Hey guys and gals. I am looking for help on my first drag motor build. I will give some info on the car..... Its a 1970 cutlass supream. 350 olds. Th-350. And a 12 bolt rear end. This Saturday I will be picking up a 455. Basically I am looking for a blueprint for my motor. I have a tight budget(I know I know). I want to get to about 500hp and in the 11s in the 1/4 mile. I live in denver its a bit harder to get In the 11s. If anybody has blueprints on basically every aspect like what gear? What torque converter? Fuel system? What to do with the transmission? What heads? What intake? What cam? What should the machine shop do to the block? I want it to run on 91 octane pump gas if possible? Am I missing anything?
Thanks to everyone who helps

 

455 +.030
Ported E heads 2.07/1.71
Mild Crane cam 272 duration .488 lift
Switch Pitch TH400
4.10 gears
Edelbrock Torker
780 Holley

This combo had me into the 12.3 - 12.4 range, 7.90 - 8.0 1/8 mile.
You have to decide what you want to spend to get to the 11's

 

Has anyone ever used a dick miller cam? Are they any good?

 

They're done for him by Comp cams, they're right down the street.

I'd be happy to do one for you, solid, hydraulic, roller or flat tappet. Got a crapload of lobes to choose from.
Imo spend your money on good machine work. Try to find someone that has a BHJ Bor-Tru plate as well as a torque plate. Use good pistons and balance it. Maybe a Torker or Victor depending on your hood, you can port the stock cast iron heads, a good cam, probably something in the 250@.050 range and the rest will be picking the right parts and setup.
Or you could go with less engine mods, beef up the bottom end and just spray it.

Jmo.

 

Hey milehigh , Can I borrow your thread for a minute? Just want to ask triple duece about his Variable Pitch Th400 Set up.
What stall speeds do you get from the converter? Do you have it wired to a Toggle switch? Can you change back to low stall just after launch by the hitting the swtich, or does it not do any good? I have a 67 Th400 with the Variable pitch set up. I'm aching to build it to go behind a 68 455 that I want to build for an 85 Chev Pick Up for a sleeper truck.

Also to help out milehigh and myself, speaking of hi perf 455.. Isn't it pretty important for an oil restriction system? At what rpm or performance point is that we should be using oil restriction? On a stock bottom end with a balanced rotating assembly, what would be the max rpm to keep the motor safe?

 

My high stall was about 3300, low was around half that maybe a little less. The high stall is only activated when 12v is applied to the solenoid so yes I did use a toggle switch at the time but I think a simple on/off button would work much better. Mount it the your shifter or console. I used to turn it off right after I cleared the tree or around the 60ft mark. (I had the switch on the dashboard and it was a bear to try and reach even at those low G forces) It made a huge difference by turning it off at that point. You'd lose a 1/10 easy in the 1/8 mile if you left it on the whole way. My new set up uses the original throttle assembly to activate the Switch Pitch but it is on full time at WOT so I'll either use a switch to cut power to it or go with the Bruce Roe set up which uses a user friendly fully adjustable set up.

 

I was wondering the same thing myself. Sounds interesting. I think I want to go with a solid cam. Let's just plan on building a 500 hp motor. How would you guys do it. Thank you for your ideas

 

455 +.060 with Arias flat top pistons
reconditioned stock 455 rods,with ARP bolts
N-crank,ground/polished .010/.010
balanced ratating assembly
ARP main bolts
melling oil pump,stock oil pan
JM-30 cam
Edelbrock heads,decent portwork,but nothing crazy
Offenhauser Port-O-Sonic intake
11:1 compression
Hooker 1 7/8" headers,3" exhaust
3500 stall converter
3:73 rear gears
71 442,3850lbs
11:70's all day

There is a lot to be improved from that,but it runs great for what it is.

