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I guess first,a Hello to all is in order.This is my first time on any olds forum,even though I have had my 72 442 W30 conv X car for 33 yrs.Sadly,the W30 engine was nowhere to be found!I have only been to a few muscle car events (5) over the years,life dealt me a 2 decade long illness since 2000.It was a literal nightmare to trouble shoot,drs were/are useless.Unbelievably, it was malnutrition/malabsorption caused by antibiotic damage to my dig tract.I am the ultimate do it yourselfer,and figured it out.When I hit the right combinations,I literally put on 32 lbs in 2 months!That was 3 months before the pandemic,today my health is awesome and is still improving.I still drove my olds every summer,except for the one year when my idiot twin blew a freshly rebuilt 69 455 L30 by stupid over revving during breaking in,in 2006.That would have been a terrific addition to my x car.Today I have a somewhat crappy '74 455 smog engine with J heads.I have found my love of olds again,but long term illness forces you live on very limited funds.So,basically there were just 2 wishes that I still have held for all these lost years. Since I still only have the c heads from the 69,and want to find a used alum intake so I can add a little extra performance for this summer,or next at the latest.I also would like to paint it again, since it has been 33 years.Getting a better compression block will have to come after the paint has been payed for.You would not believe how close I came to selling my ride for a song to more than one so called friends,when I was virtually broke.I thankfully did not do it.I am once again,just as excited as I was when I was 16 (in
1980),and dreaming about all the possibilities!
Thanks a lot,I spent a good 15 hours just reading over a couple of weeks before I joined.I enjoyed it,and have already learned several things that I did not know (and for free!!).Lots of real experience,and a helpful community,not much of that going around these days!I will get some more pics soon.I really like the idea of talking to people who are into olds mostly.Most of my friends were into mopars or mustangs,and you know how that goes.The best part is,I still have mine,and theirs are all long gone.Na na na na na! Sometimes life is great!
Me too,when I bought my second 72 that I still have,it was my buddy who had a 63 chevy2,who saw the car at a used car lot driving by,and told me about it.I lucked out because his older brother had a 70 coupe,and they did not get along at all.So he rejected it for the principle,I bought it the next day for 2k.Of course he realized and regretted it after the fact.The 80's were great to find something cheap.It's tough to start buying now from scratch,without daddy's help that is,for the youth today.I never had that,but I did have good timing and good sense.And good hash!
Welcome and good to hear you're feeling better. As far as the engine a 455 block is no different in a W30 than any other. The block you have can be built to you're spec's. Could use the C heads and get rid of the smog J heads.
The C heads are some of the best flowing factory heads for the 455. If you want correct Ga heads for your 72, I have a decent set of Cores I would sell for $100 plus shipping from KS 67144. They are heavy so that might be expensive.
I do want to put the c heads in asap,they are in quite good shape,maybe an hour each to clean the gasket areas and minor carbon in the bowls.They only have 1000 miles since a valve job,somehow they survived my brother unscathed.But I would like to do it with an intake at the same time,to control the costs of opening it twice.There are no decent used alum intakes anywhere near,or far from what I have seen.Thanks for the offer of the Ga heads,but I must pass,the transport cost is a killer.Is it very hard to find a used edel intake,seems like even the new ones are out of stock?
April 18th, 2021, 09:18 AM
A few thoughts from a newbie
