455 buick, or 454 chevy, power question

i have a 455 buick motor and 440 tranny sitting waiting to be bought for a cool 800, im swapping the 322 nailer out for a big block, im my special.
i know old skool guys would say stick with buick, or why destroy a perfectly good resto, but, i have income issues.
anybody have any ideas how much a 454 would be to rebuild, which in my area, is in short supply, as opposed to a 455 buick, with tranny?
which one would be worth it?
ill be damned if i sticking the 322 back in. rebuild kits are too expensive

 

I will probably be burned at the stake for saying this, but the Chevy would be cheaper, but most people (including myself) would probably rather see the Buick.

 

i know, i know, id rather see buick go into it, but, im looking for a power / cost curve here
i know the burning at the stake thing, im gonna be doing things to this car that most would say hey, your an idiot.
some input from some old timers would be really nice right now.

 

http://www.hiperformer.com/featured_engines/gmc_454lb.html

 

power=Buick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chevy in a Buick= Turd in a punch bowl.

Find a running nailhead.

 

Well, what's wrong with your nailhead anyway???

 

gaskets, everywhere......
all are rotted out.
1k for a rebuild kit, which its gonna need.
if ya want the damn thing gimmie a price, lol, its a waste of money as far as im concerned.
sad to see it sitting there too.....

 

Someone is one their way to kill you and Andrew as we speak :grin:

 

As an old timer, I say tell me what year 455, and what type 454.
Then I'll probably say, put the 455 in it IF you want power.
Put the 454 in it if you like truck motors, and want to be like everyone else, but slower.

BTW, in the old days, I raced Chevy's. Only chevy engine I have now is in my tow rig.

 

I am sorry but i find it truely amazing that some of you guys poop on buicks sister company chevy so bad like is a red headed step child.If you want the best bang for the buck build a chevy.I have built alot of moters in my short years, fords, buicks, pontiacs, oldsmobiles, and a few mopars you can not bet a chevy.Alot of companies fisrt designs are almost all chevy (mostly small block) so parts are alot cheeper.If you have a good motor there is no easier and cheeper way to make power.So once again sorry for this but all GMs sould be united as one to take out Ford and Mopar.

 

Sometimes, it's all about what you have handy, and what you want to do. I'd put a pinto motor in a skylark if that's all I had and wanted to drive. I'm not against any brand, but currently, I sure like the buick power as compared to others.

 

I agree withe the put what what you got in whatever.I am considering putting a olds motor or a nailhead (if i can find one) in my 65 impala.What i don't understand is that some people on here think that anything but a Buick is junk and not worth building.

 

I have a Malibu as a daily driver and a Suburban as my tow truck.It's not that I con't like Chevy's,but for a low buck there's no comparison between a Buick and a Chevy.The Buick will outrun the Chevy all the time.Both motors equally done,the Buick still will outrun it.This from a oldtimer who's been there and done all of it.BrunoD.

 

X2

 

I hear and understand what you guys are saying but if you are building a motor i agree horsepower aside, on the lower half eveything is equally priced but the top half is a different story all together.TRUST me when i say i love anything GM but i am not going to bash one for the other thay all have good and bad things that we all love and hate but the price of buick rockers is way lopsided is eather stock or all out there is nothing inbetween to take up the slack.Thats what i am talking about.

 

WAIT A MINUTE!!! :Smarty:

Do you realize that you're going to have to do a whole bunch of engineering to do this swap???? Don't forget the torque tube and rear end! Find a running nailhead, drop it in. Easiest and cheapest.

 

Finally someone with sense. There is not an easy drop in for this chassis. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

im leaning to the buick right now, the power would be nice, thats a HUGE car to move.
priced some parts today, and it aint as bad as i thought it would be.
800 for a motor and tranny aint enough to break my bank. and it would be fun tearing into it.
would really like to keep her buick too.
anybody ever tried a 322 to 455 swap? and any of yall, as yall said, engineers? lol

 

There is an article on the Riviera owner's website about swapping a 430 (455) from a 67 or later into a 66 Riviera. The 66 was a nailhead (425) and ib Block, BUT they shared the same chassis. There are 15 listed points that are different in swapping different engines into the same chassis; you don't have that option. Besides having to find yourself a different transmission to go behind the 455, you'll, as has been stated, have to fabricate a complete new rear end assembly. Here are a few of the basic things to consider;
1) Motor mounts
2) Starter motors are on different sides
3) Distributors are on different ends
4) Transmission bell housings - Unique nailhead pattern v. GM corporate BOP on the 455
5) Your closed torque tube driveshaft v. open drive shaft
6) Bracketry - to hang anything, you'll need all the brackets and accessories that came on the 455.

Find a strong running 401 and transmission from a 59 - 60 Buick. Bore it 0.030 over for 413 cubes. Mild cam. Tom's rocker rollers. Open the exhaust with true 2.25" duals. Run a 750 cfm Carter AFB/AVS on a stock manifold. This will bolt to the torque tube rear end you now have. There are some slight differences in motor mounts for the early and late nailheads, but nothing that's overwhelming. You'll have a different pulley set up, but you can make all the OE accessories work. Now that you're cruising in style, make sure you can stop the beast - convert your brakes to a dual reservoir master cylinder.

Hell, if you want, you can use an OE type air cleaner, use the valley pan with the draft tube and oil filler tube, and the OE exhaust manifolds. Put the OE spark plug covers on it and no one would know what you've done. :Brow:

Ed