mikkim129

Will a 73 delta 88 455 fit right into my 66 f-85?
Along with a th400?
I assume the driveline may have to be shortened.

VegasDelta

Use the small block motor mounts. You'll have to relocate the tranny x-member back about 6 inches, shoten the driveshaft & use the turbo 400 yoke. The exhaust may need a little massaging.

PetChemMan

I assume that you have easy access to the '73 motor. Remember, however, that the 1972-74 motors were loaded with exhaust emissions controls, and represented the poorest performing motors coming from Detroit. In 1975, GM went to exhaust catalysts, and the performance of the motors began to recover since some of the engine emissions controls were removed, and the catalyst was left to do more of the emissions reductions. Prior to 1972, the strict emissions controls were not yet in place.

Even so, there's nothing to stop you from improving the performance of your '73 motor through the usual parts swapping and hot rodding methods.
This site has a lot of good information on the subject in the technical sections. Good Luck !

jdorour

PetChemMan has some good points. However, there are some benefits to using the 71 to 76 engines. The heads will have hardened valve seats and larger combustion chambers (low compression ratio) allowing the engine to run on unleaded gasoline with no problems.

The EGR valve and the AIR parts can be removed with no problem. The AIR holes in the heads can be pluged and you can get good intake manifolds without the EGR port. Early B and C heads will bolt on the later F and Fa blocks..

John

mikkim129

I wonder home much it runs to add hardened valve seats to the C heads. I've heard the J heads have a restricted exhaust valve. I got a Edlebrock Torker intake.

jdorour

Installing hardened seats is not costly. If you do it when you do a valve job it should cost less than $200. If you use B or C heads ask your shop to put the valve rotators from the 1970 and up 455 - this will help increase valve life.

The torquer manifold is a good choice.

mikkim129

Valve rotators? never heard of them but I get the point. Where are the located?
Im tearing apart the 73 motor. I plan to check all the clearences on the crank and maybe even check the cylinders. Do I really need to check the compression It I plan to change the heads and rings?

jdorour

You will want to choose your heads before you buy a set of pistons so you can select the piston the will give you the compression ratio you want (you should shoot for 9.0:1 to 9.5:1). The older heads have closed chambers and may need to be milled if they are warpedrequiring a piston with a larger dish.

If you are going to do the engine yourself you need to check each cylinder for round ness and taper. If any one of the bores needs boring you will have to do all eight and you will need to buy new pistons (and rings). If the cylinders are out of round or tapered you will never get the rings to seat.

You will also need to check the block decks for flatness. If the deck is not flat the head gaskets will not seal correctly and will not last.

Valve rotators are part of the valve spring retainer. They rotate the valve each time it is opened to aid valve cooling. Each time the valve opens and rotates it positions it differently on the seat when it closes to help eliminate hot spots.

PetChemMan

If you do need to bore the engine and install new pistons, buy the pistons first and let the machine shop bore and hone the block to fit the pistons. You may also need to have the piston/rod/crankshaft assembly balanced if the new pistons are of different weight than the old ones. As you can see, things get complicated fast, so go ahead and do the compression check on the existing engine to get a rough idea of its condition, since you may not need to tear into the block. Low compression in a cylinder can be due to leaking valves or to leaking compression rings, or even to a blown head gasket. However, the oil control ring can be stuck in the piston groove, and the cylinder can still have good compression, so a compression test is not definitive for all problems. An examination of the spark plugs for wet, black deposits can help tell you if the engine is burning a lot of oil. If the engine has less than about 85,000 miles on it, the block may still be in good shape and you could concentrate your time on heads, manifolds, camshaft, etc.

mikkim129

I tore apart the engine. heads are still on. The spark plugs had some deposits on them but no wet oil. Not too bad looking.
ok I was reading alot on heads and boy it sure seem like they can get pricey on the rebuild. I know the J heads are smog heads but is it going to be worth the time and money to put in A, B or C heads( hardened valve seats). Also is there much of a gain of big valves?

one more question Im look at cams and I've heard a lot of good things about Mondello Esp the 20-22 but I've also heard once about haveing to use adjustable rockers or push rods(they not cheap) since the stock push rods come up a little short with the cam. Is this true? Any suggestions?

Rember Im not takeing it to the strip but I would like to burn some tires. I know there is not price on horses but Im not rich

jdorour

Some advise...
1. You have an engine with an unknown history.
2. Has it been overheated? Did the previous owner(s) allow it to detonate scoring the cylinder walls?
3. Do you know how many miles are on the engine?
4. Has it ever been run low on oil?
You get the idea.

If you buy a set of 0.030 over pistons and the engine needs to be bored 0.060 over?

Your 1st step is to deside what you want to do with the car.
Plan your engine build for the performance goals.

I have to go out for a little while...
I will pick this up later.

John