Last year after almost 10yrs of ownership, I pulled the tired motor from my 1968 Wildcat coupe, threw the cheap LPG ("propane") system installed by a previous owner 20yrs ago into the trash, and set about arranging to have a bulletproof rebuilt gasoline-powered 430 cu in Buick motor in my car. The bad news was, my original block was - after all known tests carried out by one of the very few Buick specialists in Australia - a boat anchor. Hacked by previous rebuilders and, according to my expert engine builder, ''only able to run thanks to the genius of Buick engineering". The block was beyond repair, "the worst I have seen" he said, and most parts likewise. So i had to find a ''new'' 430 ... well, there's none for sale down here. The only possible alternative I could find for sale was a ''rebuilt" 455 with zero paperwork and even less proof of any work done - $Aust7000 or around $US4500! LOL. So I put the word out on here, and last November up stepped Mark aka GSXNUT and his dad. Buick people for many, many decades. They had a few original late '60s big blocks stashed away, rescued from wrecked and demolition derby cars at a time when the cars we love weren't worth much even in nice condition. Mark cut me a great deal on a motor and he and his dad were tremendously helpful in even arranging a pallet and shipping to a California freight company address, for sea shipment to me down here. The result was, direct from a farm barn in Nebraska, this view in the northern suburbs of Melbourne a couple of weeks ago .... It was a gamble, of course, but it paid off. The same Buick expert has just done his forensic thing on this big block and he has pronounced it fit for purpose! It had not had many oil changes, and was full of sludge, but only the valve train was unusable (rust). It had spun two mains bearings but luckily minimal damage caused. He will line bore. Otherwise, the block is great. Pistons are standard bore right now but he says cylinders will clean up nice to plus size, the heads are great etc .... only the valves are toast. I have a couple of grand worth of fresh parts from TA Performance ready to throw at it, and at the end of the day and the bottom of my bank account I'm gonna have a great original motor in my Wildcat. I did NOT want a Brand X crate motor in my car. So, this is the ''BEFORE'' photo. The ''AFTER'' will be a thing of beauty. Huge thanks to Mark and his dad. The power of this board, eh? PS: I have the matching-numbers block in my shed for proof that it was an original car. If my kids ever decide to sell it LOL.
Are those Australian dollars or did you convert them into US dollars? (4578 US dollars is also still a lot of money)
Glad you are on your way to more Buick Power. Love the way the Buick Motor was chained down for transport.
