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#1
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73 SD-455 TA to be made road worthy again after sitting since 1979
A few people on the forums know that I was able to acquire a 73 red SD-455 TA a little over a year ago. A dear friend was the second owner of the car and it was bought and lived here in Ohio it's entire life. Car has 49,000 miles on it. In the 1978-1979 time frame it was completely disassembled for a complete refresh and to put into what would have been considered show condition at that time. Prior to disassembly, it was treated like a used car, not abused in any way, but not a pampered trailer queen. It was street driven and even raced a couple times at the local drag strips. It is a numbers matching car with lots of documentation and receipts. The car has been apart for 44 years and parts and components have been moved in and out of multiple locations in Ohio and Kentucky during that time. The owner also compiled an impressive stash of mostly NOS parts to put it back together. Few reproduction parts were available 44 years ago so the NOS parts are a blessing.
I am extremely grateful to have a chance to put this car back on the road. I have a plan and will carry it out over the next year or so. The body and paint are good enough to not alter at this time. The endura front bumper may need to be refinished later. I will have a few experts look it over before making any decisions. The interior will need considerable work. The headliner has fallen down, carpet was previously replaced poorly, heater core leaking, some faded hard plastics. So the interior will be a priority. The heart of the car, the SD-455 engine was rebuilt in 1979 and never reinstalled. I have the receipt from A-Hines Racing Engines in Lawrenceberg, IN. They were a very well respected shop and did top notch work in the 70's-90's before closing at some point. I have completely disassembled the engine for inspection and measurement and find the work they did was very impressive, down to the finest details. Example, I measured the bolt stretch on every rod bolt during disassembly and all fell between .006"-.0075" bolt stretch. Right to specs. The engine is bone stock. But now +.030 with a stock crankshaft balanced and it was ground 10-10. Purpose for this thread is to highlight the features of the SD-455 engine, provide a bunch of pictures and specs. This engine is a very early build as the heads do not have any casting marks on the outer exhaust ports or any casting dates. Only the complete part number. I have 50 years in this hobby and this is the first real SD-455 I have personally been inside. My hope is we can all learn some things before it is buttoned back up. Overall time frame is to have the engine back together and painted January/February time frame. Car back together and running June/July 2024. We will see how it goes. Here are a couple of pics to get started and I will add many more as time allows. Enjoy. |
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#2
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Nice!
Thanks for posting. Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2023 using Tapatalk
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You never know what I might have that you are looking for. EMAIL me. Also check out my other ads here on PY. Just click on user name to view other ads. USPS Money Orders or Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart money gram wire transfer -preferred payments. If Payment doesn't show up in 3-4 days, I move on to the next person that wants it. Serious Inquiries Only - Shipping Isn't Free. |
#3
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Nice! Excellent project.... I wish I had one.
Curious did Hines use the SD455 replacement pistons? |
The Following User Says Thank You to PAUL K For This Useful Post: | ||
#4
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Yes, they are the TRW replacements. They have a number stamped in the head but no oversize stamped. I have a bunch of pics on my phone. I will transfer and post some in the coming days.
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#5
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Awesome project! Looking forward to seeing the master at work.
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Ken '68 GTO - 464 - Ram Air II heads - 236/242 roller - 9.5” TSP converter - Moser 3.55 Truetrac (build thread | walk around) '95 Comp T/A #6 M6 - bone stock (pics) |
#6
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Very nice. Looks like that car found its way into the right hands. Can't wait to see it progress.
Do you plan on putting on the dyno? Would be cool to see what a bone stock SD can do.
