Hello Guys, just getting into Buicks here. Bought my first Buick, 1973 LeSabre 455. My top question is what do I have? Interested in beefing up the engine. What is Compression ratio? What is stock power rating? and if I put a cam how are lifters adjusted? I am putting duals, and want to change cam, carb and intake. Possible 355 gears
I would spend my money on the exhaust like an x and recurve the distrib. , send the carb out to a pro before doing things like a cam. On that car a big cam may slow you down on the real street use.
Compression is 8.5:1 hp 225@4000 tq 360@2800. It depends on your mileage. You don't want to throw a whole bunch of money at a weak horse to begin with. I'd go with a hydraulic maybe one or two sizes over stock. You don't want to pound on or rev up old worn cam bearings or rod/main bearings. Short of a full blown overhaul, I'd keep the hi-po stuff to a minimum. Loose the easy stuff, smog junk, etc. If you have low miles I'd do a compression test, oil pressure test and maybe a leak down test. Once you've established that you've got a really good reliable piece, then you can do the simple cheap stuff. You can pick up '70 heads and intake cheap. The heads have smaller chambers for more compression, the intake flows better and no smog crap(and they're cheap). Keep the Quadrajet on your motor. It's an 800 cfm. Have it built. Verify that you've got something worth playing with. It's rare to find something that you can hi-po and go these days. You've got to realize, those bearings and rings are 30yrs old.
