I bought a bunch of stuff for my Pontiac 455 from Bruce Fulper (Rock and Roll Engineering) in the mid ‘90’s. Unlike a lot of other opinions, I had pretty good luck dealing with Bruce. He sold me a set of the 72cc Edelbrock heads (serial number RRE-2-36), when they were still very new to the market and a cam (among other things). The heads were supposed to have been ported and they seem to work well. The odd thing about my set up is the cam has slightly more intake duration than exhaust (248/244 @0.050”), 110 Intake centerline and 110 lobe separation angle and .563”/.575” Int/Exh lift with 1.5:1 rockers. The cam is a Comp Cams, Hydraulic Roller, with grind # P3318/3120/HR10. I haven’t seen other cams set up this way (before or since), and I’m interested to know your opinion on this. I understand that the exhaust ports on these heads tend to flow quite a bit better than the traditional Pontiac head, potentially allowing for less exhaust duration. But, since I haven’t seen this type of cam elsewhere, I’m wondering if I am losing power because of my choice in cam. Everything is still going strong and I haven’t had any problems with the engine. Don’t drive it all that much, but it still works well. But as things go, I’m looking to get even more power out of this engine. With the static compression ratio around 12.4:1 and the dynamic around 8.9:1, I do run race gas or 100 low lead. I’m not worried about this hassle and I want to make this thing as powerful as practical, without doing anything to the heads of bottom-end if possible. I have a stock hood, so I am limited on hood space, but any suggestions you have I would love to hear them.

Now after about 20 more years of experience, I’m wondering if you have any updates on cam recommendations for my combination.

A bit more background on my car and combo:

1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible.
1972, 455 CID, bored 0.030”, 4 bolt mains
Stock, factory crank
Edelbrock 72 cc heads prepared by RRE.
Torker 2 Intake
850 Holley, mechanical secondaries.
1 3/4" Headman round port headers, 2.5” exhaust (looking to upgrade to 3”).
Borg-Warner Super T-10 4-speed (installing 12” aluminum flywheel and clutch from Mcleod soon).
3.73:1 rear end.

I really appreciate your help on this one, and if you have time, I have a couple of other questions about potential upgrades and performance improvements:

1. Should I upgrade to larger headers (like 1.875”)?
2. Is a 2 ½” exhaust, with a Flowmaster cross-flow muffler (dual in and dual out) suitable for this engine.
3. Do Edelbrock heads really like 40 degrees spark advance?
4. Is the 850 carb suitable (I haven’t checked manifold pressure at WOT yet), or could this cause an air flow restriction at high RPM?
5. Have you guys ever rigged up a knock sensor on a set up like this (not a computer controlled car)? I think a knock sensor would be a great tuning aid, but I haven’t seen much available out there.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to your response.

"...I want to make this thing as powerful as practical, without doing anything to the heads of bottom-end if possible..."

To make more power, you gotta pack more air/fuel mixture into it, burn it efficiently, then get rid of the exhaust, efficiently.

So, for MAX power you'll need a 1050 Dominator, a KRE Northwind (or Victor if you have room), the correct solid roller cam, big tube headers, at least 3 inch exhaust, with X-pipe, and very low restriction muffs.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/ccrp-0603-run-a-dominator-on-the-street/

http://www.smicarburetor.com/products/sfID1/28/sfID2/5/sfID3/36/productID/50

http://blp.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72_396&products_id=1600

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aed-1050ps/overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/jet-9375s1/overview/

http://www.krepower.com/Pontiac%20Intakes.htm

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-29...h_iuBoCuR7w_wcB

Any less, and you'll have less power. But certain compromises will make it more streetable. So, it all depends on exactly the balance of power vs streetability you want.

I'd go with a hyd roller from SD Performance such as the "Old Faithful" or "Road Paver". But that may not be enuff for you.

http://www.sdperformance.com/viewProduct.php?productID=1816

http://www.sdperformance.com/viewProduct.php?productID=1817

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=778320

I'd go with a GOOD 800 or larger Q-jet carb. There are a lot of these running in the 9's on the track. But you may be a Holley guy.

http://www.smicarburetor.com/products/sfID1/11/sfID2/9/productID/850

http://www.smicarburetor.com/products/sfID1/11/sfID2/9/productID/76

I'd stay with the headers you have, and a 2 1/2" system. But, as said, if you make the other BIG changes, the bigger exhaust system will help, too.

These are just my opinions. My set-up would be "mild". But you may want "wild". Everybody needs to build what they want, not what somebody else thinks they should have. I've learned on these car forums, that my old fashion, conservative ideas are not that popular today.