The best engine ever period. And I’m lucky to own one. In case you wondering, block # 490132 with round port heads. Recently rebuilt with everything brand new and round port edelbrock heads. This motor is a beast…
Great video. Awesome motor. I had an SD 455 that HO Racing Specialties built for me back in the seventies. It was scary fast in my 73 Firebird. Good old Pontiac. 😊
Could you guys do a video on comparing iron d-ports ported to 275-280 cfm vs. 310-315 cfm Edelbrock heads? I saw a build in 2002 Pontiac Enthusiast with a 462 and mildly ported Edelbrock 87cc, Comp Cams 320H that made 588hp. I always wondered what fully ported 6X heads would produce on that engine.
The high performance guys at Pontiac did design a 428 with the RAIV heads and gear for 1970, but then Pontiac replaced the 428 with the 455 and they didn't think the engine and drivetrain would hold up with a high compression RAIV type 455 engine. This did inspire the round port, aluminum intake 455 HO for 1971 though.
please show the pull’s data in future vids…not that I’m skeptical, but because many of us Combustion Performance Nerds like to know more than just peak HP.
It made 503 HP and 583 torque. email us at info@butlerperformance.com and we can send you a copy of the dyno sheet. We thought it was impressive for a stock appearing Pontiac.
Always bothered me the Pontiac's burned the paint off the heads (and were rusty) right where the manifolds bolt on. Ford FE's also. This made the same HP as my 1970 351C, but a lot more torque.
Are you running hei! if so go with 670 heads or #48 or #16 heads these heads work great with 92 octane or better! No debt no detonation even in the summer with the AC on 10.75.1 will run excellent! If not using hei ! Go with. The #96 heads!
I have a question, I just got a 81 trans 4spd car, that has a junk 350 in it, what would I have to change to do a 455 swap? I hear that the bell housing will fit, I'm wondering if that is true, if so , what about the starter, fly wheel, clutch, and motor mounts,
Does it have a Chevy 350? If so the bellhousing won't work without an adapter plate but you can just swap the bellhousing with a BOP pattern unit. The motor mounts are totally different but the 81 T/A should have the holes already in the frame to mount the correct Pontiac engine mounts in the correct location, you can buy new mounts at any parts store. Then all you need are the motor mount brackets that bolt to the engine. Of course all the brackets are different for the accessories so you will need to source those too. Sometimes you can still get lucky in the junkyard on those parts. I don't know if Butler carries them but I wouldn't be surprised after as may years as they have been in the Pontiac business. You will also need a bigger radiator because a radiator for a 350 is barely adequate to cool that little engine and a 455 Pontiac with it's siamesed cylinders requires a strong cooling system. But they are managable. I swapped a 455 into an '80 Turbo T/A many years ago. It was really easy since the 301 turbo motor is a Pontiac to begin with. It was a super sleeper that looked like a stock 301 turbo car but it ran mid 12's in street trim. Back in the early '90's when I was tearing up the streets in it that was very fast. I miss that car for it's sleeper value! Good luck on your swap, once it's done you'll be glad you did it!
Thanks dave, mines a 81 original 301 turbo 4spd, it has a 350 Chevy which was pulled, lower end is gone, came with the 4spd, I was thinking just doing another 350 to keep in easy but the guy I got the car from has the 455 which is in a Bonneville, complete ran when parked, he might have other parts, I just want to make sure I down head down a road of needing hard to find parts,
@@michaelmchugh2923 Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. They are slightly different than a Chevrolet. The bottom 2 bolts and the aligning dowels are the same on all the bellhousings but the 4 top bolts are different. You can get an adapter plate for around $60 or $70 but they aren't as strong as having the correct bellhousing and a torque 455 needs the right one. Luckily on your 4 speed all you need to do is change the bellhousing itself. It bolts to the transmission with 4 bolts and they are all over Ebay for $50 to $75.
