1984 Cutlass Calais / BBO 455 build thread *UPDATED*

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STL84Calais

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Feb 5, 2009
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foxtrot_lima_bravo said:
W30-style exhaust manifolds will work just fine...

I've heard they flow about the same a a set of shorty headers, is that true?
 

robwkamm

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Jun 16, 2009
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they do not flow as much. i pulled them off my 455. degfinitly got more power when i went to hooker super comps. im running a 1969 455 edelbrock aluminum heads , comp xe 274 cam. i see you got sweet 1970 heads on that motor. nice. fyi, i had to cut the hood to fit the carb or you cannot run a air cleaner.
 

dan2286

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robwkamm said:
fyi, i had to cut the hood to fit the carb or you cannot run a air cleaner.

It depends what intake/carb/air cleaner combo he is running. Some people do not have to cut anything.
 

Blake442

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Apr 24, 2007
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The condition of your body mounts will also play a big role in clearance.
There is a fellow here with the same set up as me...
My stock hood barely clears with about the thickness of a nickel between the air cleaner and the inner hood reinforcement.
He had to cut a hole in his hood.
 

STL84Calais

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Feb 5, 2009
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BTW does anyone have extra non-AC 455 brackets (alt, PW steer)? Or an edelbrock performer intake? I'm trying to get what I can used, for a good price. Oh, and with it being a 1970 block, do I have hard or soft valve seats?
 

88hurstolds

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Jun 24, 2008
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robwkamm said:
i had to cut the hood to fit the carb or you cannot run a air cleaner.
I used a cheep, $10 3" shorty air cleaner from Edelbrock that worked just fine on my 84 Calais with a 455, I believe it is a 10" diameter one that just misses the center brace on the hood.
You can also use a drop base one as well if you want to run a bigger filter element. I didn't have to cut the hood at all but the fitment was close...
 

88hurstolds

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STL84Calais said:
Oh, and with it being a 1970 block, do I have hard or soft valve seats?
They are soft valve seats, they were hardened in 1972 and have a tiny A next to the head ID. They only came hardened on Ga heads, not G's.

Besides, I've heard from die hard Olds' guys that it really doesn't matter with regards to the soft or hardened valve seats with Olds heads...
 

STL84Calais

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Feb 5, 2009
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88hurstolds said:
Besides, I've heard from die hard Olds' guys that it really doesn't matter with regards to the soft or hardened valve seats with Olds heads...

I thought unleaded gas will tear up soft seats...
 

STL84Calais

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Feb 5, 2009
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Re: 1984 Cutlass Calais / BBO 455 build thread

UPDATE:
The heads are almost done at the machine shop. We didn't do much porting, they said with my set-up and HP estimates, they will flow just fine. New valves, 3-angle job, hard seats, ect. basically new heads. The block should be going back together shortly, with the transmission coming next (TH400). Pictures will be coming soon. Deadline is May 18th (my B-Day), so things should be progressing quickly now!
 

Blake442

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Apr 24, 2007
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Re: 1984 Cutlass Calais / BBO 455 build thread

Sweet!

Just brace yourself to miss your deadline, since things always have a tendancy to show up last minute that you forgot.

I missed my initial deadline that I set for myself by about 2 years... :oops:
 
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