[ponyakr]

i realize, probably more than anyone else, that i am not the brightest star in the sky. i wasn't even anywhere near the smartest guy at our little country hi school. i realize that there are lots of pontiac dudes on this site who are MUCH smarter than me & know far more about all things pontiac than i ever will. so, with that in mind, let me say this--the info i have & will present here is not intended 2 contradict the info from anyone else who posts on this site. these are simply MY ideas & opinions & accounts & results of my actual hands on experience with pontiacs & racing. this forum is entitled YOUR best pontiac stories. thats exactly what this is--its MY story. this is the way it was--2 the best of my recollection(as the old folks used 2 say) i've discovered that my memory sometimes doesn't agree with our written account of events as they occurred--so i'll try 2 always use those records 2 keep the facts straight & refresh or correct my memory as needed. however these records do not contain most of the tech specs on engines & details of all that was required 2 get a race car 2 the track that was capable of winning a race. so, for that info, i must rely on my memory. not sayin this is the last word & everybody should do things like i did. no, this is simply what i did that did, or in some cases did NOT work for me. it is presented mostly for entertainment value. but, i hope that something i share will help someone in some way! so please receive this material in this light & not as a putdown or 2 badmouth any other person on this site. THANKS!

[ponyakr]

now, for the cam itself--my favorite for the 455 is the cam the racin boys love 2 hate & badmouth--thats rite, its the old stand-by ra4. when used with rhoads lifters, it idles smooth, revs easily 2 5000, & will run hi 11's in a lite bracket car. & it leaves hard from an idle, even with a stock convertor. we've won lots of races & 1000's of $ with the 455/ra4/rhoads combo--so its 2 late 2 tell me it won't work--you wastin yore time! today there are lots of cams that will make more power than a ra4. in '87 we switched cams & gears 2 get out of the 10 sec range & into the 9's(1000' track) if my memory is correct, it was a cc 244/253-.525" we went from 10 teens 2 a 9.85. although i haven't used 1 yet, i like the looks of the biggest cc extreme energy cam. a bird in a hpp shootout ran real low 11's with 1 of these. this will probably be the next cam i try--with rhoads, of course. lots of guys on this site recommend crower cams. there are also some good lesser known cam co out there. you can get almost any grind you want for $150 or less. rhoads rl 9518 lifters are $116 at summit--buy matching springs & your in business. summit even has some small cams for $60. most agree, its almost like comitting suicide 2 not degree your cam. but i'm such an idiot--i never learned how. always just trusted the cam co 2 put the keyway in the rite place--& used a 4 degree advance key--& got away with it! if you choose 2 degree yours--there is certainly no shortage of info avail on the subject on this site & just about every other gearhead corner. also be sure 2 observe proper lube & break-in procedures for new cam/lifters.

[ponyakr]

i posted some of this on a thread comparing 60 & 80lb oil pumps. but i'll include it here as part of my engine building specs. in the old days, nunzi & H-O were the only pontiac guys i knew about. read where H-O said 60# was needed 2 overcome the centrifical force of the oil already in the large mains of the 455 at 6000 rpm(obviously not an exact quote) so i assumed this info 2 be accurate & ordered an 80# spring & cup kit for my melling pump. later on i decided 2 just shim the 60# spring & save $. worked just as good. some recommend .060 shim--thicker shim=more press. many now talk ugly about 80# press--infering that many parts will suffer premature failure with more than 60#. many say 60# is plenty if every brg clearance is exactly correct & if the oil viscosity is exactly correct for the clearances used. maybe thats why some shops get 12 grand for a mild 455 crate motor--gettin all those clearances exactly correct--you think? if you've got the $--buy it! for the rest of us--i'll tell you what i did. if the brg & crank looked good, i just put new brgs in it, along with a 500 caddy rear seal(for big journals) & bolted it in. if the journals looked bad, i bought a reground crank/brg kit & bolted it in. either way--who knows what the clearances were? so for a little ins, i ran 80# press, 50wt racin oil & a can of stp (the thick, slick, gooey stuff). & lo & behold it worked--never lost a 455 drag motor. either just lucky or blessed i reckin!

[ponyakr]

as promised , TJ's 1st year '68 bird. notice front of goat up--because its motor was in bird. notice the channel iron motor puller between 2 trees in my outdoor shop. hey, you gotta start somewhere. this was her 1st attempt at race car lettering. she gets her 1st racin ink in the local paper.