Thanks you for the information. I'm wondering why SD-455 engines, which were suppose to be built expressly with high performance in mind i.e. high rpms, are not seen more with operating rpm ranges in the 7,000 - 8,000. It seems only marginally worth while to build a special big block engine only to have it operate at low rpms like most every other big block. I had the luck in 1979 to have a friend in high school find a 1966 4-speed 389 tri-carb GTO in his drive way one day. His brother had bought it at auction in Bristol VA. We lived in Northern VA. The story at the action was the car had had just about every performance modification tried on it over the years, but at its last rebuild had been put mostly back to stock. The car had tall sidewall rear tires that got gummy to the touch when they got warm and as much as I tried to read the writing on them I couldn't. The writing appeared to have been rubbed off. I now realize that engine was obviously not close to stock, but looked stock. The car for maximum acceleration liked to be shifted around 6,700 rpms. It had good bottom end torque, but the real zoom power was between just over 5,000 rpms and around 6,500 rpms. Between 4,500 - 5,000 the engine changed character (and sound) from being a low end toque monster to being a rocket ship. When my friend was going through an intersection one day in 2nd gear he floored it and then got the shift from 2nd to 3rd just right. I was push back against the seat so hard it collapsed the springs in the seat back and I could clearly feel the steel frame of the seat back pushing into my back. We'd gone from about 35 - 40 mph to about 75 -80 mph in what seemed like a couple seconds. It almost seemed like we hadn't spent any time accelerating at all and were just instantly going 80 mph. The car was later stollen by the mechanic when it was in to have its clutch replaced. I've heard a lot about the SD-455 really being a race engine and don't understand why people think that when it stock form and even performance builds it still shares common big block rpm redlines of round 5,000 rpms.
Many (including us) feel it's a benefit to have true street engines that make torque and HP at lower RPM. The bottom end is definitely good for much more RPM but we loose control of the hyd valvetrain at some point before we reach the redline of the bottom end.
@@butlerperformancepontiac Thank You, I've wonder about this forever. On that particular 1966 4-speed tri-carb "389" GTO my friend said one day he missed the 3rd to 4th shift and it was hovering around 7,000 rpms for awhile, after which he said it didn't run so well. After all these years I'm convinced the auction of that car in Bristol VA was a way of distancing the car from its former owner and mechanic before it was used for a reverse drug sting operation. It was sold stating its clutch was bad, but the mechanic was moving to northern VA and would install the correct clutch for free once he was in his new shop. In deed, first gear was hard to get much of the time and my friend would take off in 2nd. I was never allowed to drive it. When taken in for the new clutch the mechanic was taking a long time and we were told he was working on the car at night, then the car and the mechanic disappeared. The shop said they think the mechanic was involved in drug dealing. I thought the shop was trying to get out of responsibility for the car and had made up the story. It wasn't my car or my friend's car, but his older brother's and that brother's best friend. I wanted to be around the car again, but we were not even suppose to be drive it so I really didn't have a plausible connection to it. Two months later my friend said two detectives came around his house asking about the 1966 GTO. They said the police were out of about $80,000 cash and if they didn't get the money back a lot of important people were going to loose their jobs. Evidently the 1966 GTO, or as they called it "the blue car" was used in a reverse sting operation where the perpetrators had set up the cops to make a major "product" purchase and then rushed it so the cops couldn't take down dollar bill serial numbers or do any of the normal procedure for checking out the $80,000. There was no way of tracing it. The sting operation had caused Fairfax County police in under two hours to put together some 50 police and cars to be in the area of the deal. This was exactly what the sting operational people had been told by the perpetrators they watched for and they were totally against it, saying they'd just wouldn't show up. At the deal after the courier had taken the money and gone back to the car to get their package there was just silence from their officer on the scene. After a great deal of time they decided to break radio silence to get in contact and when they did their operative was so incoherent they at firstly were concerned he was in mortal danger. After a few careful questions they determined he was alone and not in any immediate danger. He said the car had just disappeared. It just wasn't there. He didn't have the money or the "product". He had been looking at it and it had just disappeared. After walking him through the situation several time the best description they could get out of him was the car was blue. They called for the police cars to close in on the blue car. As soon as they'd get a sighting of the blue car there'd be a mad rush to get the blue car only to have it disappear before they got there. With 50 police cars all converging in a rush they immediately started running into each other and when they avoided hitting each other they'd hit other things. It became an obsession to get the blue car. The police radio became so clogged with calls for injury reports and assistance they were blocking out reports of the blue car, so they told all crash reports and non urgent medical calls to hold. This masked the carnage that was taking place. Eventually the manager of the Fairfax County Police resources stated he had concluded his officers where in such a confused state