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70 TA, 467 cid IAII, Edelbrock D-port heads, 9.94:1, Butler HR 236/242 @ .050, 520/540 lift, 112 LSA, Q-jet, TKX (2.87 1st/.81 OD), 3.31 rear https://youtube.com/shorts/gG15nb4FWeo?feature=share |
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#7
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If I can get the engine back together on schedule, we can break it in on the engine dyno. I would love to do that considering all the potential oil leaks with Pontiac V-8's. It would need to go on the dyno early Feb. the latest. By mid-late February, student engines will be ready. They take priority over all others. I would need to have a couple head pipes made to fit the dyno but that's no big deal. Point ignition, would only take a couple hours to have ready to run. It would be interesting to see what it makes for stock power. My guess would be around 310-315 HP 430-440 ft. lbs. peak torque. I will try to make it happen.
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#8
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Quote:
I would bet the terribly underrated ‘73-‘74 455 SD engines rated at 310 and 290 hp are actually making 350 to 370 hp. The cam they used is the same profile as the 744 cam, and still they were under-cammed but still less so compared to the 455 HO. We shall see. Such a nice car, finding one in this condition is a once in a lifetime score. Thanks for sharing your build with the PY community.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
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#9
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Arnold Hines did my SD455 in my 73 F racecar.
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#10
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Is it a 4spd car ?
Or are the trans cooler lines just not installed yet 1 of 72 or 1 of 180 73 SuperDuty = |
#11
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Very cool!
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Peter 1974 Trans Am, 400 4-speed, 3.42 rear. |
#12
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To add a bit of fun history.....before that car was disassembled, (8) of us friends drove (4) cars to the Street Machine Nationals in Indy.
that '73 SD (auto, BTW) a '74 red SD auto Mike's '70 T/A, RA3, 4 speed my '77 T/A 4 speed with a transplanted '72 455-HO Good times.... Eric
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"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" noted philosopher Mike Tyson Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” |
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Elarson For This Useful Post: | ||
#13
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Wow, what a great car! Will be following this thread.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#14
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Wow...that's my dream car right there...congratulations
This is going to be a great build!
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Esquire '74 T/A 455 Y-code SD clone previously on Dawson's Creek: '74 T/A 400 '81 AMC SX/4 '69 FB 350 |
#15
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All I can say is...Wow!!!
Now is the best time to replace that heater corr, while apart.
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1977 Black Trans Am 180 HP Auto, essentially base model T/A. I'm the original owner, purchased May 7, 1977. Shut it off Shut it off Buddy, I just shut your Prius down... |
#16
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Nice.
Does completely disassembled mean repainted? Letters look die-cut instead of one piece.
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So long, farewell. |
#17
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God this brings back memories, my friend Mike dad work at a Pontiac dealer, he ended up with 74 SD Firebird. I was really surprised after going for a ride and comparing it to the power my 68 400 GTO. Made.
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#18
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Very neat car!
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#19
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Good traffic on this thread. Before I posted it, I had a few back and forth PM's with B-man about how and where to post this thread. The street section gets allot of traffic so he thought this would be a good place for it. To answer some questions raised. The previous owner lives locally and is helping me with the many details of getting the car back together. He is super detail oriented so his help is appreciated. He does not have the space, tools and time to make it all happen. I am sure that was factored into the eventual transfer of ownership. The car was repainted in the 1980-1982 time frame in lacquer. The body was not separated from the subframe. This was typical of the way cars were "restored" 40+ years ago. I assume rotisseries were out there in the early 80's, but only very valuable "classic's" were treated to that level of restoration in those days. Although a SD-455 TA has always been collectible, they were still available at a reasonable price in the early 1980's. One of the impressive things about this car to me is although many parts have been replaced, 95% of them are NOS replacement parts. There are just a few nick nacks that are from the restoration parts suppliers. This means the parts actually fit and look as they did when the car was built. The car never had any meaningful rust from what I can tell but had some bumps and bruises from being used as transportation for 5 years or so. The decals on the car are NOS replacements in GM envelopes because he gave me numerous spares along with the car. The car does not have the bird hood.
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#20
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Yay - definitely prefer the 73/74's without a bird. Particularly if they were ordered without one to begin with. Keep the pictures and details coming!
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Peter 1974 Trans Am, 400 4-speed, 3.42 rear. |
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