performance for a 445olds in my 442

[abe]

hello every one.I have a 1980 442 w3o.i am in the process of restoring it.i have done a lot of modifications to drivetrain.the 350 that originally came with the car has been rebuilt but i wasnt quite satisfied with it even though it has never been in the car yet.its the smog motor with the window main casting.inorder to obtain the performance to give the new camaros,mustangs and challenger a run for their money i decided to have a 455 built from precious engine perfomance.the heads have been ported to stage two specs.the motor its self was builted to the power levels of 350 horses and 455 foot pounds of torque.it will connected to a 200r4 trans built to also handle 500 ftpounds of torque,the rear end is a stock 2.73 i chose this rearend for gas miles purpose.for exhaust it will be sanders block huggers headers.my fuel system is the commander 950 tbi 700cfm,aluminum radiator and a ford tarus electric fan to keep this motor cool.for ignition i have the malloy hyper 6 ignition box.and a air gap procomp intake manifold.what type of performance can i expect from this combo

[88hurstolds]

Love the '80 442's, they're extremely rare too... around 8 or 900 were only built.

As for the setup sounds like a good route but theres no telling what type of power without compression figures, cam specs and your choice of converter stall and rear gear.

[abe]

well as far specs go in not sure what type of cam is being installed in the motor.however i do know that the motor is suppose to have a hp power range of 350 stock and 450ft of torque.the heads has been port and 5 angle valve jobpolished so thats an additional 50 to 75hp.the compression ratio is 9 to 1 200r4 tran bilt to handle 500 ft of torque .stock 2.73 rearend

[88hurstolds]

You may want to go with a 3.23 or 3.42 rear if you're running a TH2004R and are looking for good highway, you're losing performance sticking with a 2.73.
I'm running a 3.08 with a TH400 in my 88 Cutlass and it's good on the highway, I wouldn't go higher unless I have a 4 speed.
I'm gonna go with a 3.73 or 3.42 and TH2004R in the future.

As for the motor, the rear end ratio, converter and cam combo will decide what HP you're running.

How do you know you're running 9:1 CR?
Are you going off the advertised piston CR?
Do you know the size of your head gasket, deck clearance, piston dish and combustion chamber cc's etc...?
Those all factor in your end CR.
Here's a good calculator:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/compcalc.html

[abe]

exactly i am looking for highway mileage and good city driving miles as well.as far as the cr for the motor I am going off of what the engine builder told me from percise engines .com. I am hoping that the 950 holley commander tbi well help combat with the slow take off.i am also running a msd box to help out with ignition.electric ford tarus fan with an alluminum radiator so it wont over heat.

[88hurstolds]

The slow takeoff is most likely from having a 2.73 rear or not a large enough stall converter.
You have to weigh your options between performance and fuel economy.
Knowing your cam specs will help select the proper converter and rear end combo for optimal performance.
Having a mild cam (220 @0.50) with a 2400 stall and 3.23's is optimal for performance, as for fuel economy, it's a 455... unless you baby it you're gonna have poor fuel economy.
I'm running a stock style cam, low stall converter (stock style) and 3.08's and am getting good highway mileage at around 17mpg and excellent performance but as soon as I hit the gas that all goes out the window... and fast too.

[abe]

do you have a carb or efi

[88hurstolds]

Carb, are you going to run a MegaSquirt setup?

[abe]

no i am runnibg the holley commander 950 ecu with a 700cfm tbi.and a air gap dual plane intake manifolf from pro comp.

[468373rocket]

Gas mileage ?

Gas mileage and 455 ? Nah, that is not why you do it. If you want mileage buy a Kia or a Hyundai (whatever). Performance cars use more gas and the faster you go, etc.

If you keep the 2.73 gears I would not do the 200r4, I would use a turbo 350 or 400. My 1985 Cutlass has a 455 and I have already beat up 2 200r4 's. They were stock and don't hold up well to the 1-2 shift at full throttle. If I nurse it a little, normal driving, the current transmission is holding up. I have a 3.73 rear out of an 85 442 and @ 65mph with 200r4 I am staying with traffic at about 3,000 RPM. That is with a short stock 205/70-14 tire.

With highway gears and an aftermarket cam and unknown compression I think your car will be a real dawg. The mustangs will leave you in the dust.

