sredmyer

Perfect! thanks

So I am currently having the 454 for one of my SSs rebuilt and am trying to figure out what are the correct bolts for mounting the Quadrajet to the intake. Every source I have found says the front uses two long bolts. However, for the back some say it should be two short studs with nuts and lock washers while others say it should be short bolts. Does anyone know for sure? Also does anyone know where I can get the proper bolts and/or studs.

yes nothing yet. I plan to do some significant work to the interior this winter so maybe I will find something then.

Not sure about casting numbers...where do I find those?

That is kind of what I was thinking. I just wont be able to match this motor to the car. That's a shame though, I am nearly certain this car is a true high option SS but I do not have a build sheet and without a matching number 454 I just can't be certain.

Yeah, I see that too but the VIN of this car is 138570L120949. I do not see any way what is on the block can be part of the VIN for this car.

This is as good as it gets. Looks like there might be a 1 in front of the CRN but that is all I can make out.

My understanding was that warranty replacement motors would not have been stamped with the CRN. In fact they have a whole different numbering scheme that starts with "CE"

So I have a few of these gems and all but one are numbers matching. My most recent acquisition, a silver 1970 SS454 is not a numbers matching motor. The motor has some stuff stamped on the deck behind the alternator but the only thing I can make out for sure there is the CRN. From everything I have been able to determine that means the motor is a 1970 454 out of a Monte Carlo. However, the few numbers stamped on the block by the oil filter that I can read (I can only actually read 2 numbers) do not match the cars VIN. So the according to the CRN code the motor is a 1970 Monte Carlo. We all know the only way to have gotten a 454 in a 1970 Monte is with the SS package. That seems really unlikely that someone would have replaced the motor with one out of another 1970 SS. Especially considering all the other things about this car which are not "correct". Is there some other way to explain this?

Can the tach be calibrated to be more accurate?

Well it seems I have one more problem with this conversion...the tach appears to be wrong. Based on discussions with others and my own research online, I have determined that the RPMs at 70MPH should be 2880 but my tach is reading 3300. Here are the details... Rear end ratio 3.31 This was verified by spinning one wheel 10 times (other wheel blocked) which resulted in 16.5 revolutions of the driveshaft. Using the formula of driveshaft rotations x 2 / wheel rotations we get (16.5 * 2) / 10 = 3.30 rounded to the nearest know ratio is 3.31 Tire size of 255/60/15 yields a tire height of 27” The Muncie M20 transmission gear ratio is 1:1 in 4th gear Given those values, we can calculate the engine RPM at 70 MPH as follows… 336 x MPH x Gear Ratio / wheel height = RPM Or 336 * 70 * 3.31 / 27 = 2883 As mentioned above when driving down the road at 70 MPH (as verified by the WAZE GPS app on my phone) my factory tach was reading 3300 RPM. One other bit of, possibly relevant information is that the car has been converted over to HEI ignition. Any ideas as to what is going on? Why is the tach reading wrong?

Chrome looks better (my $0.02) but painted is correct

Can anyone with a big block and stock exhaust manifolds post a picture of how a 90° spark plug boot fits. My other cars both have the more original wire style with the small straight boots. It seems everything available these days (especially for HEI) have the extremely large spark plug boots like pictured below. In the attached picture, the two boots on the top are what I am finding available. The bottom one is what is on my other cars.

Well, I feel silly! I bought a new set of wires at the local AutoZone (before seeing Dennis's last post) only to find out that the straight boot on them made the wire for cylinder #5 rub my steering shaft. But that's not the part that made me feel silly...while looking at this situation I noticed there was a wire off the distributor cap. Put that wire back on and she runs like a dream again. I can't believe I missed that...I had convinced myself it was a spark issue so I can't imagine how I didn't see that. I guess I was so focused on finding a broken or burnt wire having one just fall off never even occurred to me. Oh well, it is all better now but I still think I want to put on a better fitting set of wires. Thanks all for the help.

I don't see anything obviously wrong with the wires. I also turned all the lights off in my building and ran the engine and saw no evidence of spark jumping. That said, the wires that are on the car are quite long and look like they might get tangled in the steering so I would like to replace them with a better fitting set. Unfortunately, I am not sure how to buy new spark plug wires for the car...the car has been converted over to GM HEI ignition so I can't just go tot he local parts store and say I need a set wires for a 1970 Monte with a 454.

So I got my silver SS454 out to go to a show today. The car has never (at least by me) been driven more than just around my local area. Furthest I have driven it (prior to today) was probably 30 miles. Anyway, the show I went to today was a bit further away. Everything was fine on the drive there for the first 20 miles or so but then it just started missing really badly and backfiring in the exhaust (not through the carburetor). It seemed to run mostly ok as long as I wasn't really under any load but as soon as I had to give it a little extra gas to make it up a hill (or go over 50mph) it would start the sputtering and backfiring. I was nearly to the show when this happened and it is a hot day so I thought maybe it just got hot so I limped onto the show keeping it under 50mph. I reasoned that maybe having several hours at the show to cool down might help it. Well when the show was over it started right up and seemed to run fine. Unfortunately as soon as I got out on the road it started doing the same thing so I limped it home again keeping it at or under 50 mph (which was difficult on the freeway). So here is what my software engineers brain (not a mechanics brain) has made of the situation thus far. It is back firing out of the exhaust not the carburetor so it is likely that at least one cylinder is not firing and is just pitting its gas out the tail pipe to be ignited in the exhaust. It seems to run fine (not missing noticeably) at idle so the problem is likely electrical...spark to week to fire plug under load conditions. It seems to run ok when not under load that requires giving more gas (ie. going up a hill) so the problem is likely when the carburetors secondaries are opened up As mentioned, I am a software guy not a mechanic so it is very likely that all of my conclusions are completely wrong. Can anyone help shed some light on what might actually be going on? Thanks

Although I do not know Kelvin, I do know the car and the guy (Allen Gross) that did the work on that car. He is a good friend of mine and has done work on all of my cars. I watched that car get done...in fact that car is at least partly responsible for reviving my interest in the first gen Montes

Is there a switch I need to add to the column? I have the linkage for the factory lock out installed and you must put the car in reverse to get the key out but if understand it right, all that does is rotate the column collar to the "Park" position. Seems there would need to be some sort of switch on the column (that likely would not be there in an automatic column) to actually make the reverse lights come on.

I have just completed (well almost) the conversion of my Silver SS from a floor shift automatic to a 4 speed. I need a bit of help to get the last bit working. I am not sure where the neutral safety goes and how it is wired? How are the reverse lights wired up? Any help greatly appreciated.

Finally got around to installing the 4 Speed in my silver SS454. Since this car was not a numbers matching motor or transmission and I do not have a build sheet, I decided to just make this a "fun" car and let the other ones be the "correct" show pieces. Still got a couple more things to do for the 4 speed to be totally correct but it is drivable and a total blast to drive!!

I second that! I have had a few opportunities to meet folks from the club and have found all to be just great people.

Mike, It was great meeting you and your wife. My friends and I really appreciated your hospitality showing us your home as well as your absolutely beautiful car. I hope I am able to visit again next time I get down there. Thanks, Steve

No this was a small car show in a small town just outside of Myrtle Beach.

Yes I do.

The number should be stamped on the housing behind the shifter mechanism. See the picture attached, I have circled, in red, the area on which the numbers should be stamped.