[iceman411]

Use your block and heads, Crane RA4 blueprint cam, RPM or Victor intake, 850 Holley DP with 1/2" line and an electric pump,HEI ignition, 373 gears and a NOS DUAL SHOT 400 horse BOTTLE!!! You said cheap and ONE pass. Do it in style!! If you can go cheaper, let me know. Might be able to pull it off with a single shot cheater kit too(more affordible). If you want to go more rounds, and have a better budget, the previous reply's WILL be a better route, just going by what you said-cheap and ONE pass. Good luck and keep it fun.

[71 Ventura II]

Yep, Nitrous would do it and dollar for dollar would be the cheapest if its allowed?

DO NOT be affraid to cam up the 455! The 4.21" stroke engines love more cam than most people think. The Xe274 is out and the Xe284 is marginal on size. I hate to keep going back to this cam but truly the Comp 290B-6 will deliver 11's or better. The issue is with the budget to get a decent converter, a 3.55-3.73 gear, and your willingness to do some port work to the heads.

In the same way people tend to under cam their Pontiacs they will over gear them too. With the 290B cam and a 455+ CID all the gear you'll need is the 3.55-3.73 range. Don't try to re-invent the wheel here, follow the experience of the many cars on this site alone running between 9.90-11.50 running this set up. JD

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Best of all worlds.

Nitrous

and pump gas friendly.

400............ 284XE C Cam.

stock rods with ARP bolts.
Install 1.77 valves in the heads. Roller rockers and Moly pushrods.
Bottom fill block with arp studs.
Old torker intake, 850 holley and a 225/275 shot.
warmed over 2200 converter.

All fairly cheap and should run low 11's.

[71 Ventura II]

Originally Posted by PONTIAC DUDE

Best of all worlds.

Nitrous

and pump gas friendly.

400............ 284XE C Cam.

stock rods with ARP bolts.
Install 1.77 valves in the heads. Roller rockers and Moly pushrods.
Bottom fill block with arp studs.
Old torker intake, 850 holley and a 225/275 shot.
warmed over 2200 converter.

All fairly cheap and should run low 11's.

I think what Ken meant to say is should run high 10's with that much juice!
*** Unless in Florida when people say their running a small 175 shot it actually means 225/275 shot? It might have something to do with the "Humidity" or the "Curveture" of the earth or something I'm not sure! LOL jking

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Originally Posted by 71 Ventura II

I think what Ken meant to say is should run high 10's with that much juice!
*** Unless in Florida when people say their running a small 175 shot it actually means 225/275 shot? It might have something to do with the "Humidity" or the "Curveture" of the earth or something I'm not sure! LOL jking

Bwahahahahaha. You sound like Ray when he posts on the board.............. I ONLY had 34 pills in it but forgets when he told me he had 40's.

I'm talking without a killer tune up and on the safe side it should run deep into the 11's. When I refer to low I mean teens or better.


I was referring to a slammer combo. Throw it together and tear up someones a$$.

I see a lot of anal retentive over kill post. LOL. The first line of the post says it all.
Yeeeeeeeeeech.

Throw it together, Spray it, take his money, shut the beeauch up and have fun.

[screamingchief]

Originally Posted by ThomcatNLR

im leaning definitley toward the solid cam now, though it seems that the cam and all hardware to go with it is quite a bit more than the hyd. (i can get the hyd. cam kit for 350 from my shop)

What comes in the kit,what brand and what cam???

I bought my 290b6 here NIB for far less than retail price,same with some low use crower #68405-16 springs and comp #7262-16 cro-mo pushrods,as well as both a comp and a Jomar stud girdle.

At one time or another tons of good stuff pops up here @ very good prices.

I agree you can do some things much more simply,but if you plan to keep it together afterwards,it's better to spend now for certain things,than have to re-do that stuff later on,that means spending on things like the bottom end,other items like heads are easy enough to replace later on,but re-doing a short block is another thing entirely.

And when you skimp on something like oil control in the sump,or 30+ year old 2 piece valves,you risk ending up with a pile of junk parts to show for your efforts and investment.

What I tend to spend my money on are parts that can transfered along with any upgraded parts later on.

That's why I would'nt spend a ton on iron heads unless you plan to keep/use them later on.

Some things are catch-22's though,,,your damned if you dont,,,and damned if you do...

Myself I save tons of money by doing most all the work myself,and buying when I find deals,so I can afford to spend on the more important stuff when I deem it necessary.

For example,I build my own auto transmissions myself so I can spend more on the converter,that sorta thing.

But yeah,some items like the maddog headers could be substituted for some generic hedman 1 3/4" four tubes or such with a minimal HP penalty,yet save a nice chunk of change,especially if your going to run an open exhaust system.

But other items like the stock rods,I would question why anyone would use the OE cast rods,when the budget forged I beams with 7/16" bolts are competitive with re-working those cast rods and adding good 3/8" bolts,and those cast rods still ending up being weaker compared to the budget I beam forgings.

I agree a lightweight RA is a nice thing if you can afford the extra cost,but it's not absolutely needed for this sorta deal.

And the newly available KB forgings would be a good budget forged piston choice for a deal like this,they have the lighter pins as SOP,a slightly taller CH,and are drilled for the oil ring instead of being slotted,so those would be my piston choice for this.

But to spray the thing with any respectable shot,you'll definitely want forged pistons.

Other items like the oil pump,timing chainset,and such,those are areas where money can be saved as long as your careful when assembling the engine and check that they are fit to use and assembled & installed properly.

I'm just advising weighing the current needs vs. the long term aspects,that's all.

[ThomcatNLR]

im hoping to build something i can possibley build off of in the future. so i wanna buy as many parts as i can that will let me grow. not just stuff that i will buy and then grow out of when i decide to build a serious motor. sorry, never said that. thanks again guys. i borrowed a sandblaster for the weekend to clean the body/chassis to prep for some body work. Any body know if there are any rules on running lexan windows at trhe track? i have always ran glass, but i can get sheet of lexan for decent price from my uncle who's a roundy-rounder. Oh, and also, are there any rules as far as seats go? He said i can have his old stock car seat if it would work. I guess its a real expensive one. not sure if i can use it though. Thanks again to everyone. this little bet is getting my buddies worried. One just ordered up $1200 worth of cam/valvetrain hardware for his LS1. I have a feeling this is gonna snowball... should be fun.

[Thomasmoto]

Originally Posted by PONTIAC DUDE

Best of all worlds.

Nitrous

and pump gas friendly.

400............ 284XE C Cam.

stock rods with ARP bolts.
Install 1.77 valves in the heads. Roller rockers and Moly pushrods.
Bottom fill block with arp studs.
Old torker intake, 850 holley and a 225/275 shot.
warmed over 2200 converter.

All fairly cheap and should run low 11's.

I say spray it as well. Be sure to insure adequate fuel delivery, carb & nos wise, Hit at about 200. It should last a couple of passes at least there. I've been spraying my original 79 TA w/135,000 miles 400 at 150 for at least 2 years so I feel you can make it to.
Good Luck, David T