82 cutlass supreme to 355 sbc
- Thread starter dave_s1987
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My motor was in a 4500 lb impala before the cutlass, id say it felt like 300hp. I have yet to drive the cutlass with this motor but it has a better intake manifold, and a more suitable carb, 3k stall converter to match the cam, and the rear end will be done. I don't really worry about hp numbers, more overall performance in the car. The 882 heads are crappy even though they have bigger valves they are not pnp like they should have been. I had it shifting at 6.5k with a restrictive zz4 intake and too much carb, so we'll see how it acts now. Waiting for funds to do the 3" exhaust, it also had 2.5" before So hopefully it's going to breathe better.
So what did you end up doing with the heads? Those 886's are turds compared to what is available for less money than to rework those. That piston is a flattop 5-7 cc piston, and along with the 76cc smogger heads your compression is no where near 10.5:1 (mentioned in your original post.) I come up with 9:1 if quench is at .040. This a great spot for a set of Promaxx or Speedway off shore budget friendly heads or some Profilers if the budget allows. Any plans or info with the cam?
What are your plans(intentions) and budget?
What are your plans(intentions) and budget?
Well I have lot of big plans but have been running out of money. First off I should mention that my experience/knowledge of this kind of stuff is very low but I learn a little everyday.. usually by doing by doing something the wrong way first lol anyways, I did mention in my original post that I was going to get some new heads or look at getting the ones I have rebuilt. I have found a few deals here and there on my local classified site but I honestly have no idea what half of all those specs mean so I end just not knowing what will work best with what I have. At this point I have taken the top end off of the motor and cleaned and painted everything black and bought a rebuilt holley 750 double pumper (too much?) and had the intake blasted and cleaned up. I'm going to continue to see what's out there for the next 3 weeks and if I cant figure it out ill just have to put the crummy 882's back on it for now. I bought a 2004r transmission last week and have it going in on Friday for a shift kit install and full rebuild so that ate up a good chunk of my car money right there.
I also don't know a lot about the cam specs other than its a comp cam. I will say that I accidently turned the motor over on the stand with the head and intake off and a few of the lifters fell out so I ended up taking all the lifters out and they, and the cam, looked they were in great condition still (but what the hell do I know) lol since I couldn't figure what holes they came out of when they fell out I decided to buy all new hydraulic lifters (even though the old ones looked brand new) as to not mess anything up. should I have bought new lift rods as well? or will they be fine?
with the two tall vents on the right side valve cover makes me think it was used in a circle tack car...
Yes that's exactly right. I hate those valve covers and ended buying a new complete chrome kit for the motor.. Probably should have spent my money elsewhere but things like that happen over a long winter lol I bought the motor from a friend of a friend who had it in a circle track car. According to him it never got raced much after the last rebuild but who knows what to believe in these situations.
I wouldn't say you should have spend your money elsewhere. That engine ran once a week for a few hours at most and alot of tracks in the US limit the engines to 5800 rpm.
yeah, it similar here but I'm not sure of the exact rpm. They have to build and race within a certain guideline so it wasn't as abused as bad as one would think. He also told me right now it was not running on pump gas when taken out of the circle track car but said it should start with premium gas and will run poorly until I adjust the timing? Not sure if that makes sense? luckily once the motor is in a friend is going to help me with stuff like that lol
The lifters falling out is a problem. You need to put the lifters back onto the lobe they came off from - it is critical. Otherwise you can expect a flat cam in a hurry and a complete rebuild will be needed in short order. The good news is that cams are cheap, less than $300. But those heads don't help much.
Your at a point where you need to decide to do it right or poke and hope. Doing it right isn't that hard with some basic tools and someone to gyuide you.
You really need to post what you want to do with this motor and what your budget is. If you ask, then I'll answer, and being that I'm somewhat new to this forum I don't know too many people here, but I would assume that there are many that can guide you through a basic cam and head swap. The tuning is much more difficult than the assembly IMO.
First item on the agenda is to inspect the bores above the pistons and drop the pan and check a couple of main and rod bearings to determine if the short block needs work (if it's a time bomb) presently.
Best of luck - Jim
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