So I'm finally making some progress on my Skylark! :grin: My 455 is being rebuilt by a local place in SoCal. The guy rebuilding it has a Riv and seems to have a decent knowledge of Buicks. They will be going through the whole motor, but it's definitely on a smaller budget. Looking to stay under $2000 in parts, and under $2000 in machine work and assembly/labor costs. Crank is in good shape, just needs polished. The motor is out of a 72 lesabre and only has 90k "grandma" miles on it so it's in good shape. We will be going .030 over & resurfacing the deck. Here's what I'm going with-- a lot of TA stuff. Any suggestions? I hope to have a mild, reliable 455 that I can light up from time to time, maybe make a trip to the track a few times a year. I'm still learning about all of this so help is appreciated. - TA 212 cam - TA 1621A .030 forged piston (10.1:1 compression) - TA 1524 double roller chain - TA 1031 standard size exhaust valves - TA 1502 adjustable oil pressure regulator - TA 1510 oil pump booster plate - TA 1508 stock oil pump - TA 1531B performance timing cover - Edelbrock Performer intake - other misc TA stuff (water pump, thermostat, starter, main bearings, gaskets, etc) - MSD ignition - rebuilt Q-jet - will be reusing pretty much everything else, everything is in good shape Should I bother going with grooved cam bearings? They're inexpensive, but do I need them? Also, my intake valves are in good shape. Since I'm replacing the exhaust valves, should I spend the money to replace the intake valves too? Or can I save that $125? Thanks! :TU:
Also want to make sure that the shop knows the proper clearances. Here's what I've found, can y'all let me know if this is correct? - rods & mains @ .002" - piston/deck height clearance @ .005" or below Anything else I should know about or make sure the shop knows about?
Make sure the lifter oil gallery "freeze" plugs are installed flush with the front of the block, and no more!! The (chevy) shop that did my machine work and installed the freeze plugs, did so that they were in just slightly too far. They just siimply didn't know about this critical item on a Buick that would have been inconsequential on another motor. They said the last Big Block Buick they built was in the late 1980's..... A shop that specializes in Buicks would be best, second would be a brand x shop with a good reputation that's willing to do the work to YOUR specs. Good Luck!!!
If I remember correctly, you want 0.0015 to 0.003 clearance on your oil pump gears. I think the "standard book" for rebuilds says that you can go up to 0.006", but don't let him do that. -Bob Cunningham
That's a little loose on the bearing clearances for a street motor, I had all mine done .0015-.0018 and have awesome oil pressure. You'll need to decide what CR you want then deck accordingly, have the shop mock it up and do the math, get the measurements and some of the guys here on the board will help with that. Depending on the cam specs 10 to 1 may be a little high for the street, certainly would be a premium fuel only engine and might be tempermental when its hot. If you decide to go that way be sure and have the combustion chambers polished real well. Grooved cam bearings are worth every dime. You should budget in for rebuilt rockers assy., valve springs (and maybe some new valves), rod bolts, new or rebuilt distributor, and a high torque starter for that new CR. Be sure and inspect your flexplate and Harmonic Balancer very closely before reusing it.
Cool, thanks for the input so far, some very good points. I will be going with the grooved cam bearings, they are relatively inexpensive. Thanks for the pointers on clearances as well. I'll post more questions here as I get deeper into the rebuild! Thanks :TU:
