was looking for help in rebuilding a 1970 buick 455 motor from a electra for my 1975 buick century i have. would like to know what would be the cheapest things i could do to increase the hp i have when i rebuild the motor.motor is stock now, never been touched.im going to use the turbo 350 thats in the car and put 342 gears in rearend. i rebuilt a 1974 buick century back inthe mid 90s and had a 455 in it with 342 gears and i turned mid 14s at the race track. was hoping to be atllitle faster with this other motor since the one in my 1974 was a 1972 buick 455. ________ Vaaapp
well i dont want a full race motor just something with alittle more juice than the stock motor.i will be driving it everyother day or so but would like to kick the little jap crapand other ford mustangs out there.wanted to know maybe what cam to use and what carb.i had a 750 holley on my 1972 455 and it worked great. but that motor i think only had 225 hp and this 1970 motor is supposed to have 350hp. was the difference in the compression in the heads or the pistons. ________ Vaporite solo instructions
Both - different pistons/different head CCs. Ported heads have no drawbacks. Aluminum stage1 heads are a 'little' pricy at 2K (which is why i asked about your budget). Other changes... Stage1 valves cam (look in the street/strip forum of this board) rejetted carb John Osborne/Norm Diehle recurved distributor, possibly a 'small body HEI' headers/ported exhaust manifolds aluminum intake/ported Again, what are you looking to spend?
i guess i dont want to spend 2000 on a pair of heads.i guess i am just looking for a good cam to use in it and intake.i guess i would use the exhaust manifolds instead of headers because dont think to many people make headers for a 1975 buick century. exhaust would be either 2'' or 2and half with flow master mufflers. if my 750 holley carb worked on my 1972 455motor that was stock , would i need a bigger carb for this 1970 motor. ________ Effects Of Depakote
Stock QJ in 1970 was 750 CFM. In 1971 and up, all big-blocks got an 800 CFM QJ. Buicks like big carbs! Search the street/strip section for cam/engine combinations that represent your goal. Good luck with your project :TU:
at least 9.5 to 1 comppession, eney more and you my need to run octane boost,, have a 3 angle valve job done on your heads and clean up the bowles and chambers, use a cam with about 220 intake duration that way the stock converter wont be a problem. a 750 carb, and a stage one fuel pump, would be fine for a mostly street car. a 2 1/2 exhaust system, recurve the distribtor, so you have total timing of 30-34 in by 2000 rpm, with intial at 12-16. with a set up like that you should make 400+ h/p, and 500+ tourque. there are lots of cars with set up like this, very streetable without spending a ton of money, the right car with slicks can get into the 12s with a set up like this
Ray i have parts you need Ray here are some parts that i have for sale 455 1. .030 hyperuetectic 10.25:1 sm cc 9.85:1 Lg cc speed pro pistons (poston) paid $289.00 sell $250.00 2. .030 speed pro moly rings (poston) paid $89.95 sell $75.00 3. High volume oil pump kit TA#1506 paid $70.00 sell $60.00 I will let everything go for $300.00 plus shipping if you are interested. Thanks Dustin
On the cheap? Do some at-home cylinder head cleanup work. It will only cost you time and some tools. There are some directions on this board. Couple the directions with some common sense and you'll get some horsepower. About two weeks of two hours a night and you'll be done with port matching. Youll have more than enough time while the rest is at the machine shop. I'd spend my money on reliability - forged rather than hypereutectic pistons. As much as I'd like to have Stage1 valves, I put my money into a MUCH better exhaust system. Maybe you can get shorty headers for the Century. Most of the gang here will tell you to stay away from the HP/HV oil pump - a pretty good idea. More threads here on that subject. Get a cam that matches your gearing - don't forget your converter either.
HV or booster? would you run a booster plate then instead? i bought the hi vol pump because it was suggested by this board i just am unable to build my motor so i am selling my parts. Thanks Dustin
Booster plate is a good idea. Hi-volume pump stresses the front of the cam and the distributor gear too much for anything other than race applications.
I do run that pump but keep in mind I built my engine 10 years ago and current thinking is, well, current thinking. The only trouble I've had is a snapped distributor roll pin - of course that pin was about 26 years old at the time. I run 5w-30 synth oil now to keep the pressure down. But alot of the guys have had far worse trouble with the HV/HP pump, destroyed front cam bearings being the worst of it. Next engine won't have this pump in it, but then my engines seem to stay in one piece. The irony is that if you do a good job building engines you just don't get much practice - knocking on wood now!
my motor is race only, i trailor the car to the track. i guess i will try out the booster plate and see how it does. Thanks for straighting me out on this Dustin
