I'm building a 455 for a 1966 Pontiac Catalina and my intent is to build a quick street car that will run on pump gas. I'm not sure what rear end I have but it doesn't matter because it's a 10-bolt and needs to be upgraded. I'd be happy to hear your suggestions on that as well but my primary question is about the cam (like oh so many others...).
I've got a 1976 455 with standard factory rods and pistons and 6x-8 heads. I'm planning to put an Edelbrock dual quad intake and reasonably good quality headers on it. No work has been done to the heads as yet. As I understand it from the CR chart, I should be at about 8.71:1 compression. I really like the choppy sound and I don't plan to drive the car every day so probably looking for something between choppy and rough. I am considering changing to flat-top pistons, which I am hoping will bring me to about 9:0-9:1 CR.
What would you advise as far as cam selection and head work? I don't want to sacrifice too much of the torque that is Pontiac's strong point, and of course I do need enough vacuum for power brakes, but have no problem running an electric pump for that if needed.
I've got a 1976 455 with standard factory rods and pistons and 6x-8 heads. I'm planning to put an Edelbrock dual quad intake and reasonably good quality headers on it. No work has been done to the heads as yet. As I understand it from the CR chart, I should be at about 8.71:1 compression. I really like the choppy sound and I don't plan to drive the car every day so probably looking for something between choppy and rough. I am considering changing to flat-top pistons, which I am hoping will bring me to about 9:0-9:1 CR.
What would you advise as far as cam selection and head work? I don't want to sacrifice too much of the torque that is Pontiac's strong point, and of course I do need enough vacuum for power brakes, but have no problem running an electric pump for that if needed.
