Ask Ed Ep 9 - Engine Opinions, BUILDING and Modifying a BBC 454. Ed Smith with BarryT 

Can Ed be my grandpa? I absolutely love these videos. So freaking cool to hear him talk about all things automotive and racing!

It's hard to beat the sound of a solid lifter bbc.

Oh,to do these sit around the shop chats,thumbs up,great way to start a Saturday morning

So I'm a dirt late model owner driver family team. We'll in 2019 we lost our only sponsor and blew our high dollar engine and never have been able to recover. I'd live to watch these vids and build my own engine someday. Possibly an ls.

Those Wally Booth amc heads were amazing

Thanks Barry and Ed, really enjoy your get togethers

Well I finally got a truck like Gramps. Mine's a 65 short bed. 352. I know the first thing that's got to go is those nasty exhaust manifolds. And that 300 lb intake. Got me and aluminum intake. And headers for the truck. Your show is the best. My attention span. Is over in about 4 minutes maybe 5. If I got a signal out here in the boondocks I could watch you guys all day thank you so much. God bless you.

Buick had one bad design , aluminum front cover with the oil pump located within it. Metal gears would score the case and loss of oil pressure when hot

Ed is one of the things that makes American great,,,,,,what a treasure it is to listen to the feller!

Priceless Info. and God Bless the Ford Lovers on there MANY engine designs.

I was a machinist 20 plus years for GE. id have a blast working with this man ! he could probably design a whole motor with the best of everything and hurt every company out there pretty bad ! we dont know anything we live it !

The Olds 455 had oil drain back issues that required mods to fix, otherwise was a good motor as long as you kept it below 5K rpm. The Olds and Pontiac motors had fueling issues with stock carbs, the QJet float bowl was too small and the fuel pump couldn't keep it full at high RPM. When drag racing them the motor would go lean because of the small float bowl and burn pistons at the top end. Edelbrock makes aftermarket aluminum heads for the Ford FE motors, all their products are very good quality and perform well.

Love to spend a week with Ed

Thank you so much for answering my question! I always wondered why they drilled those holes in the freeze plugs by the timing set. And I think I'm going to tap and plug that main cap. And I find that the balancer is usually so tight that people (not mentioning names here..) will use the balancer bolt to press it on and then strip it out the crank snout (or was that only me..)

Man i could listen to him all day like i did my uncles talking about their younger days, cars and bikes. What i have realized, seemed like every car back then was one of a kind. All had slight differences, mods, trans etc from the factory.

Just got back from vacation. It’s so nice to hear Ed’s knowledge. He’s a walking encyclopedia. Thanks again Ed

Some people don't remember about them 66 big block Chevy,,, they're just a little bit different,,, good

Dodge next? Great episode here!

Oh but you deceive. You say you don’t know anything but you know the people who DO. This from Georgia the state not the country. Here’s wishing you and Ed great days and cool nights

Great videos Barry and Ed. I really enjoy listening to Ed's stories. He's done just about everything.

My 70 GS 455 4 speed never trashed a transmission, not once and It was hammered on.

Not a Ford engine builder that much? Dad wants to know your picks for a good Small block and a Big block Ford pick for his Mercury Cougar XR7 it's a 1988 and a 1976 and a newer 1995 F-250 single wheel truck and it is only going to go to church, grocery store, towing the 4×6.5' trailer with a 1440 Cub Cadet tractor mower, and maybe a 16' boat with a 140 HP Johnson outboard boat. He said that he wanted the opinion of the best engine builder that he knows besides the NASCAR and LeMans/Indy car guys. But he said that he wanted your opinion because we watch you, and a couple of other on the RU-vid. Thanks again for your time and help with this.

Thank you so much. I have a Buick nailhead in a v-drive boat. It's been sitting for 2 and a half decades. When I bought the boat I had no idea what engine that was I had to ask the guy. It is a 1966 racing Kraft. My Gramps had a early sixties why block 292. .

Barry seems Ed was more talkie is he getting more comfortable around the camera and lights? Either way we appreciate you and Ed you know I’m always going to comment Because that’s what makes the algorithm work and makes this channel grow!

this is perfect audio for looking at BAT listings

As a kid in 70s my niebour had 2 70 challengers always working on them he told me so many things like Ed does .I could listen all day . I seen Ford 391 in old busses and I think 352 also factory stamped in the 70s ever hear of them?

I want to sit down with ed I’m working on something that could be big that nobody realizes about a certain sbc

Edelbrock now makes aluminum heads for the FORD 352, 390 & 427 FE engines. They really wake up the engine and make good power. Aluminum 4 barrel intake manifolds have been available for years from Edelbrock and others & work well with the Edelbrock heads. The Ford factory 3x2 and 2x4 intakes that use Holley 2 barrel and 4 barrel carbs are harder to find, but make real cool Hot Rod & muscle car engines. Those engines are big and heavy and are now being overshadowed by Windsor small blocks and 429 & 460 big blocks. But they are still good powerplants if you have them. Run 'em if you've got 'em! And don't be afraid to Hot Rod 'em! They do make good power!

Didn’t the 1st gen Chrysler Hemi have the same intake port design like the nail head Buick.When I see the 3rd gen Hemi it reminds me of the nail head.

Ed got going on, thanks.

I had a problem getting a balancer on and off a 66 396. Wound up honing the inside of the balancer to make it fit right

What do you think is the best Pontiac Motor for a good solid build. What would you pick for the car for you if you was building one? 421, 455, 400, 389, or a 350? I have seen the best builds for each one but I think I would like to get the option of the option of the engine builder that knows all of the best engines out there. Then Dad wants a Ford engine build which one is the best pick if you was putting one in a car that you had? 460,429, 428, 400, 390, 351, or a 302? Both motors i would like to have to be able to run 89 at minimum or race fuel if necessary and possibly a daily driver if not raining or salt on the road. Will not drive in bad weather or will not run it at 7000 RPM. What is your opinion on the maximum RPM on the engine of choice for each of your picks. The Ford one RPM for the big ones and one for the small ones. Thanks again for sharing this information with me and I hope that you are able to respond to it and we are not going to proceed unless you answer the question for me and my 84 year old Dad. He is looking forward to doing it with me and I will also ask for the Chevrolet pick also. Stock motors only, 496/8.1L, 454, 427 tall deck/ or regular 427, 396, 400SBC, or a 350/327/307/305/283? I forgot the 351Cleveland for the Ford and I might as well ask you about the Chrysler product engine pick 426 Wedge, 413, 400, 383, 360, 340, 318, or the 270 or the size of the small one.

Cadillac 331? I have one bored out to 3.940, ported 56' heads, isky q-400 "big full" cam, etc. Going in a model a hotrod! Maybe too early a build for performance numbers, any ideas on h.p. and torque?

Thanks

The 401 Nailhead Buick engine is what the great Max Balchowski selected to power Old Yeller II, the greatest American road racing car in history, that car sent every Ferrari, Jaguar, Alfa Romero and even the Maserati Bird Cage, what was supposed to be the most advanced race car in the world at the time, along with every other high end European car packing back across the Atlantic with their tales between their legs, those rich Europeans that came over to America to race threw fits over that car, they used to complain to race officials making things up about it and Max in attempts to have him and the car disqualified but it always passed tech. Max was just better than them, him and his wife Ina hand built a racing car from junk yard parts cobbled together and they couldn't stand that it beat their expensive cars. For those of you who don't know who Max Balchowski was he owned a garage he named Hollywood Motors in LA, Max is who prepped the two Mustang's and three Chargers used in the movie Bullitt, he also prepped all the Challengers used in Vanishing Point and built Herbie The Love Bug along with too many other famous movie cars to list, he was Hollywood's go to guy for performance modifications for movie cars. Everyone do yourselves a favor and here on RU-vid enter "The Max Balchowski Story" to see an absolutely fantastic documentary about Max, his wife Ina and Old Yeller II, it's from the old Speedvision series Behind The Headlights, and if you don't immediately watch it again after the first time then you're not a real American, Max and Ina are one of the greatest American success stories you'll ever hear.

What's Ed think of the 1967 428 in a TBird w/sooieside rear doors.

Thank you for your knowledge and videos USA 🇺🇸 TRUMP

When building engine,refer to Ed.dont use yr phone.

Its not a big block i would like to hear more about the 4v Cleveland theres alot of conflicting information on the Internet.