alan Could I get one powdercoated aluminum, just to mess with people? gotbuick I'm confussed. Are we talking about powdercoating an aluminum block??? heh, no. alan wants to powdercoat the iron block with aluminum paint "just to mess with people". geddit? :grin: and here i had misremembered (never posted this) that the new block was going to BE aluminum and i was wanting to coat it with iron impregnated paint so it would pass a magnet test. don't worry, i'm over that now. p
OH MY, this is gonna be fun to watch you guys play with this beast. Hmmmm next project.......65 Riv with bulldog block full of go fast......never live to drive it wife gonna kill me.........
The 2.75 main brg option looks like it will be a ford cleveland brg. They are almost identical in width on the thrust brg as the Buick thrust. This makes for less of a concern for guys with existing cranks to have them turned down to the smaller bearing size, having to widen the thrust bearing surface a bunch of an existing crank could weaken it somewhat. Jim Burek
Aw shucks, I spent nearly half that rebuilding my Nailhead.........I should've waited you do know that those prices are for the bare block right? no heads or manifolds or reciprocating assembly? you might have spent $2000 on your nailhead but i could see $10k real easy for one of these as a turn key motor. especially if you went with the custom crank, cam and lifters etc. not that i want to talk you out of doing it. :Brow: i just want to make sure you've got an accurate idea of what's going on.
oh, i've no doubt you could slam one of these to $50k without any trouble at all if you wanted to do this as a full on race motor with all the machining and trick parts you can shake a stick at. imagine one of these things with a fuel injection / turbo or super charger set up like they talk about in the 'high tech' forum. hypereutectic pistons, KB doesn't even stock a diameter larger than 4.466", does anybody? how could you get a bulldog block and not get the aluminum bulldog heads? :laugh: and this is only scratching the surface. i was just talking about putting one together for his cruiser. i'd have quoted him a lot lower price but he has a nailhead, i don't know that he can reuse ANY engine parts. somebody with a 455 sitting around could probably get by with the $3500 block, a rebuild kit, new bearings and assorted odds and ends and be sitting pretty around $6 grand or less + elbow grease. but c'mon, if he's going to have to buy everything new anyway you know he's going to have to shell out for some of dat trick shiznat. :bglasses:
I just keep having flashbacks to all the motors I've grenaded. The one thing that stands out is the time and money to machine ANOTHER stock block into race-ready condition. Main girdle, lifter bore girdle, bore cylinders, line bore, deck block, oiling mods, etc. I'm already ahead of the game with the new block, not having to machine for and install the two girdles. With all that's been said about strength, weight, etc. , the one thing to remember is that some guys have already made amazing amounts of power from our little station wagon motor. If we had just a little more strength we wouldn't have needed an aftermarket block to begin with. Denny Manner assured me that if he'd known what guys like me were going to do with the 455 block, he'd have given us a better piece to work with. I wouldn't worry too much about ANYBODY breakin this thing. Except maybe Rod. :laugh:
Just give him a season or two, I am sure he will find a way~ can you say- more boost? Everything has a limit, just takes time to find a weak point. Kelly
one word: Nitromethane! Rod's already got the alcohol setup. Mix up some 60%, add a little more boost, and see what happens? :3gears: (It's easy when spending other people's money)
I know how to break it... Put in some stock rods, crank up the boost, spray, or rpm (preferably all three) and you get yourself a custom crankcase ventilation mod! If the internals can't take it, the block won't either.
Speaking of which... who is going to be making the new smaller journal cranks and the larger cams? When will we see these parts? It would be a waste to get the block and bore the mains out right off to Buick (too big) specs. Then you couldn't go to the smaller diameter mains when you need less bearing speed to RPM it some more. Is there going to be a bunch of people sitting around with their new block waiting for parts to go in it? ________ BMW 801
Those parts are just little details compared to coming up with a block! You can always have the mains ground down on a crank and cams are easy to make!! Ken
I am having 55mm cam cores made should be ready by late jan or early feb. Moldex will make the small bearing cranks and DaveDehabey has another crank deal going. So the parts are there just need the block.
another ball of wax Has anybody thought about doing a fire order change like some big chevy's run? Looks like something to look at since a 'non stock' cam is being used. It really shouldn't be a big deal, just rephasing of two cylinders. Kelly
