Author Topic: 409,421,428 0r 455 which 1...... (Read 571 times)

NUTTZ · « **on:** July 09, 2004, 11:58:21 PM »

would you choose IF you could ONLY pick one to drop in your car, AND WHY?

and what car did a 372 Cubic Inch come with?

My pick is torn between the 409 and the 421.. Being a Pontiac man I would pick the 421. not too sure if it came with the plastic covered timing teeth , but easily replaced. I had a friend who had the 428, I wasn't too impressed, although It might have been the crap from the drive train.

Most impressive engines: Mopar 318 little engine big output, and you just can't kill em'. Chevy 327, same reasons. and the ol' reliable 350, you can start them without a carb, And they are in everything!!!! Including some sex toys

Most unreliable: 305, 351 windsor, not sure if i really wanted to add the windsor but personal experience and all that metal in the oilpan.

NUTTZ

Edbert · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:03:23 AM »

My personal choice would be a 427 side-oiler, of course I aint got $15-20K for a used motor. The 351W is a very strong block, basically the size (physical and internal) of the venerable SBC-350 but with the main bearings of the BBC-454. But like almost all Ford engines, the head choices for the 351W were weak, and thats being generous.

GtoRA2 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:10:56 AM »

If money was no object I would go with a Pontiac 455, or maybe a 400 with one of the crank and steel rod stroker kits to turn it into a 455.

But only if I was doing a Pontiac.

For anything else I Would go with a big crated chevy motor.

like this one

572 cubes for 620 HP. 12 grand.

you just can not beat Chevy's crate motors for the money.

GtoRA2 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:12:41 AM »

Heck for 4700 bucks you can pick this up right from a chevy dealer

383/425 HP

WilldCrd · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:16:05 AM »

I'd take the 455 if it was the 455 SD
IIRCC it only came out in the 73'Trans Am and the lemans or lemans sport coupe GTO.
But that info is a decade and 1/2 old on my original HD and Im still using gas tubes as well

GtoRA2 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:41:33 AM »

Wildcrd,
I am fairly sure the SD 455 was only put in 73 and 74 firebirds.

I could be wrong though hehe

72 should have been the last GTO. The 73 was so smurfy It hurts to look at, and the 74 was a POS nova!

NUKE · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2004, 12:46:35 AM »

I liked the Chevy 327, but I'm no gear head.

Steve · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2004, 01:06:59 AM »

Olds had a 455. I owned an olds w/ this motor in it.

demaw1 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2004, 01:53:12 AM »

of the choices u gave i would go with a 421 it is reliable can be built some, 455 is one of the first smog motors so no, my dad had a 421 in our 65 bonneville it ran well of course u know these are the weakest of the big blocks? 372 dodge good luck

GtoRA2 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2004, 02:16:00 AM »

Steve,
Buick, olds and Pontiac all had 455s, they were all different motors too. The Buick 455 was pretty cool!

The SD 455 was a rarity and pontiac only made a few and put them in firebirds. The 73 SD 455 firebirds would do mid 13s off the show room floor. In 73!

lazs2 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2004, 09:25:16 AM »

Ok... the car that came with a 371.. That is easy, it was the 57 olds. There was a J2 version that had a tri power and 312 HP. I put one of these in a 57 chevy I had the heads shaved and it was 60 over.

I own a 327 in my Healey (331) it is a good motor. I also have a 454 (468) The new gen big blocks are about the best tho. crate 572's

440 mopars were very good as were the hemis. The SOHC 427 Ford was a monster. Pontiac allways made old tech perform... 421 was a good motor as was the 455.

There are lsi motors that are getting up to 406" and 550 HP. This is an all aluminum motor. Blown or turboed they are getting 700 hp on the street. Fairly cheaply too.

you can buy crate motors that are blown with 1200 hp for the street.

Big blocks are for making big holes in the air. you don't need a car that looks melted to punch holes in the air if you have 500+ ftlbs of torque.

lazs

Dago · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2004, 09:32:09 AM »

Ahhh, Edbert, the consumate Ford Man.

I have to agree, the 427DOHC side oiler is the tops, and many experts have stated it is the engine that had the most potential, but the lack of number produced hampered it from reaching full potential.

The Boss 429 was quite the powerplant, as were many of the 429 line.

dago

He Edbert, send me your emai if you still have mine.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #12 on:** July 10, 2004, 11:51:00 AM »

the pontiac 421 /428 are the same bore /stroke 4in x 4.012

the 455 is a 4.25 stroke .

now what you do is either drop a 421/428 crank into a 455 or bore the 421/428 out .030 and intall a set of trw 455 forged pistons in it (ok the 455 piston has a higher pin height )
this will set the piston at .108 down the bore when its at top dead center . Now you can take the 72cc cylinder heads and drop them on ... this ussually puts the compression ratio around 9.5 / 9.75 to 1 , (you can even run the closed chamber "670" heads on this without detonation ) use a 505 isky cam or a little larger and you will have a mid 11 sec car (@3000-3400lbs) and it will run on cheap pump gas .

ive built tons of these combo's and they work great
but beshure you use at min polished and pinged rods , corillo's or a set of SD / forged rods .

if anyones interested Ive got an extra set of super duty rods .

i perfur using the 421 block because of its nickle content and thinkness it will go .090 over size and up to .120 if massaged and tested correctly

Just to clarify the 455 didnt truly become a smog moter til 75

as for hot rodding the pontiac 400 well thats a different story but i did put one together that ran 9's and buzzed 8500+ and hung in there for three seasons

mostly these days all i see is rat /mouse crate engines ,and alot of those 302/408 small block fords .

boxboy28 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 10, 2004, 01:51:10 PM »

(in mot a gear head) but.................

As a kid i had a buick ELECTRA 225 with the Buick 455 and possitrack rear end that car was excellent! I also had a Ford Lincon Mercury with a 460 in it (1 legger)

But ild take that old Buick 455 any day! only thing was it cracked the block after the waterpump went out on it! My grandpa (it was his old car) walked me thru replacing the Water pump @ 16 yrs old only to find out the dam block cracked and it kept overheating after about 10 min (no cooling system pressure) and i couldnt find anyone who knew how to fix it! Damn for a boat of a car that fugger was fast and could light em up very nicely!

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **Reply #14 on:** July 10, 2004, 02:06:43 PM »

The 427 Ford was a SOHC, not a DOHC. I've worked on one before, they are rare. It was developed to compete with the hemi, but NASCAR declared it illegal before it ever showed up. Interestingly, Chrysler was working on a DOHC hemi. Work stopped when NASCAR declared the 427 SOHC illegal.

I'll take the 409 myself, since I had one. It was a 63 409-425 in a 64 Impala SS. It ran 7.00 in the 1/8 mile. With two Carter WCFB carbs and gears anywhere between 3.08 and 6.17, it got 6 MPG.