Dazed and Confused SD 455

[iLIKEtransAMS]

OMG!! i hope that i don't get flamed for this post, (b/c it is kind of pointless) but i just found out the the 1974 T/A (White Lightning) in Dazed and Confused is a SD 455! I always thought that the guy was talking out of his ass when he said that he'd kick the guy with the (Mathew Maconahy or however the F*** you spell it) 1970 SS454's ass, but i guess not.

[snaggeltooth]

SD 455 are awsome engines ... Lots of Ponco fans here ... If you do the mods to them like Pontiac intended ......WOW....

[05gtoautoX]

[judgeraiv]

455 SD

[RATCHETMASTER]

LS6454 taken down by a 455?? Not in your wildest dreams

Mod the engine?? That is a whole different ball game.

[iLIKEtransAMS]

true, true, for some reason I thought that the hispanic guy that owned the white T/A said it was modded??? maybe, it really doesn't matter

[Street Lethal]

LS6454 taken down by a 455?? Not in your wildest dreams.

Agreed. The size of one 454 cylinder head is literally the size of two Poncho cylinder heads. Pontiac made great, big cubed, engines back in the day, but they sadly can't compare to the Chevy big blocks...

[ztrouble]

true... plus you just can't f*ck with 'Melba Toast'

[nathan sluss]

good quote.. lmfao!

[iLIKEtransAMS]

Agreed. The size of one 454 cylinder head is literally the size of two Poncho cylinder heads. Pontiac made great, big cubed, engines back in the day, but they sadly can't compare to the Chevy big blocks...

i may just be ignorant, but i don't think that an ls6454 could take down an SD 455, if the 455 has been appropriated wi/ good heads, intake, etc. to pre-emissions cracking down, especially b/c the SD455 not anything like a regular 455, but based off of a nascar racing engine... but that's just me.

[Zboner]

his was a LS5 not the LS6 in the movie it clearly reads 390 HP, and his was modded also, with 11:1 comp .30 over, intake, double pumper and 4.11 gears

[Street Lethal]

i may just be ignorant, but i don't think that an ls6454 could take down an SD 455, if the 455 has been appropriated wi/ good heads, intake, etc...

No doubt that any engine can benefit from a nice build-up, but the reason in which why I would go with a big block chevy over the Poncho, is mainly because of the cylinder heads. Any engine over 400 cubic inches can be considered as a "torque monster" (which is what Poncho's were commonly referred to as, back in the day)...

But remember that true power is found in the cylinder heads, and the potential of the 396-402-427-454 cylinder heads, due to their literal size, makes them umatched (horsepower and torque level wise), accept when your comparing them to the mighty Hemi, of course.....

[The Scientist]

"Donny, you better have your wood screws in...cause im gonna blow your doors completely off!"

[iLIKEtransAMS]

No doubt that any engine can benefit from a nice build-up, but the reason in which why I would go with a big block chevy over the Poncho, is mainly because of the cylinder heads. Any engine over 400 cubic inches can be considered as a "torque monster" (which is what Poncho's were commonly referred to as, back in the day)...

But remember that true power is found in the cylinder heads, and the potential of the 396-402-427-454 cylinder heads, due to their literal size, makes them umatched (horsepower and torque level wise), accept when your comparing them to the mighty Hemi, of course.....

Gotcha

[05gtoautoX]

I disagree with street lethal, The sheer size of the head itself means nothing, the valves can only be as big as the bore allows,the rest of the head such as the ports can only be ported so much until you reach antifreeze, so the literal size of the head does nothing, but IMHO absorbs heat. Pontiacs also have a very long stroke, which through mechanical leverage produces massive amounts of torque, especially on the low-end. And I disagree with him saying any engine over 400 cubes can be considered a "torque monster" a SBC400 has it's fair share, but by no means is it considered a torque monster,(one example). Pontiac was making as much torque with their smaller displacement engines as everyone else was with their big blocks. To say a 73 T/A with a 455 S.D. could not beat a 70 LS-6 Chevelle, is very dependant, especially on driver, final drive ratio, transmission etc. But in a honest, everything being even race, Ithink it would be very close.

[Raoul-Duke]

we know the chevelle was modded....and i don't think that ta was ever stated modded or not?

[Gleomyr]

I am sorry to have to disagree with so many of you but I would have to think that the Pontiac Trans Am SD-455 is one of the greatest cars/engines of all time.

First of all stock the SD-455 was rated at 290hp because in 1973 Pontiac put regulations on their cars making it so that all cars had to be producing 300hp or less. In reality the stock SD-455 was producing 371hp SAE NET. This 371hp figure is however still a truncated number. The original SD-455 produced well over 500hp (due part in fact that it was hand assembled with extreamly low tolerances and based on Pontiacs NASCAR engine design from the '60s...) but they put an inhibitor plate on to reduce the power so it could pass Pontiacs policies and emissions. One of the greatest things about this engine was it was so easy to return to its original 550+ hp form... just drill out 3 rivets, remove the plate, and voila!

So even when it was completely stock with the untampered with 290hp the SD-455 was still able to rocket the 3,504 lb Trans Am down a quarter mile stretch in 13.54 seconds at 104.29 miles per hour as reported in Hot Rod magazine in the June 1973 issue. Thats faster than any stock version of the Corvette until Chevy brought us the $60,000 ZR-1 in 1990... Thats 17 years of complete dominance!

Given all this, I would have to put my money on the SD-455 anyday.

[iLIKEtransAMS]

Gleomyr, that's what im F***in talkin about man, the SD-455 was a BEAST just waiting to be unleashed, at least you know what I was talking about when I said it was based off of a NASCAR engine in a previous post.

im glad someone agrees with me b/c no one was giving the SD enough credit and im really too passive to fight with these guys who like their ls6 454 (not that I don't like the ls6 454, just not against the SD 455)

[snaggeltooth]

I think it is because most people dont know much about the SD 455 , or PONTIACS for that matter ...

[Street Lethal]

I am sorry to have to disagree with so many of you but I would have to think that the Pontiac Trans Am SD-455 is one of the greatest cars/engines of all time...

You are mistaken. I don't think any true enthusiast would ever dismiss Pontiac's engine lineup...

First of all stock the SD-455 was rated at 290hp because in 1973 Pontiac put regulations on their cars making it so that all cars had to be producing 300hp or less. In reality the stock SD-455 was producing 371hp SAE NET. This 371hp figure is however still a truncated number. The original SD-455 produced well over 500hp...

Remember that we're talking about a giant air pump, and that's all. No magic involved. Since you mentioned the factory restriction plate, I take it we're not arguing factory ability, in which if this is the case, it is clearly no longer in Pontiac's favor. No Pontiac engine will ever have a chance in making more power up against any similarly worked Rat engine, period. End of discussion....

So even when it was completely stock with the untampered with 290hp the SD-455 was still able to rocket the 3,504 lb Trans Am down a quarter mile stretch in 13.54 seconds at 104.29 miles per hour as reported in Hot Rod magazine in the June 1973 issue...

Well, as currently being reported through Hot Rod magazine, the F.A.S.T. class is where everything counts now in reference to 55-74 muscle. In fact, the first muscle car in the tens was, you guessed it, a '69 L88 vette. I highly suggest picking up a copy of the December '06 print, titled; "World's Fastest Muscelcars, Finally the Proof"....

Thats faster than any stock version of the Corvette until Chevy brought us the $60,000 ZR-1 in 1990... Thats 17 years of complete dominance!

Do you hear yourself? The L98, for example, was very heavily restricted by the factory, probably even more so than the SD-455. However, with the simple installation of the Holley Stealth Ram onto that motor, your now running similar numbers to that of the stock SD-455, with, not to mention, 100 less cubic inch displacement. Seventeen years of "Dominance"? Not likely...

Given all this, I would have to put my money on the SD-455 anyday.

You'd lose...