My current summer ride is a '66 Special, 455, 4sp. In putting that together, I accumulated quite a few spare parts. At the recent NE GS/GN party, another enthusiast was looking for an oil pick up tube for a '69 Electra 430. I told him I might be able to help, but the pickup tube I have from a 455 looks quite a bit different from the picture he sent me of the one he is looking for. Fool that I am, I figured the pickup tube would be the same as long as it was from a 400/430/455. I know the nailheads had both a mid-sump and a rear sump - did they do the same thing with the 400/430/455? Anyone know how many different pickup tubes they made for the thin-wall casting big blocks? Are the pickup tubes different in each of the three motors? Thanks!
Welcome from CA. The sumps on the pan either had a middle or rear sump depending on chassis therefore requiring different pickup tubes, all BBB will take any BBB pan and tube, tube differentiation is dependent on sump location.....
Thanks for the feedback, StagedCat! Based on the picture of his oil pan, I think he has the wrong pickup tube. I did a bing search on "Buick 455 oil pickup tube" and the first image that shows up is a picture of a BBB with the oil pan (which happens to match his) off, and the pickup tube matches the one I have, not the one in his picture. My main concern is just that I want to be sure I'm shipping something that will work for him so we don't have to hassle with returning something.
