doug