4 speed manual vs th350

[Bonnewagon]

A 455SD in a Ventura?!? That would be something!! Although the X bodies used the same subframe as the F bodies so I guess it would be doable if the factory could have been persuaded to look the other way. I do know of a 73' Grand Prix that had a 455SD. Could have had the motor in exchange for a running 400, as the guy hated the crappy mileage. My kids were babies, money tight. BOOMP- kicking myself in the butt. Later he wanted $400. BOOOMP-kicking myself in the butt again. Excuse me while I go kick myself some more....

 

[mebe007]

Thats what my dad told me it came with. the motor sitting in the back corner of my grandparent garage right now and there is a 383 under the hood right now. he said he had issues with it and didnt have time to tear down at the time it was his daily driver.


so anyways this is the setup i was going to get:
http://maliburacing.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4beb0a9ccf
seemed legit enough and a very decent setup. while ive been texting the guy over the phone all week long. Calling wasnt an option during the work day. but anyways we finally settled on a price which was offered up by me, but then all of a sudden it was his friends transmission. Then it became ill have to see if he will accept it. so then it came back to well someone wants to leave a deposit so you pay this much now and its yours otherwise its gone. so i bought into it a little and said ok. anyways i got curious about details of the setup. he really couldnt seem to answer them even though he claims to have built the car for his friend. now long story short he doesnt accept paypal, only cashiers check and money order. So then he gives me his freinds address and name to send the money order to. Well i said ok but i wold like your friends phone # to confirm this and your name. So he says i cant give you his # he doesnt want to deal with it. and then he said his name was moe. i said i need your last name. then he slams back with "why would you need my last name, i cant be married to you after this sale. You know what i dont want to sell you these parts anymore." and thats the last i have heard of it.

guy is supposed to be located in Freeport NY. Anybody close to there? If its legit maybe one of you guys could lend a hand. Otherwise it got real fishy real quick. i mean spending close to 1K you would think you would provide the buyer with all the details he wanted just to reassure them you werent going to tear them a new one.


So im a bit lost at the moment. i like the idea of having the shifter further back then the factory location. i would like a strong transmission since ill be look at around 450hp at least with this build. I know where i can get the 606 bell housing for around $100 and i know i can get the rest of the parts from the parts place or musclecars only, but Super T10's and muncies are seeming outrageously priced.

anyways thats my rant for the day. any input?

 

[Randy_W]

I do know of a 73' Grand Prix that had a 455SD.

A guy named Snooks Weaver in Elizabeth City, NC had one as well, an SJ, though Pontiac and most so called experts, deny they ever happened. Snooks' car had 3.42 gears And factory cold air intake that consisted of 2 hoses with stainless scoops taking air under the bumper similar to late sixties 442's. His car was ordered in July and delivered about 3 days before the release of the '73 models, Roughten Pontiac went ahead and delivered the car the day after it arrived. Pontiac rep contacted them and told them to hold the car and under no circumstances deliver it. Mr. Roughten basically told them that the ship had sailed on that one! Pontiac contacted Snooks and tried to buy the car back, then threatened to cancel the warranty, then basically walk away after a few months.
I've been criticized for this story before so believe me, I can take it. In '01-'02 at one of The Woodward Dream Cruise events I went to back then, I was talking to Jim Wangers about one of his GTO's and the SD-455 came up. I specifically asked him about the SD-455 actually leaving the plant in Grand Am, GTO and Grand Prix cars. He smiled, winked and held up 8 fingers. So I don't know if that meant 8 total were built, or if 8 got out the door to customers. I have never been able to ID any others for sure. Most people assume these are just urban legend, but I can positively ID one. :wink:

 

[pontiacgp]

and here's what the 455 SD engine option would cost ya..."The SD 455 engine option cost $521."... :shock:

Randy, a friend of mine bought a 75 trans am new, one year after the SD was discontinued but he got an SD after he bugged the salesman to find him one and it was installed in his trans am when he picked it up. He did pay a bit more than the $521 tho and I'm sure he buttered the salesman's hand too

 

[mebe007]

so shifters. what comes down to shifters. anything i can or cant use. remember im dealing with bucket seats and no console. it seems hard to locate a trans with a good shifter. especially for a decent price.

