Need recommendations on an engine builder for a 455. I do not have the skills or the tools to build one myself. I would like to have an engine that makes about 500 horses and 500lbs torque on 93 octane gas. My car is a 69 GS with an Art Carr built 700r4 with 10in 2200 stall converter and 3.73 gears. I have a new 750 demon carb and Msd Hei cap and wires. Another condition would be that the engine builder install the engine. This is my first engine guys I NEED HELP AND SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!!. Now the kicker my budget is $6000 no more. Can I do it? Are these realistic goals? I live in Dallas but the car is drivable and I wouldnt mind taking a road trip for an engine. :bglasses: Thanks Pat Sloan
Tri-Shield Pat, Try Jim Weise at Tri-Shield Performance if you can do the engine install yourself. I just got my 625hp stg2 back today....and all I have to say is that he is the BEST!!!!!:TU: :TU: :TU: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Jim Byers Arlington, TX
Burek at PAE too, I've heard good things about all three of the well known Buick guys (TA Performance, PAE, and Tri Shield)
That kind of power installed won't happen for $6000 without a bottle hooked to it. For naturally aspirated 500 HP on pump gas double the $6000 and you should be able to get the job done. The Tri shield performance engine alone is close to $10000 without the install in your car. Good work doesn't come cheap and good parts for Buick engines are expensive. I would suggest that you lower your sights and build a good foundation with a good shortblock with stock upper half and add power later when you can afford it or wait until the money is available to do it right.
Also said engine builder would need to install. I agree that $12000 is rich to build the engine alone, but add everything to get the car ready to run with a good usable 500 pump gas HP and my number will be close. Reduce the cost by any part that owner has now and any part you can buy for less than retail and the price will drop. An engine built from scratch and installed with all the upgrades the car may need to use the power and over $10000 is a given. I would say give Jim B. a try since he is your closest reputable builder and any shipping charges are going to hurt your budget.
Nope..ain't gonna happen.. alright.. Since some of us wanted to start a vendor war here, and claim to sell a silk purse for a sow's ear price, I have deleted several posts from this topic. We don't need vendor wars. I urge potential engine customers to contact the various builders personally, and ask every question you can think of, to get the most information about what your getting for your money. Use this board to figure out what questions you should be asking, if you don't know. If your uneasy with a particular vendor's explainations, or if they won't bother to offer any, then make sure you check with everyone.. Get the answers, so you know what you are buying! There are many different ways to build the 455 Buick, and a slew of different parts to use, with varying quality levels. You can build a cheap motor, and a good one.. but one is not the other.. Here is a list of Engine Builders for the Big Block Buick In alphabetical order: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Automotive Machine and Performance - Kentucky-- Mike Phillips PH: 1-888-624-3848 Finish Line Motor Sports --- Michigan--- Geoff Ketchum, Bobb Mackley PH: 1-269--765-5101 PAE Enterprises - Texas Jim Burek PH: 1- (915) 855-6009 Pee-Gee Performance- New Jersey Scotty Gudagano PH 1-732-541-1919 ask for Scotty TA Performance - Arizona Mike Tomaszewski PH- 1-480-922-6808 Tri-Shield Performance - Minnesota Jim Weise PH- 1-612-522-8219 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, for those of you who saw this post, before I edited it, and provided the above information, and want to know why I did what I did.. email, PM, or call me, and I will tell you exactly why.. JW
Hey 6,000$ is alot I donno but i'd go with TA Aluminum heads their cam bearings and Timing chain cover rite then Lookup City Motor's Inc. in the dallas/irving phone book for the rest of the machining of the engine and piston's/cam they are located on harry hines blvd close to hwy 35. Get a nice HEI from mallory and an intake from edelbrock I don't think it will be 6,000$ if you go with that setup City Motor's is a full machine shop and will have everything for the rebuild and sell short block long block combinations and don't break the wallet. Also Harry's hotrod they will have a good selection of cam kits not the cheapest but good service. They are located off main street in grand prairie.
