Here's an olds story that IS true. A friend of mine has a 1981 Olds Delta 88 with over 540,000 documented miles. When he bought the car, he got all the receipts and teh like from the original owner that went back to the first gas fill-up in 1981 a week after buying the car. When he bought it in 1998, it had 525,000 miles, and the original 307 was still running like a clock, but it smoked out of every gasket from the oil leaking. Yanked the 307 and dropped in a 455 with the stock 200R4 tranny, 3.73's in the rearend and kept it computer controlled with the carb and distributor. Now, unless you know what to look for, he pops the hood and you're staring at a stock-looking delta 88's engine bay. He says "you wanna race?" and blows your doors off with high 13 second timeslips. That's a stock 455 running headers in a 3800 lb car with over 540,000 miles. It's fun to ride with him when he embarrasses corvette and mustang owners that think they have fast cars
Oh yeah, and the late 400's (68-70 I think?) were a designing disaster. They had a HUGE stroke and a weeny little bore. I'm not surprised that you beat him. If he was running a stock 72 442, you'd have been left at the stoplight wondering where he went as you try to clear the tire smoke from your cabin. How does 500 lb-ft from the factory grab ya? If that car was modified, that owner should be embarrassed. There are small block oldsmobiles at about 380CI that are running 9's NA. With nitrous, the two fastest oldsmobiles on the planet are running 8.20's using NASCAR olds blocks. Even with a 455 and C heads, if they're not running 12's on the street, something is wrong.
