I am Sam son, of Sam. Here's some old cars & engines I work on for the hell of it. Also evaluate old race car parts, engines, etc. I'm a retired mechanic/engine builder and I like to talk about engines & cars. I cuss alot. So, if your easily offended, you might want to go watch some G rated cartoons. Because I like to say "Fuck", and offensive shit. If your a crybaby, move along. I don't give a shit. Viewer discretion is advised. ☠️
This video taught me exactly what i wanted to know about my Original Worker I’ve got. Im definitely gonna swap it for a modern dual plane because its on my daily but ill put it on the shelf for future use
@@oogboog7049 Glad to be of help. A RPM will make more torque and similar HP on a typical SBC build. Dave that old shit tho. Getting more rare by the day.
@@thereluctantgearhead4544 oh yeah i plan to, this motor i got for cheap was built around 3 years ago but all the parts are early 70s/60s 461 camel hump heads, port matched 64 cc combustion cambers. 2.02 intake, 1.60 exhaust. Along with some “motion” valve covers
@@oogboog7049 If ya really want a good dual plane intake, look for the old Holley Street Dominator that looks like a GM LT-1 intake. It's a real good piece. Nice runners and plenum volume. Still see them on eBay for $200 or less. The original "Street Dominator" intake was a single plane, but they discontinued it and put the name on a dual plane. The ones from the mid 80s are best. Also GM made a cast iron highrise dual plane for oval track racing, it's a monster. Probably the best dual plane ever made. Got used on Alot of boats too. It's a cast iron version of the old 1970 LT-1 intake that'll take a Holley or Q-jet. Other than the weight, it's a real good piece. I have one I made a video about comparing it to a Edelbrock RPM. Big difference. They can be found on eBay for 2-3 hundred bucks. They were expensive new. Bowtie duel plane. Not much progress been made in the dual plane intake performance since the 90s. Another killer intake is the highrise Mercruser boat intakes that look like a Eddy RPM, but they are way better. Came on Mercruiser Bravo 383s & shit. Expensive as hell tho. Might find a used one reasonable from someone that just thinks it's an old boat intake. I traded a Victor Jr intake for one. New they cost close to a grand. Water jackets are brass, etc. They make Alot of power for a dual plane too. They come powder coated black. Won't corrode for shit. Made to handle salt water. I think the stock boat engine they came on made around 430hp/480tq. They are out there.
I have never played with a pontiac motor. I was in a few 400 smog motor powered cars and they left a bad taste in my mouth, But all that smog era was junk. But I know a guy with a 389 tri power 66 gto that moves well. They have a good intake design and look cool right down to that light blue paint. I like all the early pontiac cars like gto's and parisienne. I was always told the rods are junk whats the limits on stock rods Sam?
I wouldn't use a set of stock rods in a Pontiac engine. Forged rods for them ain't too expensive. But I have had the stock rods with ARP bolts up around 500hp years ago. That's one of the main durability issues with Pontiacs. But they did make some bad ass Super Duty rods that are forged and take alot of power. 455 SD rods were the best Pontiac ever made. Pretty rare tho. Ride in a real properly built Pontiac powered hotrod and you'll definitely be impressed. Most shit in the smog years sucked, but it wasn't the engines fault. Can take a 77 400 Pontiac and build it to be a monster. But they choke the shit out of them stock. Emission laws were hard on Pontiacs, cause they really had to cut the balls off to get them to pass. No compression and tiny cams. But all that shit can be changed. They have alot of potential. The stock RAM AIR 400s and shit hauled ass right away. 1960s was the best decade for Pontiac engines. They made some serious units in them years starting with the Super Duty program in the early 60s. RA 400s, 428 HOs, RAM AIR 5 400 was a beast. 525hp stock. But extremely rare and you had to install it yourself. Pontiac was all about performance back in the 60s. Check out some videos of NHRA "Stock" RA 400 Pontiacs. They typically run low 10s in the 1/4 in 67/68 firebird "Stockers". My old SD421 63 Catalina ran 12s from the factory. Rated at 405hp, actually made well over 500hp. Came with a special upgraded 4spd & 4-30 gear. Factory drag car.
I've ran mid 10s with Pontiac engines decades ago with a lot of stock parts. Parts for them are expensive as hell tho. Rich collectors drove up the price on all the good Pontiac shit.
I know its irrelevant what you look like but a voice like yours. I keep thinking im listening to the actor Sam Elliot. I know you just got to look like him.
@@keithharris9685 My dad looks like his twin. Back when the movie "Roadhouse" came out, all my friends started calling me "GAR". So we could look similar I guess, I've heard that Alot over the years. Hell, he could be related to me and I just not know it. Worlds a small place.
You explain everything to my knowledge 100% my cousin had a couple of goats 66 389 and 67 400 with those 670 heads cam headers intake carb 4 11 gear and built T 400 with a 2800 conv and that MF was a handful on the street back in the day! Cool shit as always! can't wait to see and here one off those ponchos fire up! Thanks man👍
@@judgegixxer Thanks for watching. Pontiac is what I started with, so I'll always have a soft spot for them. Torque monsters. Sound different too, badass for sure. Even a stock RAM AIR 4 GTO sounds like a race car.
This is the stuff, there's nothing like what Pontiac was in the 60s and 70s. The power, the looks and the extra creature comforts inside. It's a disgusting shame they gutted that company's soul away then they cried when they lost sales to imports. Pontiac V8 had a lot of the positives of an SBC and a BBC in one engine. The W72 400 was the last legit muscle car engine in '79. Some could argue for the L82 350, E58 360 and the 351w which all had plenty of potential just not the power out of the box the 400 had installed in a passenger car. There were still a few big blocks and special small blocks in trucks sold in '78-'79 that made power that's about it though.
Pontiac went away for me when they stopped building Pontiac engines. SBC in a Pontiac was bogus. Have a 85 Trans AM, thinking about dropping a 400 Pontiac into that. First engine I built was a 67 400. Made a living over 30+yrs building engines. All started with them old Pontiacs. Glad I held on to Alot of my old Pontiac parts. Still have that 67 400 block. About 42 yrs of this shit.
Man, where did you get all that cool old fucking shit at? Blows my fucking mind! Go 2 x 4’s on 63’. Catalina! That’s the way they did it back in the day man!!! I really would like to see the 63 Pontiac put together ! Show us how to set it up go through the whole damn thing …set up a gear shifter Find a set of hurst lightning rods put on it ….low gears 4.56’s I don’t know why you do this, but I’m glad you do buddy !! really enjoy your stuff man fucking unreal !!
I'm looking for a old Doug Nash 2-4 barrel intake for it. Want to use 2 660 Holley center squirt carbs on a Nash intake. Hard to find piece. Catalina has a 4-30 gear Safe-T-Trak rearend in it now. Going with a built old school B/W 4spd. Also looking for a cast iron M/T blow proof bell housing for a Pontiac. Id like to run mid 11s in it at least.
A cylinder heads are as old as I am I'll be 57 November 3rd my mom had a 68 Firebird back in the early 80s first car ever got a ticket in 75 in a 35 Z thanks for the birthday video Sam you're the best have a great day got to go
Just shows how much different things were built back then. 58 yrs old heads and they are fixing to be redone and used again. Shit was built to last. I doubt many modern car engines will still be used 58yrs from now.
I have had a Pontiac since 1989. About 20 in total. Mostly Trans Ams and Formulas. They are imo the most fun drivers with a good running Pontiac motor. I had a 73 TA 455 4-speed and the motor was built by Nunzi Romano. That motor was a beast. Use to blow off new Vettes back in the late 90’s. Great video Sam👍👍👍
I used to buy Alot of shit from ole Nunzi, he was a character. Sounded like he was screaming at you just having a casual conversation. Good dude. Definitely knew his shit. Been a Pontiac fan myself since the 70s.
@@bloodhawk6252Had one years ago out of a 70 Formula. Damn good engine. Car was totaled, paid $150 bucks for the RA3 and a T-400 trans. Even had a Torker intake, Hooker headers, and a 041 RA4 cam in it. Hell of a deal. Had 13 heads on it. I dropped it in a 67 Firebird. Ran real good. Wish I could find shit like that now. That engine would probably go for $5000 today straight out of the car. Still have the T-400.
Yep, only year head like that. Went from previous 20 degree valve angle to 14 degree angle & 2.11/1.77 with closed chamber. Pretty rare these days. I've read they are the best D-ports, but there's a few D-ports I think are close or as good. Like the 48/12/13/16 etc.
It is sounding sick! Get well 1st, then D/P on, slam that bad boy into your truck an, take us for a skid. Maybe for Christmas? Cheers for bringing us the videos. Love the content. Doug
Great video as always Sam. I plan on putting a 950cfm on my 488 olds what size would you get for it? I have a few old holleys so instead of spending big coin on a new unit I will buy a proform main body and base plate. I do have a ancient 830 d.p. I could freshen up but I think its to small. This is a great video to follow. I would give my left nut to see you set up a rear diff filmed like this. Oh I was at a swap meet a week ago and there was a new predator carb in the box, are they any good? Have you played with them? kind of a unique piece like a big ugly box but I like weird crap. Nolan.
Thanks man. Those Predator carbs are actually pretty damn good. Built a 377 SBC with a Holley tunnelram & tried several different pairs of carbs. One pair was a pair of old Kendig carbs, which is the Predator before the company was sold. But those Kendig carbs kicked ass and was easy to set up. Rare now, but you can still get kits for Kendig/Predator carbs. They do work good on wide open applications, I tried a single on the street on a 327 that made around 540 HP. It was a rich bitch in traffic. Killer race carb tho. You'd be better off with a 850 double pumper baseplate with a proform main body for the 1.75 diameter 850 butterflies. It would flow around 1000cfm and be plenty of carb to support 700+HP. The 850 proform body is around $200 bucks. They work damn good, I've used a bunch of them over the past 20+yrs. They been around a while now. Never got a bad one. They used to be gold dichromate tho and looked less flashy. I liked that look better. They come with the base plate gasket too.
Rebuilding an old school Avanti carb HF 750 From the seventies right now. Custom air bleeds. One of the first high performance Holley hop up shops. Love this video.
Holy smokes, you ain't foolin' one bit, you've got probably 10-20x as much money in the engine, trans, K member, 9", Tq arm, drag shocks, suspension parts and traction as an old '84 Camaro would bring as a roller. Very impressive selection of parts. She's gonna perform a lot better than folks might expect if they only took a quick.glance at it.
@@hendo337 It represents around a $30,000 dollar project. Should run low 10s NA. I've had it for a long time. Alot of work in that car. Entire suspension and drivetrain been swapped out. It's pretty much new mechanically. 496 Bigblock coming soon. It'll cost around $10,000 to $12,000 to duplicate. Should make over 750-800hp NA. I already have all the parts. Just gotta do it. Building 3 big blocks at the same time. 2 Pontiacs and a 403 Olds and a 425 & 455 Olds. And of course the more than 10 SBCs I'm building. Shit never ends. Also have a 4.1 Buick V6 I need to get started on and another turbocharged 2.3 Ford.
@@hendo337 I paid $1500 bucks for that Camaro about 20+yrs ago. Had about 60,000 miles on it. It's had a lot of engines in it. Probably gonna get a few more before it's done. Just found out Hooker is selling the 82-92 F-body bigblock swap Super Competition headers again, so it's on. About $800 bucks a pair. They stopped selling them for years.
I love an old Pontiac, always thought I would prefer a 428 over a 455, figured it would be more eager to rev like a 400, just with a bigger bore and 4" stroke. Those are the same heads that a '68-'69 428 HO 390hp would have had right? There's nothimg like the sound of a Pontiac V8 through a well tuned Qjet or performance aftermarket spreadbore. They re-released Smokey and the Bandit on DVD and they changed the sound effects of the Trans AM, just about ruined the entire movie for me. You always have the coolest stuff, it doesn't just perform, it have a lot of style to it all.
@@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 Shits all a balancing act really. Gotta figure out what the engine wants. I've ran carbs with no PVs on either side. Definitely not recommended for a street machine tho. Wide open throttle use only. Kinda like solving a puzzle.
@@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 Most of what I do is pretty much for drag racing or anything that runs wide open all the time. 3000rpm don't matter if ya have a 5000+ stall and 5-13 gear. So I set most of my race type engines up for wide open optimization. I do shit differently for actual street machines that get driven. Not much traffic on a drag strip tho.
@@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 For example, my daily driver C-10 runs 18 degrees initial, another 20 mechanical advance and no vacuum advance. Jetting is 72 primary, 78 secondary on a 750 DP. 4.5 PV primary only. I experiment alot. Never satisfied. Probably done had 7 or 8 different carbs on it too. Runs real good with the current setup and it's actually dependable. MPG kinda sucks, but a 4-10 gear with a 28 inch tall tire gonna keep the RPMs up. It'll get about 7-8 mpg if ya drive it easy. About a gallon per mile wide open. But we have 15 or more vehicles, so I have shit I can travel with. I just choose to drive hotrods. Even my motorcycle is too rowdy to ride very far. Old drag bike from the 70s. Has high compression and a big cam profile for 1275cc. Loud as hell too and it's a hard tail. Sucks to ride it more than a mile or 2. Has about a 40 mile range on a tank. But it's a 50+yr old Harley that rides wheelies. Cops love it. Open headers that are about 18 inch long, big cam. Over 12-1 compression.
@@thereluctantgearhead4544 Very interesting and informative. I'm more of an industrial machinist than a tuner so not the greatest tuning Holleys. Although I did manage to get 26 miles per gallon with a Holley 850 double pumper on my sbc 383. Took a whole lot of tial and error to get there and a 10.5 power valve though. Cam has decent lift but is very mild so that really helps too. Thinking about changing the rockers to 1.7:1 for a bit more lift and a set of solid roller lifters to lighten up the valve train a bit to see what that does. These old cars are never finished being tinkered with until they're sold.😁😎👍
Annular discharge boosters are a good thing, especially with boost. Used a 830 annular discharge Holley on a 302 SBC back in the day, it was a high 9 second car. 2200lb Vega with a 7000 stall & 6-17 gear. Shifted it at 9500-9800 rpm. Real good carb. Work well on the street too. Good fuel atomization. I have a blow thru 1150 Dominator with annular discharge boosters in it that's going on a turbocharged bigblock. They work well. My 830 was an old NASCAR carb from the 80s.
@@thereluctantgearhead4544 I have a old 830 Holley with annular boosters that was built by Barry Grant. And a Holley 950 HP. The 830 has a 850 base plate and the air horn is removed so it should flow more than 830. I am debating which to use on my big block Oldsmobile race car. I'm leaning towards the 950HP. What do you think?
@@claytonstoolboxThe 830 is basically a 850, but them big ass annular boosters knock off 20cfm compared to standard down leg type. They take up more space. Id try both and see which one your engine runs better with. Never hurts to experiment. I once picked up 2 tenths going from a 850 DP to a 1050 Dominator on a rowdy 455. That was in the 8th. 60ft was even better. Also couple mph.
@@claytonstoolboxI've ran high 9s in the 1/4 with an 830 annular discharge on a SBC in a 2200 lb car. Choke housing was milled off it too. It was on a 9800rpm 302 SBC. Damn good carb.
Just a man who wasted his entire life on engines and cars. Missed out on a lot of more important shit that haunt's me. Mainly family & shit. Had to make a living tho.
Did a whole lot of fuckin up when I was younger. Got first criminal charge at 9yrs old, stayed in trouble till I was in my 40s. Finally had enough. Have 4 kids I don't know. Life full of regrets. These engines just take your mind off shit that ya don't want to think about.
@@thereluctantgearhead4544 I've stayed out of trouble for the most part ( 49 now ). I try to keep law enforcement out of my life. I keep busy wrenching. It keeps my mind busy. Ever since I remember. I've taken everything apart. Most of the time I put it back together. My dad always said you can take it apart because someone put it together. I'm not a big people person, stick to myself. Family is important though.
@@lanesmith148 Yep, been looking for one since the late 80s. Allegily they only came in a few 77 Trans Ams cast in late 76 before the bean counters took a lot of iron out of the blocks. Then in 77 they all got thin. Believe I've seen one photo of a solid main web 403 block, Dave Smith had it. Keep them under 6000rpm and they stay together. I've had mine over 6500rpm many times and it never pushed the crank out. I mostly used the 425s and 455s myself. Ole 403 took a lot of shit tho, I was surprised. I've also heard a few of those solid web 403s were installed into late 76 early 77 RVs. Sad thing is most probably been scrapped years ago. The old shitty 350 Olds diesel definitely has the best block to build on. Couldn't give them away back in the 80s. No power stock, but a proper gas conversion, I've seen them over 2000hp turbocharged. Forged 425 cranks drop right into them too. Seen a NA DX block Olds making over 1000+HP in Pro Stock trim in the early 80s, think it was around 340ci. 10,000rpm. Dave Smith built it too. Seen one built for NMCA real street class back in the 90s, it was over 850+HP with a single Dominator and Bulldog heads & intake. 440ci. Ran low 9s @ 150+mph in a full interior 71 Olds 442. On a 28x10.5x15 tire.
I been watching your videos for awhile now I wish I had your engine and parts problem...lol I'll be 64 in April and you were talking about people selling parts cars that are worth $500 for 20k it's a damn shame the price of everything I'd love to go back to the prices like when I first started hot rodding I bought my first car in im1975 I was 14 years old the guy across the street was selling his 69 chevelle he wanted $600 I never had that much money going to school and working in a gas station so I ran across the street with my $ 275...lol and begged him to let me give him the 275 and pay him $50 a week till it was payed off he was getting married to my cousin and she couldn't drive a 4 speed so he bought a 73 torino so he went inside and talked to my cousin she laughed and told him to let me have it so that night I became the owner of a 69 chevelle small block factory 4 speed chevelle today you couldn't buy the fender for $275.... I'm going to get my 406 ready to bring to the machine shop to have my block all checked out and cleaned up and new cam bearings in it I'm going to make it a 11 t0 1 pump gas engine with a solid roller a set of pro Maxx 215 heads Eric wingardner put one together and the heads flowed right ar 300 cfm out the box. It's got a erson 260x270@ 50 and I think right around 680 on the lift and it made around 625 hp. On the dyno those heads are a copy of some dart heads the heads are cast overseas but all the machine work is done in America and they have all good parts in them pax springs the valves are made in Argentina where AFR gets there valves the price on the heads are only $1400. Eric flows alot of heads and he talked so good about these heads I figured I'd try a set at that price. Do you have any 400 cubic inch small block that you built?
@@richardsmith-qy6vl Yep, wish I had a time machine. Shits gotten way to expensive. I've built probably 10 400s over the years. Have a couple blocks tucked away now. Those PROMAXX heads are good units. Have some myself. Also have the Brodix versions and they are the same castings. 600+HP comes pretty easy with a 400 and a pair of 215 PROMAXX heads. Big ole roller cam definitely helps too.
@@richardsmith-qy6vl Bought my first car when I was 12. It was a 53 Chevy. Paid $75 bucks for it and drove it home. Wanted to build a gasser with it, ended up buying a 67 Firebird when I was 14. Had 8 cars before I got out of highschool. Paid $1500 for the firebird, but it was a built drag car with a rod knocking. Had Alot of good parts already in it. Had it 20yrs before I almost died in it. Ole firebird was mean. Also had a few bigblock ElCaminos and 67-72 C-10s. Vega drag car, old Camaros, GTOs, Trans Ams, old Cutlasses, etc, a long list of cars I can no longer afford. They were damn near disposable back then.
@@richardsmith-qy6vl My birthday is also in April. You have a few years on me. But they are flying by it seems. Never thought I'd live this long. My dad drag raced, so I was born into this environment. Was brought home from the hospital when I was born in a bigblock 68 Camaro. 67/68 Camaro is always been my favorite car.
