69 442 protour

Hello everyone. I'm new to olds, but a long time car guy. I have a few questions about what the best upgrades are to my motor, to squeeze a little more power out of it. I just purchased a 69 442 with a stock 1973 455 from a toronado in it. The car has a rebuilt m21 4 speed and the original 12 bolt with 391's. From doing some research, I've found that this motor with J heads has low compression. The engine runs great, no smoke, sounds good, but stock. The car will be driven on the street, but I'd like to get as much power out of it as possible, without changing the heads, funds are limited. Is this a wise choice? Does anyone know a good street combo for this engine? Cam, intake, Carb, ect? Will these efforts be in vein with these heads? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. John

2blu442

Hi John
Welcome to the world of Oldsmobiles!!! Everything I've heard is that you need to do major flow work to get power out of J heads. The casting is considered the worst big block head Olds made. It can be done, and I've heard guys that are happy with their ported J heads, but most people will put on a set of older heads. I don't know a lot about the cams that are available, I'm partial to the Performer intake for street use. They make power at lower rpm's which is where these motors make torque. The single plane intakes that I've read about make power in the mid to high rpm for an Olds engine. Stock, I believe both the hp and torque peak somewhere around 3,400-3,600. I've also heard repeatedly that you don't want to run a stock 455 much over 5,000 rpm or it will suck the oil pan dry and you'll lose the bottom end. OK, I'm starting to ramble now, you can look through this site and a couple others to get more ideas of what other guys have tried and been happy with. Read through the tech pages of this site, it's similar material to whats on 442.com Then realoldspower.com is another Olds site you can check out. If you start looking for parts it's really helpful if you put the city and state where you live in your message. Who knows, there may be another Olds nut right across town who has what you need! John

69 442 protour

Thanks for your help. I'll check out these other sites.

ImWired

How do you detirmine which heads are on this motor? As I just bought a 71 Cutlass S with a 455 transplanted into it. I guess if I did a search on the forums I could find out but I am also tapped for time!

Any help with this would be appreciated
ImWired

2blu442

Check just to the left of the #1 or #8 sparkplugs, there will be a large letter cast into the head, maybe inch or more tall. The number one is on the drivers side closest to the radiator, the eight is on the passenger side closest to the firewall. A-1965, B-66, C-67 through 69, D-68,69 W30, E-70, F-70 W30, G-71, H-71 W30, Ga-72, J-73 through 76. A&B came on 400's and 425's but will fit the 455 as well.

ImWired

I will check that tonight.
ImWired

66starfire

Ok well the 1970 455 delta 88 motor swaped into my starfire has an "F" block with "E" heads. Am I right in thinking that the "F" heads are some of the best? SOmething about being the best big valve heads if im not mistaken?

So are the "E" heads laughable? as in should I swap them fairly quick for maybe some edelbrock ones?

-66starfire

2blu442

Hi Starfire
The 1970 motor is respectable as it is. I used a 1970 engine out of an Olds 98 for a 1970 442 and that motor was rated at 365 horsepower and 500 foot pounds torque, smooth idle factory engine. If you've got the money to go aftermarket that has the potential to give you more power, but what are the plans for the car? If it's just for street use, not raceing you could put in a better cam, intake and carb and be close to 400 hp with very good torque. Back to the heads, they made both 2.00" intake valves and 2.07". From the outside there's no way to tell which you have, you have to pull the heads and measure them. If they're the small valve, you can have them cut out to the 2.07 and insert hardened valve seats if you want. So it's up to you, but I'd consider the end use of the car and how you want to spend your money. That could be a very good engine to rebuild, put in some performance parts, maybe do some flow work on the heads and have respectable street car.