Ok! My new years resolution is to get the rag out, and get this 65 skylark ready for spring of 2005! I'm planning a 455, 200R4, would anyone know which distributor sells the better header and engine mount kits for this swap. Clearance will be an issue for headers, the car will be lowered. :3gears:
While TA is a good spot for alot of your Buick parts, to the best of my knowledge they DON'T sell a narrow chassis(64'-67') header. If you like taking a perfectly good new part and having to beat the he!! outa them to make them fit then I would say go there. OR, just go to Poston and buy the narrow chassis pipes to begin with. I have TA pipes on my 64' 455'' car and hate them. I am waiting for the day anything happens to them so I can buy new pipes and pitch these in a landfill ........... TA DOES have the mounts needed for the swap though. As does Poston and P.A.E. I have mounts from Jim Burek at P.A.E. in my car but of course it was his car before,lol, so thats kind of a ou: . I have heard nothing bad about any of the 3 dealers swap mounts. Good luck with your swap and nice to hear of another early 455'' car getting done. Later...........................
I actually think they are making headers (455) for the 64-67 conversions now. I'm not 100% sure thougho No:
Thanks Adam I will have to go and have a look at the web site. I looked a couple months ago and didn't find any. Thats when I found out that Poston had them. I will check it out. There is NOTHING I hate more than someone telling me a part will fit, then I get them and have to beat on them with a hammer to make them work. If you tell me it fits a 64'/5' or whatever then cool, but if it don't, please , just try and sell me another part, rotflmao. later........................
Ok here is what I see... Their 455 Super competition headers fit: 1964-72 Skylark, GS, GSX, Century, Special, Sport Wagon. 1971-76 Riviera and Full-size Cars. 1981-87 455 powered Regal I have these on my Centurion and I had to slightly modify them to make the bend on the trans crossmember.
Adam, Yea thats what I thought too. Then I get a pair and they really dont fit. There is a couple inches difference in the widths of the frames. ""1964-72 Skylark, GS, GSX,"" VERY misleading statement there as the frames are all not the same. Sure they will all bolt up to the motors fine and dandy. But there are a few other "fit" problems. Also the same headers would have had to be beat on to fit my 81 regal with a 455''. They don't fit there either without some modification(read: BFH). I am sure they fit the 68-72's just fine. Just leaves us guys that like the early ones out. later......................
Perry, no, not that I know of. However, I do believe the new Stage-2 headers that are coming soon will be 2". You "just" gotta buy a set of stage-2 heads to go with them. My experieince is that Poston's headers fit this application the best too. I had to dent all of them for the steering shaft though. BTW the TA motor mounts are supposed to move the engine back slightly from original which should help header clearance and weight transfer a little too. Better yet, they are on sale to BPG members right now!
I have a 67 GS400 that is getting a 455. When I talked directly to Dave at TA, he told me their headers "would fit, but the front tube on the drivers side had to be dinged due to interference (I think with the steering box) in order to fit. " Since I want to have them coated, he suggested I make the 'adjustments' then ship them to have them coated. Reason being that 'adjusting the fit' would damage the coating.
Gentleman, I have played this header game. Poston's fit nice with the 1 7/8 " tube. I have 2" headers on my 67 and after much work to get them to clear I still ended up having to bend the #1 & 3 tube to clear the steering shaft. Yes there is a difference in a 64 to 67 frame from the 68-72. Street car I would go with the Postons. I did a back to back swap between the small and 2" headers at the track and found very little difference on a 10.50 second 12 to 1 car.
If I had it to do all over again, I think I would set the engine and mounts in the car w/the headers and adjust the engine before tightening the frame mount bolts. I might even go so far as egging out the bolt-holes in the frame. with a little tweaking, I think you could get away without dinging the header tubes, but as usual it's going to require all that extra work to do it. I would also set the engine back about an inch or so with the slotted frame holes, or the TA mounts if they do, in fact set the engine back. This should also help with steering shaft clearance and of course a little bit of weight transfer. Brake booster and heater core tubes are tight. Be VERY careful not to take out the heater core when it goes in. Taking the valve-cover off helps. It's not so bad once it's in, but it's easy to twist the engine a little and take out the tube (at least it was for me :error: ). I would also recommend moving the brake-line distribution block ,and adding a dual master cylinder from a 67 while the engine is out. The distribution block sits < 1/4" from the headers in it's stock location.
Thanks for the replys guys, and for all the added info, I think I had heard before that the poston units fit about the best, with the most ground clearance!
What about using Greg Gessler ported stock manifolds? I hear they flow great and I would guess that they would fit easier than headers even though those years came with nailhead motors. The manifolds that came with my 455 were off an Electra, but they still looked rather compact. Just a thought......... Brian
Hey Adam, I may try "egging" out my motor mount holes a little before reinstalling my engine. I always place the headers before dropping it in, but there is very little room for movement trying to bolt up the tranny, headers, and align the motor mount holes. Maybe that will give me the movement I need. Brian
Funny, this morning I was thinking I had better mention that while the Poston's fit the best, I tink they may have a little less ground clearance. Keep in mind that the ones I had were bought in 1987. They may not be the same. o No:
I think with your 72 you'll be in good shape. They have more room and of course the headers are made to fit that chassis. It may not hurt to leave the frame pad bolts loose until you get everything situated though.
I may try that this time around. The biggest problem I had last time I installed it was getting that driver side hole to line up with the frame pad. I ended up removing the motor mount on that side until I had everything else bolted up and then fought with that to finish the install. A little frustrating but it was done. Thanks, Brian
That idea of using Greg Gessler ported manifolds is a good idea, as long as everything else fits ok, the ground clearence problem would be solved!:laugh:
