jbone

Hey guys


I'm new to the site & just wanted to hear what you guys thought about my project.


I'm getting ready to put a .060" over 1972 455 with Ga big valve heads into my 87 Cutlass supreme. I found the engine with a BOP Turbo 400 transmission for $400.00 and found out it had been recently rebuilt and bored, cylinders still had some cross hatch left but definitely had been ran a while. Anyway we touched up the cylinders and I'm waiting for the heads to come back from the machine shop with a 3 angle valve job and new stainless 1 piece valves and heavier valve springs. I got a lightly used Isky 280 Megacam for $20.00 (with matched & numbered lifters) so I decided to run that for now even though it's too much cam for the compression I'm running. The engine will be basically stock compression (heads were only re-surfaced). I'm decided to run the TH200-4R for now with a 2500 stall, B&M shift kit and TCI lockup kit so I can keep overdrive for now. I found a Crosswind intake online for $125.00 that is basically an Air Gap knock off. Summit distributor, Moroso 7 quart oil pan etc...


Any thoughts on what I should expect? Would like to do a 9 inch posi rear end soon but for now I'm just trying to get the engine and tranny put in. Have you guys had decent luck with the 200-4R? The guy with TCI said stock with a shift kit they should handle about 400 hp... Mine shifts fine behind the 307 but I don't know how long that'll last. Thanks

svnt442

It's not the HP that's gonna kill your trans, but the torque of that 455. It can be built to survive behind it, but it's going to take some cash. You're going to loose the computer control when you drop in the 455 so the lockup will go bye-bye until you get a controller for that.
I'm assuming this is not your main vehicle so I would do it right all at once and have the trans built to handle it and get the controller for the lockup AND get the rear end done because that 7.625 rear just won't hold up too long behind that combo.
IF you can find a G-body 8.5 I would go that route because it's a drop in and brake parts are no worries. With a 9" you'll need to do one of two things, either have the brake drums drilled 5x¾ or use a Ford bolt pattern so you don't have to drill them every time you need to replace them and get aftermarket wheels to fit.

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, love the green.

jbone

Got the TCI converter lockup kit already to take care of the overdrive lockup. Thought about just running a switch but decided to spend the $90.00 and do it right... Does anyone know if there's supposed to be a thrust washer under the oil pump driveshaft? It looks like there's about a 1" wear mark where either the old distributor shaft or a washer rubbed around the driveshaft hole in the block and the little washer/retainer that keeps the oil pump driveshaft from dropping down too far is a lot smaller than the wear mark...

Octania

That surface down in the block is where the dist'r gear rides. It bears the thrust from the cam gear. Notice that the Olds dist'r is located on the downward travelling side of the cam, thrusting the dist'r gear down against something... that surface.

Unlike some not so clever designs which place the dist'r on the upward moving side of the cam.

And, no, there is no thrust washer in there, just gear end face on block. Be sure the nearby oil passage plug has the 0.040" hole in it and is clean inside such that oil spurts onto the gears.

svnt442

It's a very small locking washer (not sure of the actual term for it) that just keeps the shaft from coming out with the distributor when you pull it.

jbone

Sooo... I guess since I didn't know the oil pump driveshaft was supposed to go in from the bottom, I'm just going to do away with the washer and drop it in from the top... ?

joe_padavano

Actually, it doesn't matter which way the shaft goes in. The washer is there to assist with assembly of the engine, but otherwise serves no real purpose. When the engine was being assembled at the factory, it was upside down on an engine stand. The main caps went on, followed by the oil pump drive shaft and then the pump, followed by the oil pan. The distributor was not in place at the time, so if you simply put the shaft in the block, it would slide all the way through and land on the floor. The washer prevents that until the block gets rotated right side up and the distributor installed.

The washer SHOULD help keep the shaft in the block when you pull the distributor, but the reality is that about half the time, the shaft is wedged in the distributor drive gear and they come out together. If the washer is still in place, it means fighting with the distributor until the washer slides off the bottom of the shaft and lands in the sump.

jbone

Yeah that makes sense now. I just can't get the shaft in all the way from the top with the washer on and I've already assembled the bottom end without the driveshaft because I didn't think about it until now... Whoops


Anyway I'm just going to cut the retainer off and drop the shaft in from the top. Looks to me like it should be fine this way. Mondello's drive shaft doesn't even use the retainer anyway so it will be my own version of that method I guess

joe_padavano

It is fine that way. Once both the oil pump and distributor are in place, the shaft can't go anywhere.