Pontiac Street Performance
Jim Hand provides us with more performance mods. His smooth idling stroked 474 engine is stronger... yet very streetable.

Rather than to merely post an update on Jim's changes as PSP has done in the past, this page is all new and contains all of Jim's tech data.

Everything is current as of 2 October 2006.

Technical Data
Block 1973 455 with '69 4 bolt main caps; "Hard Bloc" added to the bottom of the front soft plugs to add strength to cylinders
Deck Height zero height (.000")
Bore/stroke 4.21" x 4.25" = 473.3 ci
Heads 6x-4 heads ported by "Hand"; w/ Harland Sharp 1.65 roller rockers; stock retainers and keepers in place
Head Flow Nos. on SF 600 Bench, 28" of water .050": 42/20
.300": 195/168
.550": 267/219
Port volume: av 170 ccs on eight ports
Valves Stainless Steel intake:2.11", exhaust:1.77"
Crower 68405 valve springs; positive Viton seal (without insert) to fit installed guides; positive seals and o-ring seals used on all valves
Crankshaft stock, journal turned .010", rod journals turned/stroked for BB Chevy rods, +.040 stroke. All reciprocating parts balanced
Rods Eagle 6.8" rods, PN CRS680003D, from Jim Butler Performance. Longer rods used to minimize side thrust on cylinder walls; ARP 190,000 psi bolts
Pistons JE forged aluminum flat top w/ singe valve relief to provide 10.10 CR
Rings Hastings file fit Plasma Moly rings
Push Rods Straightline Peformance 4130 seamless chromemoly
Bearings All bearings Clevite
Timing gear and chain #062 B billet set from Jim Butler Performance
Harmonic Damper Indian Adventures' SFI approved "Pro Race"
Camshaft Wolverine WG 5059 duplicated by Bullet Racing; 234/244, I/E @ .050"; 284/298 advertised duration; .558" lift on intake,.561" lift exhaust w/ 1.65 ratio rockers; 112 LSA; cam installed @ 107 degrees intake centerline
Lifters New style V-Max Rhoads hydraulic (14" vacuum in Drive @ 800 rpm, 15" in Park @ 825 rpm. (Idle is smooth); lifters set at .027" clearance from full compression
Intake Edelbrock RPM with secondary divider cut down approximately .500"
Carburetor 1977 350 Ci 800 CFM Q-jet by Cliff Ruggles; #73 primary jets, #41 primary rods; .036" to .040" secondary rods depending on temperature. Epoxy molded on air entrance of Q-jet to facilitate air flow
Ignition Stock HEI with GM 990 module, Delco cap and rotor, Bosch spiral wound solid core resistence wires, NGK UR5 plugs gapped .050"; mechanical advance starts at 1100 rpm; total 19 degrees advance in by 2900; initial set at 13 for total mechanical advance of 32 degrees; vacuum advance totals no more than 14 degrees
Oiling System Sealed Power 224-113R, 50 lb. psi oil pressure @ 3000 rpm when warm; Mobil-1 10w30 synthetic oil w/ one pint of GM Motor Oil Supplement (MOS)
Exhaust Hooker 1.75" primaries, 3" collector; Dr. Gas 3" crossover into 3" Torque Technologies pipes; Goerlich Xlerator mufflers w/ huge case (22" x 5" x 11") (doesn't include inlet or outlet pipe length (PN X-141), constructed identical to 2.5" Dynomax SS Utra-flow units; Dr. Gas matching 3" semi-oval tail pipes out the right rear side. Headers modified to fit ports, cleaned up pipe into collectors, and 2" added to all left side primary pipes to more equally match the right side; full exhaust system
Emissions PCV
Fuel 92 octane unleaded gas, no additives
Suspension/
brakes
Competition Engineering 3- way shocks on front, set to mid position, CE 3-way shocks on rear, set to maximum resistance to compression, stock anti-sway bar on front, stock Olds 442 anti-sway bar and boxed lower control arms on rear, stock upper arms, Moroso springs F/R and Air Lift bag in right rear coil set to 16# when racing. Baer Claw® SERIOUS STREET) calipers on front, slotted discs; aluminum rear brake drums from unknown later model GM source. [Relatively soft non-metallic rear linings for best brake feel.] Rear brake adjuster modifed (bent) to keep rear brakes adjusted to minimize drag.
Driveline features TH-400 (built by Tom Hand); Trans Go Shift Kit; transmission governor and valve body modified to shift automatically at 5500-5600 rpm at full throttle; shifts normally under other conditions. High stall torque ratio "Tight 10" "Jim Hand" model from Continental Converter
Rear Gears and axles 3.31 gears, 12-bolt casing, limited slip with HD pre-load springs installed (GM PN 3890860); "C" clip Eliminator package installed for safety. Moser axles for strength
Tires/Rims "Standard tread 225/75/15 radials mounted on 6" Cragar Superlite rims (front); MT ET Radial Street tires, 28"x 13.5" x 15" mounted on Cragar 10" wide Superlite 15' rims
Weight 4070 lbs. as raced with NHRA approved roll bar and other safety features
Performance Average of 18 runs from 4 different outings to Kansas City International Raceway during 2005-2006:

60'= 1.64 sec
1/8 mile ET= 7.35 sec
1/8 mile MPH = 93.21
1000'= 9.60 sec
1/4 mile ET= 11.58 sec
1/4 mile MPH= 115.29

The complete cold air system from the cowl to the carb.
Jim's rocker covers, water crossover, front cover and intake were powder coated with color and clear.
Removing the air cleaner lid reveals special carb fairing to improve air flow. The interior of the air cleaner base has been shaped with Bondo to match the epoxy on the carb top. When the lid is screwed down the transition from the base to the carb is almost seamless. Jim's air flow testing shows an increase throughout the intake system with this modification.
Here's the Q-jet showing the fairing before mount ing on the specially prepared Edelbrock RPM intake.
Note the .500" reduction in the divider height. The reduction is only by the secondary not all the way across. See special BW photo.
Flipping the air cleaner lid over shows Jim's modification to the lid. The underside has a transition made of a small aluminum funnel to help direct air down the carb. It also shows a gain in intake flow.
This is one of the wagon's quicker time slips (left lane).
The new 3" Goerlich Xlerator mufflers fit well under the rear of Jim's car. Also note the semi-flattened tailpipes on the passenger side rear.
A must have for every Pontiac enthusiast.

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Copyright © 1997-2006, Bill Boyle. All rights reserved.