New to buick 455 engines

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Jallen7166, Jan 31, 2019.

  1. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    I just bought a 1973 buick 455 first buick engine I have owned . Looking for cam recommendation for a good street /strip engine . I have built lots of chevy engines, ported heads and had a 11 second 4 speed camaro in the past . Want a mild cruse that will run high 12s and be easy to drive on the street . So far oly thing I have done is start porting the heads and bought the ta cast pistons with no valve reliefs. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks
     
  2. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Porting the heads will be a necessity if you are planning to run 12's in a full weight GS. You didn't mention what car this 455 is going into, obviously, the heavier the car, the more power you will need to reach your goals. I think it is a mistake to buy off the shelf cast pistons. We have much better piston choices as of late. You can buy forged Autotech and Diamond pistons that are customizable and that is important so that you can get the pistons to zero deck, and get the exact static compression you want for the cam you want to run. The better your heads flow, the smaller the cam can be so that your goals are achieved and the street manners are better. The aforementioned pistons are very reasonably priced for what you get. There are also stroking options to get you 470 and 482 CID that involves using stronger rods. Don't know what your budget is, but all of these options are worth considering. You'll also want to read the oiling modifications thread.

    http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/400-430-455-block-id-prep-and-oiling-mods.214613/
     
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  3. Luxus

    Luxus Gold Level Contributor

    And just to be clear, you can't build them like a chevy. They have their own peculiarities. Larry's link is a good start.
     
    johnriv67 likes this.
  4. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    Thanks, there is no car as of right now have a bop th400 that I will rebuild next . The pistons were already bought and the machine shop is going to bore the block in the next few weeks. The heads will get flow benched when iam done with them. We figured out compression with the orange crush gaskets from ta and the amount we have to take off the heads to be 9.8 compression. Was looking at the ta 212 cam but not sure if that's enough. Thanks
     
  5. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    Yeah I see that way different than a chevy . I was wondering why thay seem to like wide lsa when most chevy like tight? Is it due to the good rod to stroke ratio or the bore to stroke ratio?
     
  6. johnriv67

    johnriv67 Well-Known Member

    Not knowing much about the car it will go into, a safe bet would be the TA 290-94H cam with the proper compression and solid head flow. You should be north of 400 hp by that point as easy as falling out of a tree.

    I run a 109 LSA on my 430 and most guys here don't go tighter than 108*, we generally stick with what has been proven to work.

    Also, do NOT under carb your engine. What carb are you planning to use?

    Where are you located? We could help you even more by knowing where you are. We are on a first name basis here as well, so that may come with time, but toss in your name and location cause there might be some local guys that could help you.
     
  7. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    And yes its a some what of a budget build . Had to sell last drag car when I had my second child . So now that thay are both in school freed up some money to get a toy again haha
     
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  8. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    I have the 800 cfm quadrajet that came with the engine was planning on using that . But I have a holly 850 dp left over from the last car eather way is ok with me .
     
  9. johnriv67

    johnriv67 Well-Known Member

    Great, the 800 Q-jet is nearly unbeatable on the street (it actually flows closer to 830) for power and mileage. If you were planning on using a DP 750 we would have tried to steer you away from that, especially with porting.
     
  10. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Both good choices. If you buy one of the aftermarket Edelbrock intakes with the Q jet opening, it is very easy to run both carburetors. That is what I do. I run the Q jet on the street and a Holley 1000 DP at the track. Carburetor change in 15 minutes.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
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  11. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    Good to know . I was on the fence about intake manifolds and exhaust manifold vs headers bc the headers for the buick are so expensive
     
  12. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    I have a friend that got me started liking the bbb bc of his pure stock car that runs well . It's a 1971 green gs he was recently on a magazine cover. Kent Gardner
     
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  13. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    He is running a custome grinder with the same duration as the stage 1 cam . Is the ta stage 1 cam a good choice or no
     
  14. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    You might need something bigger to run 12's. Depends on how good your heads flow. Make sure you coordinate your static compression with the cam timing so that your dynamic compression is such that you can run pump gas.
     
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  15. 1969RIVI

    1969RIVI Well-Known Member

    Not sure what you plan on putting that motor in but the late 60's Riviera are X frames and you can use TA shorty headers ONLY. They also require the use of center sump oil pans.
     
  16. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    Sorry for the long pause there. As a auto tech I get time between jobs to respond or finish a thought
     
  17. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    Iam looking at a 87 regal this weekend if it isn't to bad maby that's the car ?
     
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  18. Jallen7166

    Jallen7166 Well-Known Member

    I know that a dcr of 8to 1 is good on a sbc for pump gas but what's a good number for buick with iron heads. And if it's any difference the last three numbers of the heads look like 860 ?
     
  19. johnriv67

    johnriv67 Well-Known Member

    8 to 1 is what Buicks like too, but they are much less sensitive than SBCs due to our tall and thin intake runners. For this reason Buick’s also like big CFM carbs

    Just don’t go below 7:1, it has been done, but for your build it’s just not necessary
     
  20. johnriv67

    johnriv67 Well-Known Member

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