Where To Spend the Rebuild Money?

The next question is what will you be doing yourself? That's a goodly sum for parts and machine shop work.

I did something like this a few years back. This includes a part list for a street engine with 40-over pistons and taller cam:
http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/piston-and-cam-choice-for-455-build.257206/

I didn't track the money but didn't exceed your total. Something near $1500 for parts and $2000 for machine shop work. (Block, crank, heads) The engine assembly and pull/install I did myself. The Qjet got sent out for a rebuild.

The one thing I'd add is a higher-stall torque convertor. The idle is set a bit higher than I'd like or the engine will stall at stops.

What's not in there are a new intake manifold or headers. I concluded that the manifold would not be a performance adder to the engine and I didn't have the bucks for the full exhaust change.

 

Do the zero deck short block and the rest bone stock. That way your son will have a good motor to work with.

 

I recommend that you ugrade the piston selection, I can do an Autotec for you that will get rid of the efficiency robbing deck clearance, without expensive milling. That, and the smaller rings, and forged material, are a good bang for the buck, they are about $300 more expensive than the stock cast replacement pistons. Get your shortblock machined and assembled, and then see what you have left to comfortably spend.. at that point decide on options to improve power with airflow.

Here are the cleaning/machining processes that every Iron 455 engine core at TSP goes thru:

• Sonic test cylinder walls
• Complete clean up- this can be done thermally, chemically, or with abrasive, we use a combination process. The block needs to be clean enough to eat off of .
• Align Hone main bearing housings to spec
• Install BHJ fixture and mill the decks to square the block, and then mill to a specific dimension, I recommend 10.550
• Using the sonic test as a guide, move cylinders slightly in the boring process to maintain maximum cylinder wall thickness
  
• Bore Engine to .006 shy of finished dimension
• Install deck plate and hone with a CVC-616 Sunnen hone to exact size, and cylinder wall finish for rings used.
• Correct transmission dowel pin location with the BHJ fixture, install oversize stepped dowel pins- insures that the trans runs exactly on the crank centerline.
• Blocks are then de-burred, and the appropriate oil mods for the build are performed.

Your budget should allow you to build a solid 425-450 HP iron head 455, that will move that Riv nicely, and be as reliable as rain..

JW

 

I will go a different direction here. I'd track down a used in good running condition 455 and do a simple engine swap
then concentrate on having it tuned perfectly and carbed correctly. Save all the money on some fancy
engine and put that towards better gas that you run all the time. 1000 bucks invested and frees up
3000 for gas money, ice cream, beer and fun trips. Paint it up while its out. Just take the time to find a nice motor
you can hear run before it's pulled. Have your kid help and some buddies. It will be fun and
you already know it will fire up when you have it all hooked up.

 

Do you have a T/A catalog? There is some good info in it and there are people there that will talk to you also. It sounds like you want to build a basically stock with a little warm up. Figure out the parts you need, find a reputable machine shop and have them do your short block. A good shop will have all the info on a stock build for a 455 Buick. If they don't get it for them or move on. Have the heads done with a 3 angle seat valve job and milled .020. You could go a little farther and have the block decked, squared and the rotating assembly balanced but is not a necessity for what you want Get one of the milder cams that is compatible with a stock valve train and have whoever is doing your short block install it. If you have one of the later 71 455s it should have the 5/8" oil pickup, if not there is oil mod info available but isn't needed unless you plan on revs higher than 5500 rpms. There are some carb builders on here that can do a good job on your present carb if it is the original Q-jet your car came with. I had Ken at Everyday Performance do mine, it's perfect. You could add a Performer intake for looks and headers for a little more performance and mileage. By the way when I had my 71 Riviera I almost got 20 MPG I got 19.8.........Good Luck


Bob H.

 

Got some pretty good advice so far ...

I lean toward buying a driver motor, and saving the $1000's toward rebuild ... but, those are rare

To rebuild ... I think pistons are your No1 pick ... Buick compression is pretty pathetic, and not many solutions around that

I think most will agree ... TA heads w/ manifolds will trump rebuilt Iron heads w/ headers ... where money's tight, I'd honestly stay stock heads w/manifolds

For a driver I think 200r4 is best upgrade ... about a $3000 swap, you'll never pay for it in the 20% increase mpg, but dropping 1000rpm's make such a nice cruiser

Two biggest things for improved mpg, aren't even mentioned though

Have a good QuadraJet rebuilt ... no AutoZone junk ... there are some really good builders, $350'ish range

EFI is only for show ... no gains can be recognized over good carb tune (in this situation)

Get a good quality HEI w/ curve kit