oldsonlywaytogo

hi. i am looking for a little help and any suggestions anyone might have. i own a 1974 olds delta eighty eight royale, ive replaced the exhaust system, thrown a new k&n air filter and filter housing, but im not sure what to do next. i want to increase performance and power. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Oldsguy

What engine are you runnning? The 350 or the 455? With 2 or 4bbl carbs? If the 455 probably with the 2 bbl carb if it is still stock. The first improvement could be a 4bbl carb. I would recommend getting a stock carb/manifold setup off a similar year Olds, that would be esiest.

mikkim129

carb
intake
cam
ignition
maybe ignition before cam since it's eaiser to get at

J'ville

You said you replaced the exhaust system. Did you go with a low restriction dual exhaust, preferably with a "X" pipe insert? The "X" connects the two sides and equalizes the pulses.

oldsonlywaytogo

sorry its taken so long for me to get back on. first to oldsguy, i have the 455 and yeah your right it has a 2 bbl carb. ive already started looking around for a 4 bbl but havent found one in good shape yet. for mikkim129, thanks for the tips, but im not sure what to do with the ignition? J'ville, i went with a flowmast system and yeah it has the x pipe insert

mikkim129

Does it have an HEI?
I've been told thats the way to go but use an up grade kit to 50k

PetChemMan

A compression test will tell you whether you are losing power due to burned valves or worn piston rings. If your cylinder pressures are fairly even across all cylinders , you're probably in good shape. The dual exhaust was a good investment, and the 4 bbl. carb. makes sense as your next step. Check your rear axle ratio, since a numerically higher ratio can work wonders for your acceleration times. Next on the list , but more difficult, would be a high performance cam and then cylinder heads from a higher performance 455. With different heads, you'll have to be sure your pistons are right for the compression ratio you want. If you don't have obvious misfire, I wouldn't worry about the ignition system, other than a new set of wires and a new distributor cap. I've seen national record holder drag racing cars that run stock points type ignition systems with the old low voltage coils, and under about 6500 rpm they work fine. Detroit put high energy ignition systems on cars mainly as an emissions control device, and not as high performance hardware. With the advent of exhaust gas recirculation ( EGR) and leaner air/fuel mixtures, a higher energy spark helped to avoid trace misfire that showed up as higher unburned hydrocarbons and CO in the exhaust.
Good luck with your 455. With the right parts, it is a powerful motor !