I recently rebuilt a 455 0.030 with a mild Ebelbrock can kit.
Cam and Lifters, Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Advertised Duration 288/298, Lift .472/.496, Oldsmobile, 400, 425, 455
(Mfr. #: 2152)


Auto, A/C, P/S, P/B, Aluminum radiator, Dual puller 12 inch Flex-a-lite fans.


The engine runs were hot. does not help that the temps in Florida are already in the mid 90's,

The timing appears to be set fine. The issue is that after running for a bit the car is hard to start. What I see and so does a repair shop is fuel boiling in the carburetor. Added a Phenolic spacer and heat shield as well as an electric fuel pump. They helped some but not a lot. Also the performance of the vehicle is not what I would expect switching form a 350 to a 455.

So I was thinking of moving to EFI. Anyone out there have any information good or bad related to putting in one of the kits say a 900 cfm Holley kit from Summit? Waste of money? Good investment?

 

Your timing is still probably off. Switching to EFI right now will only cause you more problems.

 

Something is not right. When I switched from my healthy 355 to 463, difference in performance was like night and day, downright scary. I could roll at 40mph in 2nd and light em up easily. Sounds like you have some timing or even clearance issues.
That cam is pretty crappy for a 455.

 

Ditch those POS Flexlite fans, get some kind of OEM factory dual fans with integral shroud out of the junkyard and it will cool off. We use to use mini van fans to cool 454 chebbie on the street. Better yet just put stock fan shroud and correct clutch fan on it for an AC application and it should be fine assuming you have the dual 1" row or bigger modern aluminum performance radiators

 

At 650 the timining is about 10 witout vacuum advance. Pops up to 1100 and the timing about doubles. Pulling it from the ported port on the carb through the thermal switch.

 

Bump initial to 20 and don't use the vacuum advance

 

1) Use straight manifold vacuum, not ported, Do not ditch the vacuum advance - it will only help this problem.

2) Ditch the electric fans period and use a factory clutch fan.

3) How thick is the core on the aluminum radiator?

 

If he bumps initial up and 20 initial gets him to at least 30 total is why I would say ditch it doesn't over time at 50 degrees depending on how much is in the unit. 12-14 initial and manifold used for vacuum advance would work too.

 

Check the flow thru the radiator at all speeds first.
Then adjust the timing at your desired idle speed until it shows the best vacuum, then back it off a couple of degrees as it may be hard starting when hot. Next curve the distributor to achieve a total of approx. 35 at about 3000rpm. All this while having the vacuum advance unhooked.

Try that stuff first and let us know how it works out.

And EFI is controlled by temp as well. Mine pulls timing out as it heats up. Not sure why some think it would make it worse.

P.S. 70 Cutty is right, that cam ain't worth the core it's ground on, sorry.

 

All mechanical and no vacuum is a recipe for part-throttle pinging without heroic octane booster use. For a street car, vac advance makes much more sense. You get max vac advance at closed throttle (so long as you run it from manifold vacuum), so you can get over 20 deg total at idle, which helps both efficiency and cooling. Under low RPM WOT conditions, the vac advance retards as vacuum goes to zero, avoiding the part-throttle death rattle. Once again, automakers don't add parts that aren't needed. Mechanical-only makes sense for a drag car that's always at WOT - there is no vacuum to operate the advance, so why have it? On a street car, you want it. Obviously a mech-only distributor can be made to work on the street, but vac advance is MUCH better.

 

Having total proper mechanical is max HP and you won't have part throttle pinging at 30-35 total with no vacuum advance. Heck this is how we get by with 10:1 street motors sometime as not having the 20 degree vacuum advance throwing it up to 40-55 at part throttle that is where the pinging comes from. Backing down total to get get by at part throttle does not give adequate WOT timing. Now if you get a vacuum advance that is adjustable or not more than 10 you can balance between the two. But 20-25 total mechanical so you can use stock vacuum advance is not the best . It isn't a stock engine and it might be 8:1 not 10:1 IDK but it does have a slightly bigger cam so it needs proper mechanical total to see its potential. Total in at a lower rpm below 3000 makes for high enough timing to replicate the good idle and vacuum of a low initial and manifold operated vacuum advance. I am not against vacuum advance but people need to know both ways to setup a car and see what works best for them. The fans are likely the bigger issue.

 

Thanks for all the data. The problem with forums such as this is that everyone has an opinion.

So the fans are crap you say? The previous 350 with the same setup ran nice and cool. Also I never said it over heated. It just runs hot. Did I mention that the car is in Florida and has A/C?

And the cam is also crap? Not looking for a 1/4 mile racer. Looking for a nice drivable vehicle that will not shake my teeth loose at a stop light or stall out there either.

Not trying to be a male appendage here just looking for some suggestions which you all supplied.

Thanks

 

So the fans are crap you say? The previous 350 with the same setup ran nice and cool. Also I never said it over heated. It just runs hot. Did I mention that the car is in Florida and has A/C?

And you now have a 462 with the same cooling system, WITH A/C AND LIVE in a FLORDIA!
Yes you need to update! As suggested a 4 core and the stock fan, clutch and shroud will do you just fine.

 

Worth a shot. Just ordered a 4 core. The one I have is a 2 core that was professed to be as goot or better than most 4 cores due to the cores being over an inch in width. Maybe I just drank the coolaid when I bought it years ago.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171847476089

 

A good 2 row like a Griffin will out cool a 4 core, big dual 1.25" cores make all the difference. My Champion 3 core didn't cool as well as my no name 2 core. My 350 runs about 10-30 degrees cooler than my 403 did. Almost all cooling complaints are 403 or 455.

 

I guess I will see what happens when I get it and install it. I will try it with the same electric fans first and then maybe switch back to stock fan/clutch and shroud if still hot.

 

If you had the new style aluminum 2 row 1" radiator like I said and it appears you do then its just the fans as I also stated.

 

Well Mr. Johnson I have to eat some crow here. After trying everything I could think of as well as dome other folks suggestions I decided to pop the old stock fan (with clutch) and shroud back in. The cooling of the 455 improved. What was once running at or above middle on the temp gauge is now running at or below the first hash on the same gauge. I now bow in your presence!

 

You can thank everyone on here. This is where I've found all my knowledge.
But thank you

 

The problem is solved, that's great. The suggestions of using a stock Ford Windstar or even a Camaro factory electric fan with shroud is usually the best cheapest option. The Lincoln Mark VIII fans pull something like 3300 CFM. I pulled my controller off a Volvo and it has high and low settings.