pappa_olds

hey guys I have an unmolested 68 delta 88 custom hardtop sedan she has the 68 455 rocket with a 2bbl 40k on the engine now my question is I want to make this a reliable daily driver but I still would like the power and I don't own a bank..lol so what would be the reasonable upgrades I could make to this car to achieve this any and all comments would be welcome..thank you casting number (396021F)

oldstata

What are you looking for ?

My list would be
This would be after all safety items were addressed

1. Rear gears
2. Exhaust
3 intake carb and possibly cam / timing chain
4. Hei if preferred

pappa_olds

thanks for the input any recommendation on carb/intake..? also hei.?

oldstata

I would change over to a 4barrel carb ( not every one agrees ) but that's me
I have edlebrock intake 2151 and 800cfm carb again some people like qjets and Holley better I like the easy set up of Eddie
Hei there are several way to do this some like the point distributor conversion
I put in a cheap eBay one been good to me so far that's in my 65 330 I also have a stock OE ine that I plan to put in my 455

MDchanic

I think that your key question, since this is a daily driver, and since you live in the land of obscene gas prices, is how do you wish to balance economy vs. performance.

You've got a car there that may get 16mpg if driven conservatively, but you could easily get that down to 6 or 8 with a few performance modifications.

You could get more power, without sacrificing mileage (if driven carefully) by changing to a 4bbl carb. and dual exhausts (the 455 can pull more mixture in than the 2bbl can deliver).

You could get more power by increasing the (numerical) rear-end ratio, but at a measurable decrease in mileage with each incremental gearing change.

HEI or other electronic ignition will not affect the performance of that engine, so i'd focus on other areas.

Frankly, I'd focus on good tires, good shocks (bilsteins are great), replacing control arm bushings with polyurethane, and maybe changing the steering box to a quicker ratio (like a '98 and earlier Jeep Grand Cherokee box).
These things will make it handle like a smaller, lighter car, and it will feel faster without using more gas.

- Eric

pappa_olds

thanks for the tips guys..and eric thanks for breaking that down for me..truth is haven't been tinkering with the old cars in some years and I have forgotten more than I ever knew about these things..ive been the last number of years doing custom bike fabrication which doesn't help me with this what so ever, so again I really appreciate you guys taking the time to lend me your advice... thank you.. any and all advice is greatly appreciated.