Vendor Wars I take personal offense to the posting by Jim Weise. I had no intention in starting a vendor war, or any other war for that matter. The purpose of this board is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and unbiased information. I believe that you are an extremely naive person Mr. Weise, if you believe that all engine builders will provide accurate, unbiased information. I made this post for the sole purpose of soliciting information from people with far more experience than I. It is a sad state of affairs when communication as informal as postings on this board are censored by PC thugs such as yourself. I am interested in hearing all points of view both positive and negative on any vendors that I may be dealing with. Furthermore, I truly believe that you are doing a great disservice to the hobby of hot rodding by allowing builders and vendors that practice unscrupulous business practices to merely fall through the cracks. We as hobbyist owe it to one another to ensure that such people are not catered to. Pat Sloan
I don't think that he's referring to you Xarva. Pat, I understand where you're coming from, but Jim has a job to do here. This goes back to other threads in the past year that started out harmless as yours did and ended up getting ugly. I am by no means taking sides here, but the vendors are members of this board too. We DESPARATELY need their input too and they're happy to give it. If you worked hard all day for a living and took your personal time to go on a website to give help in a great community like this, how long would you stay and help out if people put you at odds with your competitors? We really need these guys and they want to help. Some get a lot of business from this board. It's all about helping other Buick owners out. This is what makes us not Chevy owners, Olds owners, or Vette owners, but proud Buick folks. I for one sincerely value ALL VENDORS input. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. I don't know it all so I need guys like this. So in that light, you have to respect Jim W. for what he's doing. He's not trying to be a pc thug by a long shot, but he has to watch what's said on this board to avoid offending people(justly or injustly) and lawsuits! Sometime back we had a vote "foul language or no foul language". I think what most people realized is that kids check this site too. We certainly don't want to offend anyone or their kids. I didn't see the offensive posts, but I'm sure that it was not intended to offend. I'm not a real supporter of censorship, but I really do respect what Jim is trying to do here. It can be like a soap opera if it gets out of hand. He's trying to make it a place where EVERYONE is welcome, appreciated and feels comfortable. If everyone left, what would we have? I'm not saying your wrong but there's another side to this that we all need to understand. If you want feedback that may be controversial, tell them to PM you. That way no one will get offended. Sorry for the long post, but I didn't want to see a p'ing contest. Back to your original post, I think that you can definately achieve your goals within your budget. Any of the vendors listed can help. I hope you can understand where JW's coming from as he's a great guy.
Pat, I in no way was reffering to your original post. There were some other posts to this topic, after yours, to which I was referring to. They have been deleted, two of which were my posts. JW
reply Thanks for taking the time to reply. I can certainly understand your position. I just hope the litigious nature of our society does not hamper our exchange of ideas. I appreciate any vendor that takes time to post any reply on this board and I will go out of my way to patronize his company. Thanks Pat Sloan
Pat, No problem, and it's not litigation I am worried about... it's the whole issue of fighting within the board here, and in the community in general. With everything I am involved in these days, there is plenty of opportunity to word things in a manner that can really cause ugly on-line fights. So sometimes it's better to walk away, and douse the fire, before it gets out of control. We don't need to fight amongst ourselves, and plenty of folks are just plain sick of seeing it. Once I started taking contributions to run this board, I made myself responsible to see that it's a nice place to hang out. Informative, and easy going. That's not to say that there will not be controversy, and opinons among the members, that don't always agree with each other, but they must be offered in a professional manner. This thread was heading south in a hurry, as one member seemed to think it was a "professional" thing to do, to imply that some vendors are pricing engine builds at "what the market will bear". In reality, the vast majority of us builders are very similar in price, if you compare and apple to an apple. And if you factor in all the costs, overhead, and everyone that's got their hand out, to take money from you these days, it's very difficult to make a living doing just engines... even "expensive" ones. JW
Thanks Jim Jim, Not to dwell on this too long but I wanted to donate my two cents worth. I have been hosting a high school alumni board on another server for over two years. Our team decided to take a hands off approach to moderation because we were intimidated by those who hollered about cyber cops, net nannys, and tin gods of the forum censoring the threads. Since that time the forum that grew to 2100 members has dwindled down to a regular group of 30 or so. It has become rather boring due to the lack of new blood and fresh perspective. At this point we may be too late to save that forum but I'm glad to see you taking the approach you have here. It takes guts and wisdom to recognize a problem and act on it before it gets out of hand. It's easier to sit back and never stick your neck out. Thanks for doing the right thing by sticking your neck out to keep this board the best place to go for Buick enthusiasts. I don't know any of the people here yet but I can tell there's one hell of a bunch of good people using this board who have loads of talent and knowledge that they are willing to share unselfishly. Thanks, Dick
I can certainly sympathize, too. I've seen many a good offline club fall apart due to bickering, too. And thanks for the list of vendors... I had three of them bookmarked already LOL. Jim, Seems like you're the closest Buick builder to Indy, unless you know of any good ones within the Circle City. I'm not in a rush to do anything drastic with mine, though. I bought a "runner" to put in the '55 until it's ready for the final "push"... that's when I'll be leaning on y'all the most.
Many a board has lost its Sysop/Host/Admin due to constant bickering, it's a tough thing to get a lid on once it starts. Here it rarely gets past a couple of posts. The responses from the admins here are as good as you can ask for.
Pat, What are you looking for? A street/strip motor or all out race motor. It makes a big difference in the price range you are looking at. My 430 ci makes 422hp at rear wheels and cost about $2800 to build machine work included. It can be done. But you have to shop around. All the vendors that post here are reputable people and will help you in anyway they can. I respect all of their input and quality of their work. Steve
All you need is a set of TRW forged pistons, Level 4 Gessler Heads, TA or Edelbrock intake, 800 CFM quadrajet, Hemi Killer cam, TA or Mickey Thompson repro headers and all associated machine work and assembly to make your 500 + HP. My car has this combo and makes 462HP to rear wheels and 514lbs of torque. The price tag would be around $4200 without installation. You can use stock rods, crank. Use a speed pro file fit ring. My motor is five years old and still runs around 114 MPH in quarter and weighs 4200lbs with me in it.
