00 black ss

iTrader: (9)

so my uncles has a 454 73 nova that is bored .30 over. is combo was made in the late 80s and is old technology. he is looking for a mid 11 sec car. right now the car has a 12 bolt with 373s and weighs in at 3200lbs and a 3 speed auto. he also has 11-1 dome pistons so he has to watch out with PTV clearance. what do you guys recommend?

pancherj

What heads are on it now? Mid 11's in a 1973 Nova with a big block should be no problem. I would think a set of early oval port heads with bigger valves and a little port work, a solid flat tappet cam with 240'ish duration, RPM Air Gap and an 850 double pumper should do the trick. Pump gas with 11:1 and iron heads isn't going to work out too well. Does he run race gas only and no street time? For this build, I would definitely stay away from rectangular port heads.

Oldsmobility85

iTrader: (1)

Why would you stay away from square ports? COPO cars with mechanical flat tappets victor jr. intakes headers and 4.56 gears could run 11s on accident in the late 60 early 70s with muncie transmissions and retread slicks. 11to1 compression used to be no big deal but with todays fuel they like to spark knock when you shut them off but still does ok with a little bit more fuel.

pancherj

I would stay away from the rectangular ports because they just aren't needed. He will be giving up useable torque. I am new to the BBC, but when I built my 496 I did a lot of reading and asking questions on the chevelles.com forum (lots of big block builders over there). There are guys making HUGE power with oval port heads. I put a mildly ported set on my low RPM 496. I am shooting for 500HP/600TQ and a 5800RPM shift point. I did screw up the compression. I ended up around 11.5:1 because the 049 heads came out at 109CC chambers instead of the 120ish I was planning on. The heads were milled and I wasn't aware of that.

Oldsmobility85

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I guess you have a rather good point. Most of the cars that I was refering to in the 60s and 70s were stick shift cars with big gears. So the torque loss was no big deal. Dr. J's Performance ported a set of oval ports for a 496 that was featured in Engine Masters Magazine a couple years back that made right at 700hp. That was a real big deal too. But those guys are top notch. A set of blended square ports would do okay also if they were readily available I would think.