 

That's great. I am even more excited to try it now. My intent was to use it just as you said. Once launched, switch it off. I was afraid, I woudln't notice a difference being I did not know how long it takes for vanes in the converter to switch. Thinking that maybe by the time the race was over, it would be back to normal stall making it not a benefit to shut it off. No matter what though, I intend to do it. I want the cooler running trans around town for normal driving and the mpg, then for racing hit the switch and have the high stall. That's just great it works shutting it off mid track. Makes you wonder why GM didn't stick to it. With technology today, how about a variable pitch TC that can also lock up and hold 600-800hp??? That would be great.

 

Lovely !!! Do you have enough valve overlap you can run pump gas with that set up? How about any oil restriction? I've got 2 455 blocks, 2 N Cranks in good shape. Mine is going in a mid 80's 4100lb Chevy Pick up with 4.10 gears and a 30in tire. Just a quiet sleeper to put the young punks in their ricers to bed with. It'll take some doing, but I know it can be done with a BBO.

 

The switch pitch reacts fairly quickly. It was back to low stall well before half track. But for drag racing it's not the most consistent as far as how fast that time takes. This is the main reason it fell out of favor for drag racing. I'm only talking tenths of a second here but that's a lot in drag racing for the serious racer. I imagine GM dropped it to streamline their transmission line and make basically one TH400 rather than a S/P and a non S/P like Chevrolet used. I'm sure the non S/P was cheaper also which is always a concern with car manufacturers. When you add up the cost of torque converters, front pump, input shaft, solenoids, throttle assembly or activation switch of some kind it adds up price quickly when mass producing cars.
Although I always wondered how GM did so well back then with 3 455's, a 454, a 472/500, 4 350's, etc., etc. To see them switch to corporate engines so late in the game yet still manage to be so successful is amazing.

 

That's a street engine that runs on 93 octane.Running a 50/50 mix with VP 116 at the track is good insurance.

 

I was thinking it probably wasn't an 87 octane pump gas motor. In OK, I can get 91 at the pump but that's the highest. So for me, I'd have to retard the timing for 91, then I could get the VP at the track, advance the timing and might be OK. Or, just go with 10:1 and it would probably run the 91 OK.

 

Great Info, Thanks again. I"m sure I'll be using mine, hopefully sometime this year.

 

I would not mind paying for 110 octane. The car will only be ran at the track. And a little of street.

 

I wouldn't mind having a motor that required 110 octane. But for my build I think I need to stay a bit conservative. I want it very streetable, but I also want it to run fairly decent on the track. This is one reason I chose an Olds BB powerplant. I think the BBO is up the challenge as long as I keep the compression ratio around the 9.75-10.0 range and a cam with a little valve overlap to compensate the static ratio down a bit to have a streetable dynamic ratio. That's the plan anyway. I'd be happy with 12.50 in the 1/4. But this is going into a mid 80's truck that is heavier than a car and not as aerodynamic, so I may not get there at first.

 

I think 12s would be good. My goal is 11s but low 12s would be good

 

A low 12 second street car is fast. I know everyone thinks they have a 12 second car (at least around here) but if they ever ran it at a sanctioned track they'd be sorely surprised. I have a buddy who has a legitimate low 13 second 70 Olds on street tires (ran 13.2 at the track on those tires). He beats those 12 second cars every time, lol.

 

That is why I keep timeslips in my console.
It's amazing how fast some cars go,but yet,they have never been down a track. If they are as fast as they say they are,then they should be a breeze against my Oldsmobile,but yet,they don't want to give it a try.

 

Ya true. I want mine to be a purpose race car though only will see vary little street time

 

hahah, so true. Here too. Then I get them 12 second cars talked into going to the track and they run 13.80-14.20, then all the excuses come out, I'm not used to the tree, or my tires don't grab on this track or blah blah blah, yeah right !!!
I'd really love to have this truck project at low 12's but being realistic, I'll be satisfied at mid 12's. I'd be tickled to get 12.5 in a heavy truck. But, I do have a local track, so before I talk crap, I'll make sure it can walk the walk.