of mind and so obsessed on getting the blue car they were not mentally fit to carry on and certainly not fit to conduct an arrest. He ordered all police to stand down, find a safe place and park and stay there until given further instructions. DON"T PERSUE THE BLUE CAR LET THE BLUE CAR GO. Of the 50 patrol cars all had been in some type of incident. About 1/3 were totaled, 1/3 might be repairable, but would have to be towed and 1/3 were still drivable, but not fit for service. These were likely mid 1970s Ford Torino. We never heard anything else about that 1966 GTO. The way the engine sounded above 5,000 rpms was incredible. It was like there was a wild animal trapped inside the engine and it was going to find away out no matter what. I can remember getting out of high school and walking up to my house then hearing that engine distinctly in the distance and immediately get excited. Then my friends would pull up to take me for a ride. The more it rev'd the more it seemed to want to rev. Right out of high school I got (rebuilt) a Porsche 914 and became a member of the Porsche Club. At track days at Summit Point WV I'd get to go for track rides in other cars. I thought I get some of the acceleration I'd experienced with that 1966 GTO, but nothing really was close to that 1966 GTO. I never been in or on anything else I've experienced acceleration like I felt in that car.
@@dr.detroit1514 No the story about the auction about the car in Bristol VA was the car had had just about every modification possible tried on it over the years by its well moneyed owner and its particular mechanic, but for auction it had been returned basically to stock. They were going to put a new clutch in with the rebuild of the engine, but they found out they had the wrong clutch and had to put the old warn out one back in. The car would almost not go into first gear and would slip. It worked just well enough to drive on the Interstate 400 miles. The reason the car was being sold was its mechanic was moving to northern Virginia and hence it couldn't be the owners project car it had been over the years. IF SOMEBODY happen to be taking the car around N. Virginia once the mechanic was settled in to his new job he would replace the clutch for free. I'm now sure this was all a story to get somebody to get the car in their name, take the car to N. Va and park it. Which is what the GTO was doing at my friends house, sitting waiting for when the mechanic would replace the clutch. With the youngest brother of the three still at home and me a teenager encouraged to get into road racing by friends father that was a developmental test driver for Ferrari in the early 1970s there was a big change in the PARK AND WAIT setup for that GTO. The car had tall sidewall back tires as tall as the tires were wide and they were probably a good 10" wide. There was writing on the sidewalls, but no how muchI tried I couldn't read it. It may have been rubbed out. When my friend had been accreting the car hard I could feel the tread on the rear tires and it had gotten warm and gummy to the pinch of my fingers. Many years later I've only gotten the feeling from race tires. Under hard acceleration in 2nd gear in the front passenger seat I'd feel the frame of the seat back poking into my back as the seat back springs were completely crushed by the G forces pushing me back. Even if another car had the power to wait ratio of that car I don't think they could catch it, because it would push the rear axle down harder with harder acceleration and gain incredible grip. This could even be used to pivot the car's weight off the front wheels when approaching a cross road with a very high crown typical in certain intersection in Fairfax County VA. That car could go from 40 mph to about 75 mph in 2nd gear in a couple heart beats. It would seem I'd blink and it was now going that fast and approaching an intersection with the fear of a high crown cross street. My friend got more experience with the car and decided to scare me or maybe shown me something cool. He came up on a high crowned cross road at 80 mph and just before he featured the throttle causing the nose the car to dip down then just before fighting the crossing crown he went full throttle causing the car to lift nose of the car putting almost all the weight on the rear tires. As the front of the came upon the high road section he back down on the throttle causing the nose to take a little bit more of weight of the car as the rear hit the crowned section still with the axle pushing down hard from accelerating. I could feel most of the spring of the car was in the sidewalls of the rear tires. The car made it over a huge obstacle at 80 mph that I would think would have crushed the suspension of any other car. If you were dumb enough to chase that car across a high crowned intersection at close to 100 mph by an average driver I don't think they make it. That turned out to be the case according to the story told the detectives. They said about 10 cop cars were chasing it, came upon an intersection and all the cars behind the lead car ether ran into each other or ran off road to keep from hitting the other cars. They were basically all totaled, but no reported injuries to drivers. The lead car went a mile or so before it stopped running. The only car that didn't crash going through the intersection. The people that set up that car really knew their stuff and how to drive it. They pulled off a reverse sting operation using everything. It would make a great movie! That car was damaged by over reving by the missed shift my friend did to it and its my guess the mechanic decided to go even further when modifying the car when he was suppose to be replacing the clutch to make sure it was very solid. It was likely on sometime of drag tire, had all the springs and shocks replaced with just what they wanted, something like 650 hp in a 3400 lb car with a 4 speed manual. It looked stock. The real effect of the car was phycological. They had to get the cops to give up and let it go.