 

[Bonnewagon]

There are 3 distinct neighborhoods in Freeport. The richy-rich, the total white trash, and the illegals, with some normal people filling in the spaces. I'm guessing you got the trash. If you can get an address I'll be glad to scope it out for you. There are some very distinct features on a 455 SD, and since you have the motor out, look at the back of the block. There will be a casting for a dry sump oil pump. Here's some ID info- 455 SD Facts and numbers:

eng

FACT 1: The '73 and '74 Super Duty cars had the SAME engine rated at 290 bhp .... the 310bhp were never sold to the public.

FACT 2: The top two bolts of the valve cover AND also some of the rocker studs, unless threads are sealed will suck oil into the intake manifold and burnt in the motor.

FACT 3: The valve springs have a different installed height on the SD as opposed to "other" Pontiac motors.

FACT 4: The following SD parts were different from your "average" Pontiac .... Block, Heads, Con Rods, Con rod bolts, Pistons, Valve Springs, Valves, Intake manifold, Cam, Distributor, Carburetor, Oil pump, PCV valve location.

FACT 5: The intake valves on the SD have a 45 degree seat angle. Nearly all other Pontiacs had 30 degree seat angles on the intake valves. The exhaust were common with other Pontiacs having 45 degree seat angle.







VIN Number :

The 5th digit will be an 'X'



Block ID :

Cast on the rear of the block 490132 - 491948

Stamped on the front of the block:

1973 auto XD

1973 manual ZJ

1974 auto Y8

1974 manual W8.

Pontiac have been known to mis-stamp on a few occasions e.g. my old '73 SD T/A auto had its block stamped XJ.

Reinforced lifter valley webbing.

Provision for Dry sump oiling.

4 bolt mains.



Head ID :

485214 - 485216

Cast on centre exhaust port is a number 16. A small number of heads did not have this number cast.

On a small machined surface just below the valve cover the digits 6H will be stamped.

id01.JPG (52952 bytes) id02.JPG (41017 bytes)

Screw in studs.

Press in push rod guides.

2.11 Intake valves with 45 degree seats and 1.77 Exhaust valves with 45 degree seats.



Rods :

485225

Forged SAE 8640 steel.

Series A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H.

7/16 inch bolts.

Rockwell 25-32.



Crank :

490164 - 9799103 - 495030

Nodular Iron.



Pistons :

493159 - 493163 - 493421

TRW forged. These Pistons only fit the SD rods.



Camshaft :

493323 'Y' - 0.401inch lift or is it 0.407 inch lift ?

310 degree exhaust duration - 298 degree intake duration (Pontiac info).

313 degree exhaust duration - 301 degree intake duration (Other non-Pontiac sources).



Intake ID :

Cast here will be either LS2 or LS2X.

Also stamped are one of the numbers 494419 - 495107 - 495103 - 494405.

id01.JPG (52952 bytes)



Exhaust ID :

490803 - Left.

490802 - Right.

Round Port.



Carburetor ID :

Rochester Quadrajet 800 cfm

1973 - Automatic 7043270

1974 - Automatic 7044270

1973 - Manual 7043273

1974 - Manual 7044273

GM service replacement for auto 17054819



Distributor ID :

1112205

Large distributor gear.



Other ID :

The nearside valve cover has a red and silver Superduty 455 decal. The PCV valve is positioned in the oil filler cap instead of the usual valley cover.

id03.JPG (35179 bytes)



TRANSMISSION



TH400 : SD code PQ followed by serial number eg. mine is 74 PQ 1296



800 cfm QuadraJet Jetting

The data below is the stock factory specification


Automatic Transmission

1973 - 7043270

1974 - 7044270

Factory Service Replacement - 17054910


Manual Transmission

1973 - 7043273

1974 - 7044273
Primary Jets 75 74
Primary Rods 49 44B
Secondary Rods BV DM
Power Spring

 

[mebe007]

ill have to check that out at the next holiday.

 

[Randy_W]

The SD-455 also has round exhaust ports like the 455 H.O. and Ram Air IV.
That is correct, the 310 h.p. engines had the 041 cam from the Ram Air IV and were too close to the edge of emissions standards during testing, so rather than take a chance Pontiac used the 744 grind from the Ram Air III. That knocked 20 h.p. off the net but added 5 ft lbs of torque and there was virtually no difference in performance in a/t cars and only a few hundredths in stick cars. :wink:

 

[mebe007]

let me ask again: what shifters can i use and not use on this setup? any particualr model to pay attention to? remember no bench seat and no console

 

[Randy_W]

With buckets and no console you can damn near use anything you want, within reason. Get a Hurst Competition Plus, you won't regret it, except when you pay for it. :wink: