1969 Skylark, Performance Time

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I have a 69' Skylark Custom convertible. Factory 350 4V. The car has single exhaust, and is nice and quiet. My first question since a 455 will have to wait a little bit is it possible to have duel exhaust, with headers and keep it that nice quiet Buick volume level??? I just know how to make things loud!!!<P>I am also looking for the 455 building experience to come out of the woodwork. Is it possible to build power with non-GS heads??? Or will I have to buy the stage-1 heads from TA performance??? What are the problem areas with the 455, what cam, what this what that??? I built chevys before, but do not have experience with buick power, and I want to learn fast!!! Is it possible to have a quiet 455, that puts out around 350-400 HP??? I am not looking for insane amounts of fuel economy, just long as it will get around 12-14 MPG highway. Has anyone put a TH700 in a buick??? Any help will be appreciated.<P>thanks<BR>james

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lsmft100@aol.com:<BR><B>I have a 69' Skylark Custom convertible. Factory 350 4V. The car has single exhaust, and is nice and quiet. My first question since a 455 will have to wait a little bit is it possible to have duel exhaust, with headers and keep it that nice quiet Buick volume level??? I just know how to make things loud!!!</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>If you're contemplating a 455 in your future, go for a 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust and jet-hott coated headers. Use DynoMax LONG CASE mufflers. The headers add wome noise all by themselves, but this is a relatively quiet setup<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I am also looking for the 455 building experience to come out of the woodwork. Is it possible to build power with non-GS heads??? <P>I think you mean non-stage1 heads....they have bigger valves than the regular 455 heads. Non-stage heads can be made to accept the larger valves....you're just going to pay the machine shop the $$ instead of buying a set that are already done.<P>What are the problem areas with the 455, what cam, what this what that??? I built chevys before, but do not have experience with buick power, and I want to learn fast!!! Is it possible to have a quiet 455, that puts out around 350-400 HP??? I am not looking for insane amounts of fuel economy, just long as it will get around 12-14 MPG highway. Has anyone put a TH700 in a buick??? Any help will be appreciated.<P>thanks<BR>james<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Biggest problem area is oiling - there are several ways to get around this though. 350-400 Hp ??!!?? No Problem !!<P>The best advice i can give you is to seek out your local chapter of the GSCA as well as the the national GSCA club. these guys know how to build any flavor of 455, from mild to wild. The national newsletter constantly has members "recipe" for their cars<P>Try these sights<P>buickperformance.com<BR>buickgsca.com<BR>TAperformance.com<P>Hope this helps some<P>

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I am in the same situation... the 455 will have to wait.<P>I have a '70 'Lark 350-2 that has dual exhaust... it is fairly quiet but I think it could be made LOTS quieter by changing mufflers. I'll try the Dynomax long-case mufflers... thanks for the suggestion GoJoe. Also, an "H" pipe can make a system quieter... this I know from practical experience on another car I owned long ago.<P>Stock from the factory the hp ratings (for 1970) ran from 350 to 370, with 510 lb. ft. of torque. As far as I am aware, standard 455 heads are fine for build-ups. I have also heard people talk about using 430 heads on their built 455 motors, but I don't clearly understand the difference between the older 430 castings and the 455 heads which would seem to be far more common. Perhaps someone else can post with an explanation.<P>Matthew<P>p.s. - come to think of it, you could get your 350 to make 350 to 400 hp and still have a streetable daily driver... it just wouldn't have that stump-pulling torque that the 455 does...<p>[This message has been edited by 67GSCalif (edited 09-27-2000).]