[Jim Robertson]

Thanks to 165th (Greg) for sending his numbers engine to us for a freshening. We are proceeding through the build and are planning to run many original parts. A few things that may apply to your build/restoration below:
This block had some small rust pits in two cylinders. The corrosion was isolated to very near the top of the cylinder wall, but to remove the flaws entirely would have taken a +.060" and possibly as much as .100" overbore. The location of the pits was very near the uppermost travel of top ring. The original material of the block was saved by simply ordering a custom piston with the top ring land placed .250" below standard Pontiac locations. 2nd ring and oil ring were moved down slightly as well. Now the uppermost travel of the top ring stays out of the flaws allowing full performance and all original iron in the bores. We simply torque plate honed the block to ensure bores were round and ordered pistons that bore size. Therefore this block, even though it has been "into" before, is still just a tick over standard bore. :-)

Do not send your crank to just anyone. Spend the money for accurate machine work and a good crank guy is difficult to find...at least in West Texas. When we tore this one down it had hurt the mains very likely due to a clearance issue. If you have any work done always check both the front and rear diameter of every journal as taper can creep in causing inaccurate/inconsistent clearances. Highly recommend you do not send your HO or any Pontiac for that matter to just any rebuilder (i.e. butcher). There are some great folks that specialize.

No worries on the piston/deck clearance as we are running a .055" crushed gasket. .040" clear will work great with the parts selection and the intended use of this one.

Accurate and deliberate machining/tolerances contribute greatly to the performance. There are known reasons these cars ran 14s in the quarter in 1971-2 and now run in the 10s and 11s with the same basic equipment.

Agree with the posts about not porting original heads. If engine is built correctly 400hp can be achieved with the unported heads. Original block, crank, intake and carb are all able to support that number. A good valve job will pick up an unported intake port 40 cfm over stock flow numbers. Combine with a very mild but up to date lobe designs and you have a very fast street ride. If you need more than 400HP call me.

Sorry for the long post but felt compelled to present this,
Jim

RACE
Home of the 800HP Iron Dports
www.racev8s.com

P.S. Greg's stripe kits are phenomenal. A set is going on my 72 TA race car now.

[Brad Pringle]

Any news on the Dyno Tests? Thanks Brad

[165th]

Originally Posted by Brad Pringle

Any news on the Dyno Tests? Thanks Brad

They say Good things are worth waiting for! We've rescheduled for Sunday Dec. 30. Can't wait.

[165th]

Originally Posted by 165th

They say Good things are worth waiting for! We've rescheduled for Sunday Dec. 30. Can't wait.

Update: We are still completing final assembly on the engine. Also, the dyno is being worked on and calibrated, so it will be a few more weeks.

Here are some final assembly notes and detailed pics:

The heads flowed at 243cfm intake at 0.5" valve lift and 167cfm exhaust. I think stock intake flow is around 205cfm. Even though the heads are still cast stock and not smoothed or ported, Jim attributes the increased flow to good valve seat machine work and a little work blending in the bottom seat cut.

The flow combined with the 0.015" piston poke out of the deck should create plenty of torque .

You can see Norwood's accurate reproduction stove bracket installed in the correct position. Thank you PB for your research on the topic of stove bracket positioning.

Also, the correct rear AC compressor bracket and original oil dip stick tube (uh... the bent one) positioned.

The engine was coated in Hirsch High Heat Cast Iron primer prior to Ames Medium Blue. Paint has been left off the hot spots on the heads on purpose. This will prevent having to always touch up the cooked blue paint on top of the heads. We'll see how the Hirsch primer holds up.

Original exhaust manifolds are at Ram Air Restoration Enterprises getting surfaced.

I hope the next update will be with dyno results!

[165th]

Arthur Gould restored water pump.

1112126 Distributor with brown cap.

[bird72]

HO heads are done and assembled, things are getting fun. Advice from the gurus here on recomended intake and exhaust gaskets? It is 72 top end, factory intake and exhausts.... any advice appreciated.

[njsteve]

Go to my recent "Part Deux" thread and you will see the gasket fix for the unique 1972 intake gasket.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...695444&page=34

[bird72]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Go to my recent "Part Deux" thread and you will see the gasket fix for the unique 1972 intake gasket.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...695444&page=34

THANKS Steve! Your efforts and documenting the process are superb!

