I need advice in Picking a 455.

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Donuts & Peelouts, Jul 22, 2017.

  1. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    You can see core shift when you see the casted boss for a hole and the hole isn't centered in the boss. I think that's what people are trying to say here.

    If you look at a block you can see raised areas and such with extra material there because a hole goes there. If the hole is obviously WAY off center on most of the holes you're pretty much guarantied 98% of the time that the cylinders will be WAY off as well. That's the kind of stuff to eyeball for to find a good block. Not many things on a block you can measure with a ruler or mics or calipers to check for core shift. You can measure with a sonic tester though in the cylinder to know for sure.

    You can even buy your own sonic tester for a couple hundred $ to take with you if the engine is apart if you wanted to. IIRC in JW thread about core shift Jim calls out specific areas to check first to know right away if the block has a chance to be good or not. That thread is a must read before block hunting. GL


    Derek
     
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  2. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    On the outside of the block you can look at the freeze plug bosses to see if the plugs are centered on the freeze plug bosses and things like that.


    Derek
     
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  3. Donuts & Peelouts

    Donuts & Peelouts Life's 2 Short. Live like it.

    Thanks Derek.
     
  4. Gary Farmer

    Gary Farmer "The Paradigm Shifter"

    Pull the dipstick and check the oil. Black is fine, milky white/ tan is not. No oil at all is probably not good either. Plain water/coolant isn't a good sign. Particulates on the dipstick a red flag.
    Check block for obvious signs of damage (rod sticking out of it, a hole, cracks, etc.) lol
    No carb? look inside intake holes for signs of it sitting out in the weather. Carb? check to see if it's locked up or can be unstuck.
    See if motor turns over with a breaker bar/large ratchet.
    The usual stuff.
    None of these things (aside from obvious block damage) indicate the engine is unusable, however, until you tear it down and get a better look.
    If you can find one that turns over, oil looks normal (black/tan), carb isn't locked up, and otherwise looks like it hasn't been out of the car for long (or is still sitting in the car with the hood on), you're in much better shape, of course.
    Others here will surely have more advice.

    Ah, the good ole days when you could go to pretty much any junkyard, find an old wrecked Buick B or C body car, pull out the big block, change the oil, tune it up, and stuff it in a smaller car and go burn some rubber...the old 430's transplanted into Camaros and Trans Ams were fun.

    Happy Hunting!
     
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  5. Gary Farmer

    Gary Farmer "The Paradigm Shifter"

    On higher powered builds the better blocks are desired--the more power you intend to build, the better the block needs to be.
    This is pretty much the jist of what Jim's core shift thread conveys.
    What isn't mentioned is the 'reject' blocks that would surely be good enough for a budget build that will never see over 400 hp, maybe not even 350 hp.
    Jim's thread talks about engines that will see well in excess of 500-550 hp--the stress from which was never even close to approaching when they came off the factory assembly line and were driven daily for decades with no issues.
    The blocks have lived this long as is (lugging around huge land yachts), even the ones with cores that were way off, so I wouldn't think they'd be completely worthless to someone who just wants a stock/mild rebuild.
    Heck, might see more restoration type builds this way in the future when all the 'good' blocks have been used up!
    This IS a finite resource we're talking about here, after all. ;)
     
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  6. Donuts & Peelouts

    Donuts & Peelouts Life's 2 Short. Live like it.

    That's right Gary and Larry- the post by JW was intended for the high performance builds. That good news for me for my mild build plan.

    Thanks Gary for your post about basic Inspection tips. It helped me out.
     
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