This Super Duty might not have ever been factory installed in one of the 600 or so original Super Duty Trans Ams. I am betting that 3 to 4 times as many 455 SD's were sold over the counter from '73 to '85 when production on replacement engines ceased. And if this is an original the car it came out of might be gone or the owner might just want to have his original car run way better than stock. I agree that these are valuable engines that should be cared for but it's also nice to see them used for their original intent, hauling ass!
@@superduty4556 The fact that the engine has the factory block, heads, intake, and carburetor in my mind lends itself more to it being updated rather than modified. Putting in a different cam, valves, valvesprings , rocker arms etc. are very typical hot rodding upgrades for any performance minded engine. The engineers who crafted the SD455 were genius in extracting the power levels they achieved in the mid 70's as restrictions on emissions and noise levels basically choked off potential performance gains. A current engine builder, like Butler, can now overcome those restraints with a few simple changes that reveal the true potential of these legendary Poncho motors!
I love Pontiac I would love to know more about them the engines I have tried calling you guys try to get you to call me back and nobody I've not received nothing I guess maybe you're just too busy
I'm all for tweaking the motor.....especially regarding better engineering, etc. .....but....if this is a bullet proof low production motor from the factory with historical significance - not sure why anyone would bastardize this.
Pontiac 455s are good for one thing.... TO BE BUILT HIGH PERFORMANCE.... Other than that they're a gutless piece of garbage and couldn't pull a lid off of butter dish. My 389- CHEW THEM up and spit them out
![Quando Rondo - Grow Up [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8zFnCg3BO4Q/mqdefault.jpg)
One of the best high performance engines ever to come out of General Motors. Now? Better with Butler!
Thanks for the comment barcrrt. If you have the time would you mind emailing me? You can email shipping@butlerperformance.com
Without a doubt! This and the 1970 454 LS6 are my favorites.
The best engine ever period. And I’m lucky to own one. In case you wondering, block # 490132 with round port heads. Recently rebuilt with everything brand new and round port edelbrock heads. This motor is a beast…
Great video. Awesome motor. I had an SD 455 that HO Racing Specialties built for me back in the seventies. It was scary fast in my 73 Firebird. Good old Pontiac. 😊
wish I lived at the other side of the river with a bit more money to bring my 455HO to Butler...
Cheers from France
Butler does very good work.
That's what I need in my TA
That is an awesome motor.
Could you guys do a video on comparing iron d-ports ported to 275-280 cfm vs. 310-315 cfm Edelbrock heads? I saw a build in 2002 Pontiac Enthusiast with a 462 and mildly ported Edelbrock 87cc, Comp Cams 320H that made 588hp. I always wondered what fully ported 6X heads would produce on that engine.
It's really too bad the Pontiac didn't come out with this engine in 1970, with 10.75-1 compression and the 308/320 cam.
Didn't need it: This engine was a monster. Anyway, compression isn't everything: "Cylinder pressure" is what counts -
@@markkukowski3710 How is cylinder pressure different than what is meant by compression (ratio)?
Stock 1970 Ram-Air IV 400 made more power than the Stock '73 455SD.
Not really they just measured HP different from 70 to 73. Gross HP on the SD appx 370
The high performance guys at Pontiac did design a 428 with the RAIV heads and gear for 1970, but then Pontiac replaced the 428 with the 455 and they didn't think the engine and drivetrain would hold up with a high compression RAIV type 455 engine. This did inspire the round port, aluminum intake 455 HO for 1971 though.
That dyno pull DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING!
they were embarrassed to post
please show the pull’s data in future vids…not that I’m skeptical, but because many of us Combustion Performance Nerds like to know more than just peak HP.
That thing's a badass!!!!
Would have been nice if we got to see how much power it made
It made 503 HP and 583 torque. email us at info@butlerperformance.com and we can send you a copy of the dyno sheet. We thought it was impressive for a stock appearing Pontiac.
@@butlerperformancepontiac Really cool.
Excellent job, men. How reliable is the stock block, at that power level? Thanks for posting.
@@joequillun7790 No issues at all at that power level!
I want one!
How much power loss is to be expected with RA IV exhaust manifolds? 50 hp?
Always bothered me the Pontiac's burned the paint off the heads (and were rusty) right where the manifolds bolt on. Ford FE's also. This made the same HP as my 1970 351C, but a lot more torque.
I would love to have a job at their facility.
Question are the pontiac 455 engines ( 500813 with 96 heads any good) worth building? i have the opportunity to buy one for a decent price.
Are you running hei! if so go with 670 heads or #48 or #16 heads these heads work great with 92 octane or better! No debt no detonation even in the summer with the AC on 10.75.1 will run excellent! If not using hei ! Go with. The #96 heads!
503 hp! I want to know how many ft lbs of torque it made!
The description says 583 ft/lbs.
Wow!
I have questions........
I have a question, I just got a 81 trans 4spd car, that has a junk 350 in it, what would I have to change to do a 455 swap? I hear that the bell housing will fit, I'm wondering if that is true, if so , what about the starter, fly wheel, clutch, and motor mounts,
Does it have a Chevy 350? If so the bellhousing won't work without an adapter plate but you can just swap the bellhousing with a BOP pattern unit. The motor mounts are totally different but the 81 T/A should have the holes already in the frame to mount the correct Pontiac engine mounts in the correct location, you can buy new mounts at any parts store. Then all you need are the motor mount brackets that bolt to the engine. Of course all the brackets are different for the accessories so you will need to source those too. Sometimes you can still get lucky in the junkyard on those parts. I don't know if Butler carries them but I wouldn't be surprised after as may years as they have been in the Pontiac business. You will also need a bigger radiator because a radiator for a 350 is barely adequate to cool that little engine and a 455 Pontiac with it's siamesed cylinders requires a strong cooling system. But they are managable. I swapped a 455 into an '80 Turbo T/A many years ago. It was really easy since the 301 turbo motor is a Pontiac to begin with. It was a super sleeper that looked like a stock 301 turbo car but it ran mid 12's in street trim. Back in the early '90's when I was tearing up the streets in it that was very fast. I miss that car for it's sleeper value! Good luck on your swap, once it's done you'll be glad you did it!
Thanks dave, mines a 81 original 301 turbo 4spd, it has a 350 Chevy which was pulled, lower end is gone, came with the 4spd, I was thinking just doing another 350 to keep in easy but the guy I got the car from has the 455 which is in a Bonneville, complete ran when parked, he might have other parts, I just want to make sure I down head down a road of needing hard to find parts,
What is the BOP pattern?
@@michaelmchugh2923 Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. They are slightly different than a Chevrolet. The bottom 2 bolts and the aligning dowels are the same on all the bellhousings but the 4 top bolts are different. You can get an adapter plate for around $60 or $70 but they aren't as strong as having the correct bellhousing and a torque 455 needs the right one. Luckily on your 4 speed all you need to do is change the bellhousing itself. It bolts to the transmission with 4 bolts and they are all over Ebay for $50 to $75.
Awesome, thanks for the info, I'm definitely thinking of going for the 455,
What cam did you use?
Thanks you for the information. I'm wondering why SD-455 engines, which were suppose to be built expressly with high performance in mind i.e. high rpms, are not seen more with operating rpm ranges in the 7,000 - 8,000. It seems only marginally worth while to build a special big block engine only to have it operate at low rpms like most every other big block.
I had the luck in 1979 to have a friend in high school find a 1966 4-speed 389 tri-carb GTO in his drive way one day. His brother had bought it at auction in Bristol VA. We lived in Northern VA. The story at the action was the car had had just about every performance modification tried on it over the years, but at its last rebuild had been put mostly back to stock. The car had tall sidewall rear tires that got gummy to the touch when they got warm and as much as I tried to read the writing on them I couldn't. The writing appeared to have been rubbed off. I now realize that engine was obviously not close to stock, but looked stock. The car for maximum acceleration liked to be shifted around 6,700 rpms. It had good bottom end torque, but the real zoom power was between just over 5,000 rpms and around 6,500 rpms. Between 4,500 - 5,000 the engine changed character (and sound) from being a low end toque monster to being a rocket ship. When my friend was going through an intersection one day in 2nd gear he floored it and then got the shift from 2nd to 3rd just right. I was push back against the seat so hard it collapsed the springs in the seat back and I could clearly feel the steel frame of the seat back pushing into my back. We'd gone from about 35 - 40 mph to about 75 -80 mph in what seemed like a couple seconds. It almost seemed like we hadn't spent any time accelerating at all and were just instantly going 80 mph. The car was later stollen by the mechanic when it was in to have its clutch replaced. I've heard a lot about the SD-455 really being a race engine and don't understand why people think that when it stock form and even performance builds it still shares common big block rpm redlines of round 5,000 rpms.
Many (including us) feel it's a benefit to have true street engines that make torque and HP at lower RPM. The bottom end is definitely good for much more RPM but we loose control of the hyd valvetrain at some point before we reach the redline of the bottom end.
@@butlerperformancepontiac Thank You, I've wonder about this forever. On that particular 1966 4-speed tri-carb "389" GTO my friend said one day he missed the 3rd to 4th shift and it was hovering around 7,000 rpms for awhile, after which he said it didn't run so well. After all these years I'm convinced the auction of that car in Bristol VA was a way of distancing the car from its former owner and mechanic before it was used for a reverse drug sting operation. It was sold stating its clutch was bad, but the mechanic was moving to northern VA and would install the correct clutch for free once he was in his new shop. In deed, first gear was hard to get much of the time and my friend would take off in 2nd. I was never allowed to drive it.
When taken in for the new clutch the mechanic was taking a long time and we were told he was working on the car at night, then the car and the mechanic disappeared. The shop said they think the mechanic was involved in drug dealing. I thought the shop was trying to get out of responsibility for the car and had made up the story. It wasn't my car or my friend's car, but his older brother's and that brother's best friend. I wanted to be around the car again, but we were not even suppose to be drive it so I really didn't have a plausible connection to it.
Two months later my friend said two detectives came around his house asking about the 1966 GTO. They said the police were out of about $80,000 cash and if they didn't get the money back a lot of important people were going to loose their jobs. Evidently the 1966 GTO, or as they called it "the blue car" was used in a reverse sting operation where the perpetrators had set up the cops to make a major "product" purchase and then rushed it so the cops couldn't take down dollar bill serial numbers or do any of the normal procedure for checking out the $80,000. There was no way of tracing it.
The sting operation had caused Fairfax County police in under two hours to put together some 50 police and cars to be in the area of the deal. This was exactly what the sting operational people had been told by the perpetrators they watched for and they were totally against it, saying they'd just wouldn't show up. At the deal after the courier had taken the money and gone back to the car to get their package there was just silence from their officer on the scene. After a great deal of time they decided to break radio silence to get in contact and when they did their operative was so incoherent they at firstly were concerned he was in mortal danger. After a few careful questions they determined he was alone and not in any immediate danger. He said the car had just disappeared. It just wasn't there. He didn't have the money or the "product". He had been looking at it and it had just disappeared. After walking him through the situation several time the best description they could get out of him was the car was blue. They called for the police cars to close in on the blue car. As soon as they'd get a sighting of the blue car there'd be a mad rush to get the blue car only to have it disappear before they got there. With 50 police cars all converging in a rush they immediately started running into each other and when they avoided hitting each other they'd hit other things. It became an obsession to get the blue car.
The police radio became so clogged with calls for injury reports and assistance they were blocking out reports of the blue car, so they told all crash reports and non urgent medical calls to hold. This masked the carnage that was taking place. Eventually the manager of the Fairfax County Police resources stated he had concluded his officers where in such a confused state of mind and so obsessed on getting the blue car they were not mentally fit to carry on and certainly not fit to conduct an arrest. He ordered all police to stand down, find a safe place and park and stay there until given further instructions. DON"T PERSUE THE BLUE CAR LET THE BLUE CAR GO. Of the 50 patrol cars all had been in some type of incident. About 1/3 were totaled, 1/3 might be repairable, but would have to be towed and 1/3 were still drivable, but not fit for service. These were likely mid 1970s Ford Torino.
We never heard anything else about that 1966 GTO. The way the engine sounded above 5,000 rpms was incredible. It was like there was a wild animal trapped inside the engine and it was going to find away out no matter what. I can remember getting out of high school and walking up to my house then hearing that engine distinctly in the distance and immediately get excited. Then my friends would pull up to take me for a ride. The more it rev'd the more it seemed to want to rev. Right out of high school I got (rebuilt) a Porsche 914 and became a member of the Porsche Club. At track days at Summit Point WV I'd get to go for track rides in other cars. I thought I get some of the acceleration I'd experienced with that 1966 GTO, but nothing really was close to that 1966 GTO. I never been in or on anything else I've experienced acceleration like I felt in that car.
@@douglasengle2704 Maybe it was one of the famous "XS" GTO's?
@@dr.detroit1514 No the story about the auction about the car in Bristol VA was the car had had just about every modification possible tried on it over the years by its well moneyed owner and its particular mechanic, but for auction it had been returned basically to stock. They were going to put a new clutch in with the rebuild of the engine, but they found out they had the wrong clutch and had to put the old warn out one back in. The car would almost not go into first gear and would slip. It worked just well enough to drive on the Interstate 400 miles.
The reason the car was being sold was its mechanic was moving to northern Virginia and hence it couldn't be the owners project car it had been over the years. IF SOMEBODY happen to be taking the car around N. Virginia once the mechanic was settled in to his new job he would replace the clutch for free. I'm now sure this was all a story to get somebody to get the car in their name, take the car to N. Va and park it. Which is what the GTO was doing at my friends house, sitting waiting for when the mechanic would replace the clutch. With the youngest brother of the three still at home and me a teenager encouraged to get into road racing by friends father that was a developmental test driver for Ferrari in the early 1970s there was a big change in the PARK AND WAIT setup for that GTO. The car had tall sidewall back tires as tall as the tires were wide and they were probably a good 10" wide. There was writing on the sidewalls, but no how muchI tried I couldn't read it. It may have been rubbed out. When my friend had been accreting the car hard I could feel the tread on the rear tires and it had gotten warm and gummy to the pinch of my fingers. Many years later I've only gotten the feeling from race tires.
Under hard acceleration in 2nd gear in the front passenger seat I'd feel the frame of the seat back poking into my back as the seat back springs were completely crushed by the G forces pushing me back. Even if another car had the power to wait ratio of that car I don't think they could catch it, because it would push the rear axle down harder with harder acceleration and gain incredible grip. This could even be used to pivot the car's weight off the front wheels when approaching a cross road with a very high crown typical in certain intersection in Fairfax County VA. That car could go from 40 mph to about 75 mph in 2nd gear in a couple heart beats. It would seem I'd blink and it was now going that fast and approaching an intersection with the fear of a high crown cross street. My friend got more experience with the car and decided to scare me or maybe shown me something cool. He came up on a high crowned cross road at 80 mph and just before he featured the throttle causing the nose the car to dip down then just before fighting the crossing crown he went full throttle causing the car to lift nose of the car putting almost all the weight on the rear tires. As the front of the came upon the high road section he back down on the throttle causing the nose to take a little bit more of weight of the car as the rear hit the crowned section still with the axle pushing down hard from accelerating. I could feel most of the spring of the car was in the sidewalls of the rear tires. The car made it over a huge obstacle at 80 mph that I would think would have crushed the suspension of any other car. If you were dumb enough to chase that car across a high crowned intersection at close to 100 mph by an average driver I don't think they make it. That turned out to be the case according to the story told the detectives. They said about 10 cop cars were chasing it, came upon an intersection and all the cars behind the lead car ether ran into each other or ran off road to keep from hitting the other cars. They were basically all totaled, but no reported injuries to drivers. The lead car went a mile or so before it stopped running. The only car that didn't crash going through the intersection.
The people that set up that car really knew their stuff and how to drive it. They pulled off a reverse sting operation using everything. It would make a great movie! That car was damaged by over reving by the missed shift my friend did to it and its my guess the mechanic decided to go even further when modifying the car when he was suppose to be replacing the clutch to make sure it was very solid. It was likely on sometime of drag tire, had all the springs and shocks replaced with just what they wanted, something like 650 hp in a 3400 lb car with a 4 speed manual. It looked stock. The real effect of the car was phycological. They had to get the cops to give up and let it go.
WHERE in Northern Virginia?
Were the heads cut or did it have dome pistons?
Milled the heads
Flat top pistons with valve reliefs cut in.
Domes retard combustion.
Truth.
BullyBilly.
painted it?
Dyno results?
This Pontiac SD achieves 503.2 Hp with 583.3 Torque, and that torque number was achieved at 3600 RPM!
Oh lord that's a beast.
@@butlerperformancepontiac Damn. I miss my '67 GTO. I really love what you guys do over there building those engines.
@@butlerperformancepontiac What a torque monster, I love it
@@butlerperformancepontiac thanks for adding the info on the heading.
how much $$ did it come to be??
You guys do great work, but I guess I'm not sure how I feel about these engines being modified.
This Super Duty might not have ever been factory installed in one of the 600 or so original Super Duty Trans Ams. I am betting that 3 to 4 times as many 455 SD's were sold over the counter from '73 to '85 when production on replacement engines ceased. And if this is an original the car it came out of might be gone or the owner might just want to have his original car run way better than stock. I agree that these are valuable engines that should be cared for but it's also nice to see them used for their original intent, hauling ass!
@@1967davethewave I don't think they made very many service replacement SD blocks - most folks just wanted the rods!
Not modified, updated.
BullyBilly.
@@williamhelus3522 ...by modifying it haha
@@superduty4556 The fact that the engine has the factory block, heads, intake, and carburetor in my mind lends itself more to it being updated rather than modified. Putting in a different cam, valves, valvesprings , rocker arms etc. are very typical hot rodding upgrades for any performance minded engine. The engineers who crafted the SD455 were genius in extracting the power levels they achieved in the mid 70's as restrictions on emissions and noise levels basically choked off potential performance gains. A current engine builder, like Butler, can now overcome those restraints with a few simple changes that reveal the true potential of these legendary Poncho motors!
What pistons did you use?
We make a custom ROSS piston for these.
I love Pontiac I would love to know more about them the engines I have tried calling you guys try to get you to call me back and nobody I've not received nothing I guess maybe you're just too busy
I'm all for tweaking the motor.....especially regarding better engineering, etc. .....but....if this is a bullet proof low production motor from the factory with historical significance - not sure why anyone would bastardize this.
That doesn't look like a Chevrolet big block
No dyno info = why'd you bother posting it
it's in the description, 503 HP and 583 Torque, along with details of the build
Pontiac 455s are good for one thing.... TO BE BUILT HIGH PERFORMANCE.... Other than that they're a gutless piece of garbage and couldn't pull a lid off of butter dish. My 389- CHEW THEM up and spit them out
Well they could be pieces of garbage because so many of the 455's found their way in to Grandville's and the like with net horsepower at maybe 200.
You’re as dumb as dumb can get… 😂
WOW!