Hey guys I am looking for a 455 engine or engine block to swap out my 350 in my 72 cutlass. Is it worth it or should I have the 350 rebuilt?

 

455!!!

 

It really depends on your goals. If you want more power I would definitely do a 455, even a mild one will outperform most small blocks. Cost for building a small block and big block is about the same, so in my mind building a 455 is a no brainer.

 

With a 455 you'll have to get a TH400 and a new drive shaft also. Depends on how much power you want.

 

Not necessarily, you can easily build a th-350 to last behind a stout 455.

 

Really? I'd always been told to go with a TH400 behind a 455. I like the lower gears in the TH350.

 

In their stock form th400 is much stronger, but you can build a th350 to put up the abuse. My buddy runs one in his Chevelle, runs low 10's with no problems. I am about to run mine behind my 463.
Here is a posting that I found a while back on 442.com.

"The TH-350 will handle in exccess of 550 lb ft of torque if built right. I have used one behind a brutal 455 for 5 years with NO failure of any part. It would spin the tires for 30 feet going into second and chirp them hard going into third. Keep the fluid changes to 12,000 miles, and put an auxilary cooler on it. As a note it takes 14-18 less horsepower to turn the TH-350 compared to a TH-400. So you are freeing up some horsepower. It also has a slightly lower first gear.

The 350 was the transmission of choice for drag racing up to about the late '70s as it was easy to build up strong. The TH-350 was the tranny of choice for drag racing because it has less internal mass and weighs less initially. But, for the same reasons, it is not as strong. The TH-400 and TH-350 use the same converter.

The weakest point of the TH-350 is the sprag and the output shaft. If you really want to put some power to it you must replace these. Install a good shift kit to keep the slippage and heat out of the tranny."

 

A bone yard th400 with a shift kit is just as strong and infinitely cheaper than a built th350. I've built more than one th400 that went in place of a built th350 and went quicker. So that HP thing is not quite accurate either.

That said....It cost no more to build a 455 than it does a 350. So go big.

 

It would help if you would post where you are located. There might be some 455's available if they didn't have to ship. I have two myself.

 

I have a 70 short block available
myself. I agree with ED, your location
would help your cause. Welcome BTW.

 

Lower gears? The TH350 has a 2.52:1 first gear. The TH400 has a 2.48:1 first gear. The difference is 1.5%. That's less of a difference than what you would get by changing your rear tires from 235/60-15s to 225/60-15s!

Math is your friend.

 

It's about the same difference. That's the edge I'm looking for.

 

I am in Cleveland area looking for 455 olds

 

I'm south of you just east of Canton in Louisville. Are you looking for a running engine or a core to be built?

 

I just purchased a 1970 442 455 with c heads. All redone. Eagle cast steel crank, Eagle forged I beam rods.TRW forged 30 over pistons. Molly nascar rings. Comp cam and lifter set. Edelbrock intake and 750 carb. Dyno at 520hp

 

Do you have the cam specs?
And just an FYI, NASCAR doesn't use a 5/64 ring, which is what that Trw/Speed Pro piston uses. Just want to make sure you're being taken for a ride.

 

A lot doesn't sound right with that. TRW slugs do not have keeper grooves to be used with floating wrist pins. The Eagle rods are not for a pressed pin set up. So one or the other is not what itvus claimed to be unless someone went to great pains to put the keeper grooves in the pistons. Then toss in the misnomer as pointed out about the rings. Just doesn't smell right.

 

I don't have cam specs. I am unfamiliar with engine building. I haven't sent check yet. The engine was 2300 plus 300 shipping, It does sound very cheap for all that.The engine builder is out of texas jt engines. Just frustrated with looking for a engine that doesn't break the bank

 

Yeah, haven't used those in a very long time, wasn't sure if they would accommodate floating pins or not.

Malone, if this is an internet builder from Ebay or similar, ask questions, a lot of questions.

 

Was that the one that was on eBay??

 

Malone, if I were you I'd hold off. If you can wait a few days until I get out of the hospital with this bronchitis/asthma/whatever I'm positive I have several solid cores I could refresh or build you something from. Then you'll know exactly what you have. I'm only a 90 minute drive from you. You'll be getting a gaurenteed build yet to boot. I own M&J Proformance in Louisville, just east of Canton, if that helps you to make your decision.

 

I will Wait... Thank you.I was hoping to find a later model 442 455. The way that engine was built and the price was to good to be true. He wanted 2300 it was prob that much in parts. My name is Vince.

 

yes cutty it was on e bay 2300 dollars 300 shipping from texas. 500 hp. What did u think

 

I've seen it, unless it was a customer that didn't pick up and they are just trying to get rid of it, seems to good to be true. Also like Mark and Smitty notice there some issues with the parts listed. Call the guy and talk to him about the issues and why so cheap. If it was me, I wouldn't get it, I would just be patient and wait, deals usually pop up here on CO.
I am not sure what Smitty or Mark would charge, but getting an engine from either one of them would be my first choice.

 

Great advice. I will stick local engine. The car has an old lacquer finish on it. cracking badly. Needs to be stripped and painted. Body minimal mud. Same owner for 37 yrs. Any local body shops (ohio) U could recommend?

 

I can give you a list of body shops. There are a lot of good ones and even more bad ones. It is truely a case of you don't always get what you pay for in the body shop world. Then again the guy who does my work gives you more than you'd ever expect. Go to car shows and ask around. Then actually visit the shops you hear about. Go back in a couple weeks and visit them again. That'll give you an idea of which ones work on the cars and which ones push the projects off to the side to be used as fill in work when things get slow.

 

Hey mark hope yr feeling better. What would a nicely equipeed decent horsepower cost me. Ball park. I have already about 10,000 invested in car..

 

Im not saying to not go with Smitty in any shape or form but I did pick up a 400 pontiac for 1500 shipped to my door on ebay had a balance sheet 30 over pistons heads all done , small jelling cam. I swapped my edelbrock intake on it and fired it up ran great for two or three years sold it last year Autobon in michigan is were it came from you can find deals on ebay from time to time . The last photo is were the delivery truck left it in the middle of my driveway came in a nice crate and everything.

 

We'll talk when I get out of here. Need to discuss what you want out of it. Could be a basic build would make you happy. Or you might want to go for aluminum heads and lots of ponies on tap. And there is so much else in between.