[Norwood]

OUTSTANDING

[PB]

That looks sweet Greg! Now you have me wondering.....I see you installed Norwoods bracket with the bend upward. I installed it with the bend the opposite way. I will have to see how that fits with the base. Looking at the old factory pics, it is hard to tell, but it could go that way. Looking at the factory pics, it looks like it could indeed go that way.

[bird72]

I'll be able to post pics of my crack repaired HO exhaust manifold in a week or so when I get it back. A fellow in Auburn WA is doing the work, he specializes in aluminum and cast iron welding, in fact all he does. If he is agreeable, I will post his contact info for anyone interested.

[bird72]

And 165th, that is a beautiful engine! I am anxious on the dyno. My HO assembly will be within next couple of months, so eager to see your results. I am going from 9.5 to 1 D port big valve, to 8.5 to 1 HO round port, hoping on more flow and power. I will probably rankle the purists, since it is non numbers application, I want to show off the aluminum intake, but will leave patina'd, and also heaven forbid, factory chrome valve covers. But I dig your stock painted look, it is more stealth.... again, a beauty of an engine

[1971455HO]

How sweet it is. Congratulations Greg on the superb restoration of your correct 42 year old high performance Pontiac engine. I'm just like all the other guys here, can't wait to hear the news. I read Jim's engine website statement. To say you're in good hands don't even cover it. Wow, he's one of us....and, a professional engine builder. Envious, anxious and happy for you.

Eddie

[Jim Robertson]

Many thanks for the kind words. This one (as well as each one of our builds) is treated very special. The guys here at the shop and the PY forum members challenge me to continue to strive for perfection. Greg has been very kind and patient as this one has progressed. We are thankful and very humbled to be working on at this point, 3 numbers matching 1972 455 HOs along with two other very nice hot rod builds. For the head porters: Head flow volume came in very quickly and never backed up all the way to .900" valve lift. We are expecting near 400HP with the stock exhaust manifolds with this one. The only real change from assembly line stock is balance (with stick flywheel), clearances, cam timing and valve seat work including hardened exhaust seats. Cam timing is our version of the famed RA IV and we are using 1.65 stamped rockers. If we make much more power the stock fuel system will have a hard time supplying the fuel at WOT. :-)

On the intake gaskets, we took a Mr Gasket 503 gasket and did a little trimming and fabbing around the crossover opening. These have the correct intake port opening height.

Also attached is a pic of almost two full sets of 1972 HO head bolts as delivered to us along with a current reproduction bolt set. Since all these belong to Greg we found the nicest originals and used them in this build. Call me silly but I just like the originals better.

Looking forward to the dyno session.

[1971455HO]

Jim,
Just wondering....did you have to elongate the pushrod holes to use the 1.65 stamped rockers?

I thought about it when I built my engine, but was not sure if I would have to mill them out or not. I had already bought 1.5 roller tips and already had broken the heads down for work twice and just decided to forget about it. I had years earlier changed my heads over to 7/16 bottleneck adjustable. Thankfully NJ Steve pinged me before I got to far and informed me that I couldn't run my oil baffle plates with those rockers. Talk about noise. I'm happy for Greg and glad your the man doing it for him. Good luck to both of you and happy new year.

Eddie

[Jim Robertson]

Eddie,
We did not have to elongate the pushrod openings. The reason is hard to put in words but...We decided on 1.65 rocker when we started the project. So we installed valves that are approx .200" longer than stock. This does two things a. Adjusts pushrod location and b. allows additional spring installed height for better spring selection. Then to achieve proper rocker geometry we needed a 9.350" pushrod which is approx .200" longer than stock. Even though the pushrod seat in the rocker arm is closer to the fulcrum than the 1.5 ratio rocker, the longer pushrod travels nearer the center of original opening. So, the longer valves alleviated interference and preserved the original castings and we have a top quality spring. Yes the pushrod is close to the original opening but still further than from the guideplates. I hope those gory details are clear enough.
Jim

[1971455HO]

I got it. I think it's cool you knew you could do that... and maintain proper geometry minus the cutting. It's always a pleasure to see a pro at work, no matter what it is. I welded structural steel and pipe all my life. I enjoy watching brick masons, Backhoe operators, office sign painters doing gold leaf. All kinds of guys who were good at what they did. Thanks for taking time to explain Jim.

Eddie

[Father&Son73T/A]

Anyone seen this car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ponti...item1c2ebc50eb

[72TAMAN]

Wrong master cylinder

[Father&Son73T/A]

Originally Posted by 72TAMAN

Wrong master cylinder

The master is but the booster looks original to me