I'm looking to build a Buick 455 to about 400 hp and 450 ft/tq. I have a 72 455, it will be bored 30 over, deck cut, crank turned, 10:1 final compression hopefully, full length headers. Anyone offer a sercive rebuild my iron BBB heads to my needs for around $1500 complete? How much flow do I need?
$1500 will provide you with all new Stage 1 size SS valves, new springs, etc.....and a good deal of porting!! :Smarty: You might also be able to pick up a well done set of heads from someone on the board, that is switching to the alum. heads. Quicker and probably cheaper. :TU: Flow # wise, you should be able to get 270cfm on the intake without horribly extensive work being done. I also think you'll be able to realistically set your HP/TQ goals higher.
Sean, Since you're in BC, you may want to contact Chris (buicksstage1 on this board). He's in Victoria and may be able to set you up. Is the $1500 figure US or Canadian dollars?
You can definately get more out of your motor for that. even a set from T/A would run you about a grand. I've heard of guys getting 290cfm out of Stage 1 castings just be able to let it breathe on both sides of the head and your in business.
As an example of heads, I got some from Carcrazy455 (Mike Pollack) that he had went in the mid-10's with. They were advertised on the board for $1400 shipped (went from MD to WA). They flow in the 290 range, unfortunately he couldn't find the flow sheets. Like GSXMEN wrote, there are good deals on iron heads that are being sold to be replaced by the new aluminum heads. Skylark, actually that's just one emblem duplicated a bunch of times in Photoshop. I've got a couple. They're going to go on my 72 Skylark Custom455 in place of the original "Custom" emblem on the rear quarters. I got these from George Nenadovich who was parting out a 71 (I think) LeSabre Custom455.
Heads 400 hp is almost a given with the other things you have mentioned. You should be able to pick up a set of nice Stage1 heads from one of the guys going to the aluminum ones for around a $1000 or less. Even at that, you should have no problem getting 400hp from stock heads. A good 3 angle valve job should not go for more than $500 then spend some of the money on an x-pipe 3" exhaust system, new intake manifold (Edelbrock is making the B-4B again!) and carb.
When surpassing the $1000 mark for cylinder heads you should seriously consider upgrading to an aluminum aftermarket version unless you are rules limited or simply want to retain the iron ones. The Bulldog and T/A heads will provide a huge gain for your dollar spent over ported iron heads. You can easily make over 500HP with cylinder heads that flow in the 245 cfm and up range. For example one of our 500+ engine combinations included similar iron cylinder heads with Custom Q-Jet, SP1 intake, our Ultimate 500 cam, 9:1 compression with 2 headers that makes 500 HP+. This same mild manner cam in one of our customers restored 70 Stage 1 4-speed car made over 450HP with Custom Q-Jet, stock untouched intake, 9:1 compression, and 2 headers. The cylinder heads only had a competition valve job with blend. The cylinder heads had absolutely no porting or port matching done to them. You should have no trouble surpassing your performance goals.
Wow, I didn't think it would be that easy to get to my goals! Thanks for all ther input. My Olds 455 is forsale to help my BBB project. Cheers
Ported heads If you are in the market for some very good flowing iron heads, I have a set that would way surpass your goals. I have a set of 67 430 heads that I had converted to Stage 1's, big valves(Stainless Steel), new guides, TA springs, etc. They were ported extensively and flowed by Jack Merkel Performance Engines in NJ. I have the flow numbers sheet somewhere, and working from memory I know that they are just under 300 cfm on the intake and near 250? on exhaust. I can get the exact numbers if you would be interested. They took my 4000 lb 70 GS into the high tens @ 120 mph. These heads were supporting near 600 HP. I know that heads like these are not worth anything close to what I have in them, but they should be worth around $1000. They are still on my car, which I broke in Ohio at the BPG nats. I plan on tearing the engine down soon. I planned on posting them once the engine was apart and I had a chance to go thru them and check them out. Let me know if you would be interested. THANKS
