455 YC vs. 389 for Driveability and Fun
 

I've got the 455 currently. It needs some love and money to run right. Is this where I should put my efforts?

If I'm puttin' together a motor for a 66 GTO...not numbers matching. And I'm looking for a driver, weekend cruiser. Is one of these motors going to lend itself to being more easily built, maintained and driven?

The ol' Jan and Dean song keeps runnin' through my head....."3 dueces and 4 speed, and a 389".

Part of me feels I'm not being very true to the GTO legacy with the 455. On the other hand, I want a healthy runnin' car.

Could always put a 4" stroke 3" main stroker crank in the 389 and bore it .030" over and make it a 421.

Add the 4" stroker crank & bore it .060" over and it'll be a 428...

Then you get to tell folks it's been "bored & stroked".

Or put an even longer stroke crank in that 389.

389 + .030" over & 4.21" stroke = 442 cid
389 + .030" over & 4.25" stroke = 446 cid

Just add appx. 6 cid for a .060" over bore.

And there are even longer stroke 3" main cranks available.

The possibilities are endless these days.

:cool:

Bret P.

It's not numbers matching and a 455 is going to be more fun with the added cubes then a 389. When you pop the hood you won't see a difference anyway.

I'd say build a 455, pick a cam that works with your torque converter and rear end gear ratio and if you want to have the 3 deuces look then do that as well.. no one will be able to tell the difference between a 389 and a 455 by just looking at the engine anyway.

There's no Replacement for Displacement.................. and fun ;)

I vote for the 455 as well or the stroker. I regret not going bigger with my motor, but at the time, cash was tight and I just had to do the 389 rebuild with stock crank and rods.

I stroked my original 389 out to 447 Cu In and added a Tri-Power replacing the original Carter 4 bbl and added 67 HO exhaust manifolds retaining a near stock look. I love the fact that I have all the extra power and a 66 GTO with it's original "389".

Jim

Jan and Dean did not sing that song. It was sung by a bunch of session musicians in Nashville. They named themselves "Ronnie and the Daytonas" after they recorded the song. They released several more songs, but none matched "GTO" which went all the way to number 4 on the Billboard Chart. By the way, the name of the song was simply "GTO", not "Little GTO".

For the same amount of money, the 455 will make more power everywhere in the RPM range. A 455 at 9:1 will make as much power as a 389 at 10:1, and be more docile with correctly chosen parts.

Did the beach boys ever do a GTO song? Or did they only do "409"?

409 only.
I vote the 455. This way you can use 2.79 or 3.08 gears, still be fast and cruise all day without running hot down the freeway.

Beach Boys did a bunch of car songs that were used as album fillers, that were pretty silly and pretty bad. But in addition to "409" some of the better know ones are "Shut Down" and Fun,Fun,Fun ,and "Little Deuce Coupe". Shut Down was about a 63 Fuelie Corvette and a 413 Super Stock Dodge. Fu,Fun,Fun was about a T-Bird. I guess "I Get Around" could be considered a car song since they say "we always take my car cause its never been beat". Little Deuce Coupe was about a Deuce Coupe that "got rubber in all four gears". People get the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean confused alot because they are all from California and they sound alike and sing the same kind of songs. Brian Wilson wrote several hits for Jan and Dean.

this damn forum answers all life's questions..... the important ones anyway. ;O)

We try.I though I was pretty up on GTO's until I discovered this forum and found out even though I have a GTO, I didn't know anything. There are so many people with so much more knowledge here, it blows my mind. And these people are willing to share that knowledge. BUT, if you want to talk 60's music, I think I can hold my own. ..

Done a few of them. ;)

4.210 & 4.250
nice packages.

Jan & Dean did have a song called "My Mighty GTO". "There's no match cause non can catch my GTO"


Don

455 engined GTO must have a posi-rear & TH400. There, with that said;

Since you have a 4-speed, you will need to focus on Clutch-linkage: I'd go with a HYD throw-out bearing. Z-bars are the main reason I got away from stick-455-cars.

Since you have a 4-speed, you will need to focus on a stout stick transmission, the best Muncie not being strong enough is the 2nd reason I got away from stick-455-cars.

Your 455-4-speed GTO results may differ, yet those are the 2 rough spots AFTER activating WOT.

389 sounds like more fun huh.

455 we'll be more driveable. The torque is down low in rpm's. The 'Tigers' did 'GTO'-'going huntin for a Mustang or a dual quad 409'.

455 have my vote. "Nothing can out run a mean ol' Goat".

After talking back and forth with Dave from SD performance, i decided to build a 400 over a 455 for my 5 speed GTO. I was told by SD that I can make 500-525 hp and around 500 ft lbs, idle nice at 750 RPM, run power accessories and pull to 6,000 in a snap. The basic combo we talked over was a 10.5:1 400, their 290cfm heads and their stump puller hydro roller. That's plenty of power for a street car. It will probably be a little better on gas and I might just be able to keep my 5 speed together if I hook it!

You are working with the right guy..which heads the KRE's?.

Yes, the SD ported 290cfm KRE's.