Unless this car is your daily driver and you have a long commute everyday I wouldn't worry so much about gas mileage. You will have more fun with 3.23 or 3.42 gears.

Chugging around town my 455 is not really that bad on fuel. My dually p/u is way worse on fuel useage. If I keep my foot out of it, it is ok.

[468373rocket]

3.73's

I don't want mamby-pamby out on my last post...but..lately I have done a few 30-40 mile commutes with my 455 and the 3.73 gears with the short tires. I can buzz the thing and stay with traffic or do life in the slow lane getting passed by everyone. The noise does get annoying.

Around town the gears are perfect. I wonder what the best compromise would be ? 3.23, 3.42 ? My "Y" code car has 2.14 and my "A" code car had 2.41, I even had an "H" code car w/2.56 posi.

Back in the day people bought W-30 cars with 3.90s and other people ran 4.11 and 4.56 on the street all the time. What have we become, sissies?

[abe]

I don't want mamby-pamby out on my last post...but..lately I have done a few 30-40 mile commutes with my 455 and the 3.73 gears with the short tires. I can buzz the thing and stay with traffic or do life in the slow lane getting passed by everyone. The noise does get annoying.

Around town the gears are perfect. I wonder what the best compromise would be ? 3.23, 3.42 ? My "Y" code car has 2.14 and my "A" code car had 2.41, I even had an "H" code car w/2.56 posi.

Back in the day people bought W-30 cars with 3.90s and other people ran 4.11 and 4.56 on the street all the time. What have we become, sissies?

is this with a 200r4 trans or a 3 speed that you are currently running

[abe]

Gas mileage and 455 ? Nah, that is not why you do it. If you want mileage buy a Kia or a Hyundai (whatever). Performance cars use more gas and the faster you go, etc.

If you keep the 2.73 gears I would not do the 200r4, I would use a turbo 350 or 400. My 1985 Cutlass has a 455 and I have already beat up 2 200r4 's. They were stock and don't hold up well to the 1-2 shift at full throttle. If I nurse it a little, normal driving, the current transmission is holding up. I have a 3.73 rear out of an 85 442 and @ 65mph with 200r4 I am staying with traffic at about 3,000 RPM. That is with a short stock 205/70-14 tire.

With highway gears and an aftermarket cam and unknown compression I think your car will be a real dawg. The mustangs will leave you in the dust.

Unless this car is your daily driver and you have a long commute everyday I wouldn't worry so much about gas mileage. You will have more fun with 3.23 or 3.42 gears.

Chugging around town my 455 is not really that bad on fuel. My dually p/u is way worse on fuel useage. If I keep my foot out of it, it is ok.

this will be one of my daily drivers,I just want my car to operate on the interstate without reving to the sky,my trans has been built to handle up to 500 ft of torque.i want to operate at 3000 rpms at 80 mph instead of 65 mph thats too high and your gas mileage suffers dearly,not to mention the strain on 455,they dont like high rpms

percise engines says that the engine should put out around 400 hp and 500 ft of torque.

i am also running an aluminum radiator with the ford taurus electric fan

the cam is stock 206/206 duration @.050 .433/.433 lift lobe separation 110 and i have a 2200 stall converter.

the comprission is 9 to 1 ratio

i also had some head work done.like port and polish and 5 angle valve job
and i am also running the sanders shorty headers so that should help with the low end.

x pipes full exhaust with aero camber series mufflers

i am running the professional products cross wind intake with the air gap

700 cfm tbi 950 commander efi

and a mallory ignition box

i dont really think that it will really be a dog,it has too much bottom end torque for it to be a terriblely slow or to get dogged by a mustang,good throttle response from a electronic throttle body should help it.sure it may not be like a dragster but being efficent is always good.

perhasp i will upgrade my rearend to something in the 3s like a 3.42 or 3.23

[88hurstolds]

Nice recipe, id go with a 3.23 or 3.42 posi with that converter and cam.
You should achieve 3000rpm at 80mph at that ratio.
I believe there is an online calculator to figure that out with tire size.

[468373rocket]

200r4

is this with a 200r4 trans or a 3 speed that you are currently running

I have the 200r4 with 3.73s . But I have a real short 205/70-14 tire. I think if I fix the exhaust leak it won't be nearly as annoying to drive.