Andy, Thanks a lot that really helps me out a lot, Iv looked everywhere I can think of and couldn't find that information. So Im probably going to try to get my heads 66 cc if I can. My machinist just wanted to know what the 70 stage 1s run at because that's what im shooting for. I want a mild engine like you said, but im going to do all I can NA to get the most HP as I can. As long as its a smooth, balanced, brut Ill be happy. Thanks for the information again like I said this helps me out a lot.
Albert, Thanks but I think Im just going to go with my heads that came with the engine. You live and CA and the shipping would probably cost an arm and a leg. What were you looking to get for them $? I might be interesting if the price is good enough plus shipping. Were 70-76 455s all painted red? because my engine was blue? And my heads were red? Odd?
Simple Quick answers 1. Unless it is impossible, don't use the open chamber head. If you do, don't expect much from them. Biggest deal here, and you will sacrifice at least 30 HP over the earlier heads. Been there, done that. 2. You must use a torque plate. Rent TA's.. 3. The TA STG 1 Alum head will bolt right up to any year 455. I have personally built 4 '76 block TA Alum head combo's in the last 6 months. Motors range from dual plane/iron exhaust manifold combos that make 485HP/540 TQ to 604HP/610 Torque pump gas single plane/header engines. Best place to spend your money, performance-wise. Use the TA orange gasket, and you will have no sealing problems. Search the board here for hundreds of posts concerning specs for any BBB build. JW
looking for $330 plus shiping. maybe i can help w/ the shipping. here is some more details. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30989 a little porting and u have more than a enough for a mild ride.
the buick 455 block is one of those engines that torque plates are a waist of time because the head bolt holes dont go that far into the block, also aline boreing isnt nessary if the block checks out good, this is what i was told by my meachinest, also Jim at P.A.E. my point is just watch out for shops that sell you work that your block dosent need, im sure there are other opions on this, but this was what i was told. i polished my rod beams myself and put the shortblock together, and the meachine work cost me about $1000, that was balanced, crank grind,oil mods,rods shot peened and resized, bored .30 over, decked to .002, cam bearing, freeze plugges, and all bearings and rings checked out. ect...
Ok I think I can help here. First off, The 75-76 heads really only make good winter weight. The chambers check in at a ridiculous 119cc or something. Stock rating of either 7.6, or 7.9:1 compression. You could zero deck the block, and safely whack .020-.030 off the head. Its not really worth the cost. AS stated by JW, the heads are no good for performance applications. Secondly, IMO an align hone is a must. Upon teardown, A close inspection of the wear markings on the main bearings will tell the story. The journals can be measured, but there really is no accurate see if they all line up straight. An align hone shoul dbe around or less then $150- a pretty cheap investment well worth it. we all hate the feeling when the mains are torqued and the crank is tight. Thirdly- Have the rods REsized with new bolts. This in conjuction with your align hone will insure great oil pressure and a long life. Also, upon assembly measure your deck height, and then caculate your compression ratio. The compression ratio is never what the piston manufacter says it is. Good luck and have fun. Joe
Oh MY GOD... :eek2: Look at a 455 wrong, and the bores go out of round.. Anyone who does not beleive me, can come by the shop, and we will bolt the torque plate on a stock block, and measure the cylinders before and after. There will be no question after that proceedure. And with the block as flexible as it is, if I put a girdle on a motor, and try and measure the main bores with those little 5/16 bolts not torque to 25 ft/lbs, the main bores will be 3-5 10ths out of round, with you loosing that much in the vertical clearance measurment. I know this, because I had a girdle put on a motor this last winter, and lost the spec sheet we use here, with all the measurements on it.. Before final assembly, I figured I had better re-measure everything, so i had the accurate numbers to give to the customer (each engine customer gets a 4 page spec sheet, with their motor). I was feeling a little lazy that day, and figured.. Heck.. I don't have to bother tightening those little bolts, to measure the mains.. I mean look at how much we torque those big 1/2 studs.. so those little bolts can't mean anything.. Right? WRONG ! I was shocked to see bores out of round, and not be the size I "kinda" remembered.. sure enough, tightened those little bolts on the oil pan rail, and everything pulled back nice and round again. Tighten those little bolts, and an unfilled block will pull true.. I tried that again on an engine that was completely filled with hard-block in the water jackets about a week later, and it barely pulled .0001.. So the blocks do pull pretty easily, without the water jacket filler in them. Since Joe is a machinist's apprentice, if he has gotten to measuring stuff on line hone jobs, and has worked with the 455, he can tell you how tricky it is to get each housing to be the same size.. +/- a tenth or two. Damn near an art. Beware of shops who say "you don't need to do this", because they don't have the equipment or expertise to do it correctly.. AS far as being a money issue... well, with a line bore going for $180, and an extra $60 to use the honing plate, it's not like we are paving the streets with gold around here.. it will be a very long time before I ever re-coup the cost of the torque plate I had to buy.. but if your gonna do it right, you just have to buy the equipment, and go thru the extra effort.. I have seen brand new, NOS blocks, that he line bore was not very good on.. We actually had to re-do one. Don't confuse assembly line work, with Hi-Perf machine work. And this is not a matter of opinion.. JW
Torque plates Jim- At my shop, we only use torque plates upon request- but we always recomend it. With the extra cost, most people opt not to use it. That being said- I've never seen them used before in my 1 1/2 years of working. I am curious if you have ever torque plate honed a block, meausured the cylinder(s), removed the plate and re-torqued it, then re-measured the bores. I have always wondered if the bores distort back to the same spec. if they don't, what would be the point of a torque plate? One more question- I would assume the when using a torque plate, the Machinist would have to use the exact same amount of threads as the torqued head bolt or the bore distortion would be inconsistent with the torque plate. Exact would have to be within a 2-3 thousandths of thread length. Is that what you guys do? I'd have to consider that neccessary for a truely round bore. A half a thousandths flex in the main bores when the girdle isn't torqued properly?? :jd: Thats huge!! Thats like on a SBC- in order to properly measure the last main journal, the oil pump housing needs to be torqued. that will pull half a thou. Joe
Jim. So basically what you guys are saying is I should use a torque plate and if my machinist doesnt have or know what to do or what one is I should take my engine to someone that knows what one is and has used one on a 455 buick before?
I have a question about the low comp. '75 heads. Would they be a good candidate for a NOS motor? Anybody?
Horrible quench with these heads would be the leading cause of detonation. NOT good in NOS engine!!:error: :ball:
Not actually knowing.. but does TA actually perform the machine work, or do they ship it out?? If the latter is true, then I suggest finding out who that is, and eliminate the middleman!:Brow:
