joes66olds

I'm building a 455 for my 66 442 ,looking to get 450-500 hp out of it .i have a set of E heads,they have 2" intake valves, are they worth putting bigger valves in or do I need to keep looking for a set of c heads or something else.also I liked the sound and preformance out of the w31 camshaft,will it get me there or what would,want to know combo that will get me to that 450-500 number. Thanks guys.

Fun71

E heads are good ones. No need to look for C heads as they are just about the same flow-wise.

The W-31 cam is very dated and there are more modern profiles that will give the same or better performance with better driveability.

74sprint

Are you talking crankshaft Hp or rear wheel Hp? If your talking rear wheel Hp then not even close! Not even with 2.07" intake valve 'E' heads and a W31 like camshaft and not even likely for crankshaft Hp even with bigger valves. There's a reason that 450-500 SHp Olds engines sell for $7,000 to $8,000 USD. I don't mean to be a smart-*** here but, unless your able to port heads and assembly an engine on your own, just putting bigger valves and a stock performance cam in the 455 isn't going to work, you might get 385 SHp. Horsepower is a correlation between torque and rpm, the more torque you can make at a higher rpm the more noticeable Hp you'll make. To make torque you either have to fill the cylinders more or increase compression or you may have to do both. The best advise I can give you is to see the engine builds in this thread https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ld-thread.html. WR1970's first listed build fits in the 450-500 crankshaft range your looking for. He doesn't say what compression he was running but, I bet it's in the 10.5-11:1 range which means at least 92 octane on a cool running engine. Good luck.


Ray

cutlassefi

Correct. Are you looking for 450 or 500hp? Big difference. Check out some of my builds here in the big block section. That should give you a better idea of what you'll need to do.

jensenracing77

Listen to cutlassefi. He knows his stuff. I called him and said I wanted 500 ft lbs of torque with power brakes and A/C and stock intake and exhaust manifolds. I was also cutting the compression down a little from stock. When the engine was ran on the dyno using the parts he recommended it was 510 ft lbs and 427 HP. Couldn't have hit it any closer to my goal.

Kennybill

Not really a numbers match thing but I would start with a set of B heads seeing that your car is a 1966. Toro B heads are the larger valved but you can put large valves and $$ into any iron heads. Jmo

joes66olds

I'm trying to put together a nice running street motor that I can play with when I feel the need to. I'm just wanting some recommendation on cams, heads, carb, cal bore etc I have no problem putting 4-5 grand in the motor . Thanks for any help

cutlassefi

I hate to break this to you but if you're shooting for 500 Dependable HP, then 4-5 grand won't do it. Sorry.

therobski

X2 Cutlassefi. That would more on the line of decent stock rebuild that would be reliable.

joes66olds

I'm not sure where you buy your parts at but if I can't build it past stock for five grand I'll just push it in river.thanks for all your help though

cutlassefi

Parts are only half of the equation.

jimmymtfan19

I will have about 5200 in mine and it should make 500-550 im hoping

cherokeepeople

some people look at the 350 or 454 chevies and think.hey i could rebuild an olds for close to that.problem is there is no such thing as a cheap olds engine rebuild.

jensenracing77

I think also that the chevy guys toss HP figures around to loosely. 450 HP on a BBO is not going to be that hard to do but quality is not cheap. I had $6K in my engine, trans, and carburetor and got 427 HP. Not sure what an intake and headers would add to my engine but I bet it would be getting closer to the 440 mark.

cutlassefi

Hmmm yes but you're running E85. It's actually cheaper to go that route than on pump gas.

joes66olds

Could you please tell me what parts you used to get to that number. Thanks

joes66olds

that's what I'm looking for could you please tell me what you used to get to that number.thanks

80 Rocket

Oldsmobiles made 500lb/ft of torque right from the factory, and with 390hp.

To wake it up slightly from stock all one would need to do is install a better intake, bump compression up a little bit, install better cam, bigger valves in iron heads with a good bowl blend and voila, you have hit your mark.

Parts list:
- Edelbrock Performer intake
- Engle 22/25 hydraulic flat tappet cam (230/236 @ .050, .512/.523lift)
- use small valve Olds heads and install bigger valves. This allows for a better valve seat. Also, the seat must be blended into the bowl area for best results, otherwise bigger valves are a bit useless
- get compression up to the 9.5-10:1 area

If you find a good usable core with shallow dish pistons, this could be done very cheap. Don't expect it to last forever, but if it is something you want to go out and have fun with for a little bit of money, there you go. Should be able to hit the 410hp and 510tq very easily with some attention to detail.

If you want something better, simply use the same parts list but upgrade the bottom end with new parts, not crusty stuff over 45 years old.

jensenracing77

I would have to get out the information but the short answer is, Harlan Sharp shaft mounted roller rockers, Wiseco pistons, Eagle rods. cutlassefi supplied the roller cam, lifters, and timing set. Stock F heads, stock intake and exhaust manifolds, stock Q jet carburetor calibrated for this engine. Compression was cut back to 9.8 to run on pump gas without issues. Stock distributor but added a pertronix pickup and the dyno guy changed the curve and limited the mechanical advance. Ran 427 HP and 510 ft lbs torque on the dyno. I was happy with the torque and surprised with the HP. I thought it would be just a little lower.

For the amount it takes to rebuild stock heads you may consider aluminum heads if you are not worried about original.

brownbomber77

You're gonna be at like $4,000 in parts and machining alone...that's with heavy speed pro pistons and stock replacement everything except ARP rod and main bolts. I would consider aluminum heads, but get 'em checked out if they show up assembled...

joes66olds

thank you for your help

74sprint

X2 on 80 Rocket build, 25 years ago I did pretty much the same build. I had the 'N' crank polished, new HV oil pump, new timing chain set, Engle EP-28/29HYD CAM it's a bit to big, new lifters, stock rods resized and ARP bolts, original stock HC pistons, new rings & bearings, stock 'G' 2" heads, rockers & push rods, headers, used Torker intake, used 800DP, recurve stock HEI. Cost $1000, 426 CHp, 12.7 sec. 1/4 mile 3850lb car. I drag race the car only and shift at 6,500 and it holds up no problem. Wicked on the street with slicks, gotta love Olds.


Ray

madmax442

You don't wanna know what amount of green I got into mine! It doesn't come cheap for Olds Hp!