[b-man]

Originally Posted by Tim john

Here is a thought : Several kids are graduating from high school very soon and will be tinkering witht heir first rebuilds and a very detailed book on a complete aspect of a Pontiac spefic rebuild would be a wonderful gift, nothing fancy just good solid advice with side bars to add modifications if desired and how to obtain such. Does anybody know of such a good book already available out there. I understand Mr. Hand's book for serious performance and the correct parts but what about a general build ? I would like to have a few on hand to offer as gifts.

Tim

Tim,
I'm afraid the book you have described just doesn't exist. However I'd think that the best one to start with would be the HO engine blueprint book, along with a Pontiac shop manual from the late '60s. Definitely get the Jim Hand book too, lots of good common-sense engine info in there.

It really doesn't make sense to stray too far from stock for a first time build, these engines run very hard with just stock high-performance components. One can easily build an engine (455 for best performance per dollar, a 400 is great too) that will power you deep into the 12s using all stock pieces.