[ponyakr]

once i saw H-O's oil galley plug set, i made it standard equip for all 455's. 1 had a small hole in it 2 squirt extra oil onto the cam & dist gears. i never lost 1 455 bracket racing--1000's of passes. didn't keep records of each motor, but i estimate i built 8-10 455's like this. raced em all, then either sold em or gave em away. the only 1 that failed was our last drag motor from '87. after retiring the bracket car, i let a dirt racer put the motor in his 2nd gen dirt car. if i remember correctly, he had a flat in his heat race, so had 2 start the feature from the rear. he passed everybody but the leader before the brgs got tired of runnin without oil & gave up. i was so dumb about dirt racin, i ran the stock oil pan--that won't work--will suck the pan dry. must have extra capacity & kickouts at the bottom 2 keep the pick-up submerged in oil at all times. i wasted a good 455 thru ignorance! i also ran H-O's oil filter bypass plug in all my motors. many think you should keep the bypass. another 1 of those back & forth debate topics. after 1 ballooned filter, i always used napa 1258 filter. i've read that a wix 51258 is the same filter & it is cheaper than the napa from many sources. i also used pipe cleaners in the pushrods 2 slighty restrict flow 2 the top end. i know this gags some of you guys--so if you got the $--buy restricted pushrods any way you want em. when i 1st read about the pipe cleaner trick, it made sense 2 me. it imediately reminded me of the metering rods in a q-jet. the bigger the tip--the smaller the passage--thus less flow. it worked great for me in lots of motors--never melted a spring or anything terrible like that. another word about oil--everybody has their favorite. most of the good stuff is 10-$15 a quart now--if you got the $, buy it. if not, you can use the diesel oil-- 15w-40--rotella t is higher--delo is cheaper--both have zinc. otherwise you'll have 2 buy a good oil additive with the zinc & stuff needed 2 keep flat tappets alive. ps: i am well aware that a motor will make more power using thin oil ,with the proper clearances & lower press. having said that, i'll remind all readers that what i am presenting here is what i did because i didn't have the big buck 2 do everything precisely correct.

[ponyakr]

the last 455 i built was the only 1 that had forged rods. i found out they were runnin off another batch of 455 sd rods. it may have been the last batch ever--don't know for sure. some of you guys may know those production dates. seems like i remember buyin a set & keepin em for several years before using em--sorta fuzzy on that. anyhow, all the other 455's i built had stock, cast rods--& i don't ever remember having 1 rebuilt. i do remember always takin several extra rods 2 the machine shop when it was time 2 press on the new pistons. & i remember buying new rod bolts, but can't remember the brand. again, just replaced the stock ones--never had 1 resized--yes, i know that ain't rite, but thats what i did, & got by with it. i tried 2 make 5000 rpm the red line on stock rod 455's, & set the rev limiter at 5500. i guess it worked--never lost a cast rod 455. could have gone quicker with more gear & higher rpms--but that would have been just a waste of $--same class--same purse. "oogene"(a friend i've memtioned) put 4.56 gears in his 68 bird(the 1 i have now) & said he crossed at 6000 rpm with his cast rod 455. i told him he'd better hold his breath when he crossed--but it never blew. i think he got into the hi 11's--i'll ask next time i talk 2 him. i've wondered how the stock class cars are going so fast now with 40 year old cast rods--then found out nhra started allowing aftermarket forged rods some years back. just wonderin--what is the upper limits you guys have heard of--whats the highest rpm you've heard of anybody turning a stock rod 455 & having it thrive & survive? now, we don't have 2 worry about stock rods anymore--there's plenty of cheap chineese rods now. but, again, if you've got the $, buy the best american made stuff money can buy!

[ponyakr]

as best i can recall at this moment--when i bought my goat in the spring of '69, i had never seen a pontiac piston. after racin that car thru the '73-'74 seasons, i had still never seen a pontiac piston--the heads & intake had never been off. when i decided 2 rig that car & a 68 bird up 2 run nhra stock elim competitively, i didn't have a second 400 2 build for the bird. so i decided 2 kill 2 birds with 1 stone. so i borrowed my dads truck & me & a local chevy racer(ys) went 2 big d & checked out some big area junkyards. found & bought a complete 400 with the chrome vc & q-jet still on it. also bought a good muncie 4-speed. that second bird that was killed on this trip was 2 stop in terrel & pick up 35 cases of coors on the way back home. we stashed them in ys's shop. the nhra rule book said factory gm pistons only--but as i've mentioned, gm was out at the time. now, at this point, my total ignorance & lack of experience surfaced again. if i could go back & do it now, i'd just order trw forged replacement pistons--since they were never checked. but i knew the stock pistons were cast-- so the closest thing(in my mind) was napa cast replacements--which were not up 2 the task of drag racin. so i suppose the napas were the 1st pistons i ever saw that would fit a pontiac. after i got the bird on the track, gm got their new batch of pistons--so i bought a set & took em 2 the machine shop. that was the 1st gm pontiac piston i ever saw. after that, trw forged were the best pistons i ever bought. never bought any ross, venolia, etc. hi dollar stuff. i did have a machine shop cut a set of trw's for locks for the roller motor in 76. they either did it wrong or used bad snap ring locks, cause 1 came out imediately & messed up a cylinder wall. they had 2 install a sleeve, which they botched--well i won't go there again rite now. from that time on, i used nothing but press on, forged, trw flat tops. plenty good for hi 11-12 sec bracket motors. but with the current price of trw's(or whatever they are called now) crowding $400, there are probably better values out there. maybe KB or? never used 1 of the hyper-whatever type pistons so i can't comment on those. if you got plenty of $--don't give it another thought--buy ross like you want em & lite pins--why not?