 

HERE IS MY COMBO FOR MY 11.79 1/4 MILE- 1969 CUTLASS. GOOD LUCK

This is what I run in a 69 Cutlass fiberglass fenders and hood and gutted interior but very streetable and street appearing. Weight is estimated to be 3400-3500 with driver. Was dynoed a JES Machine in 2010 and pulled 575hp and 612 ft/lb. This was the average of our three final fully tuned pulls. Best 1/4 has been 11.78 with consistant 11.80-11.95
455 +.060 custom fit rings
Ported Edelbrock Performer RPM Heads- Part #60519V
Lunati Part Number: 31805- Dur 310/320, 540 Lift
Muncie/ M21-M22 4 Speed
4.11 Posi With Descent Slicks of street BF Goodrich 275's
6082 Offenhauser Tunnel-Ram Manifold Base with dual quad top running twin edelbrock 500 cfm's
Full 3" exhaust with smithy's tube mufflers, x-pipe and full length headers.

GOOD LUCK

 

Fyi i am running 10.5 compression more than fine for the street especially with this cam as it bleeds off some of the compression lowering the dynamic ratio. But you can easily have the custom pistons made for 11 or even 11.5. I run 93 octane in my car on the street with octane booster and slightly retarted timing. I do use the 110 at the track.

 

Yeah, that the kind of info I'm looking for. And also, I figured I'd have to go with a pretty good size cam to get the performance I need, and with static 10 - 10.5 would need some valve overlap to get down to about 9.25 dynamic. I am hoping to run 91 pump gas. I'll run some racing fuel to race, but I want it very streetable. Thanks for sharing !!!

 

I should ad that I do have a 4 bolt main block with aftermarket bottom endnothing titanium but about 2 stages above stock including forged pistons.

 

I 69 Cutlass with glass fenders & gutted interior should weigh less than that.Have you weighed it?

 

What kind of RPM are you hitting? I was figuring on about 5500 as a max and was planning on ARP main cap studs and straps, and possibly even a girdle just to be on the safe side and if I ever decided to add a button for giggly juice then my bottom end is ready. Olds building is not cheap, so may as well spend a little more to call it insurance IMO, and leave room to grow.

 

i am a little heavy set at 270 but the lightest I have had her was about 3400.

Including passenger seat for the wife gutted rear sorry bout that.

 

usually my motor is making power till 6400 readily with that cam and combo. when it was dynoed it did not significantly start losing power till around 6650-6700, but i shift at 6400. With the stronger bottom end it has allowed me to make over 50 passes in the last year along with very aggressive street driving.

 

Yea with juice you wanna def spend a little more on the bottom end. hate to build a 4-7 thousand dollar motor and have her throw a rod or even a bearing a rip the inside of that motor apart. 5500 is a safe number prety much what they did in the day but today you could make mpre power then stock did at the same rpms. the miracles of technology.

 

My car weighs 3470lbs with driver and a full tank of 93 octane pump gas and it runs 12.60s all day long in the heat.

http://www.angelfire.com/sports/olds...eetstrip2.html

 

My 72 weighs 3850 with me in it.It's all steel,full bucket/console interior,and a 6-point cage.NO power steering,no power brakes,no AC or heater.
I have now installed an aluminum core support,which is 25lbs,compared to the stock support that weighs 45lbs.My new engine will also have aluminum heads,so after it's all said & done,I hope to cut 100lbs off the front,but then I also plan on installing the halo & font bars,and make an 8-point,or possibly a 10-point cage,so there will be some weight added back on.

My friend's 70 442 drag car is gutted,glass front,lexan windows,no interior,and 2 race buckets,and weighs 3300lbs with him in it.

Greg Alexander's 70 W30 is still one of the more impressive street cars,weighing 3700lbs,and running 10:05,dynoed,driven,& raced on pumpgas.All steel,full interior.BTR 496 with edelbrocks.

 

Ok guys. I picked up my 455 today. Its complete in stock form. I will need to store it for a couple months. Is there any good way to do that?