How many cc's is the dish? Thanks all in advance. Making plans with the 430 I acquired this past weekend. Also I can't find the casting numbers on the block. Do you think this was zero-decked at one point?
Most ppl don't 0 deck then use at type piston But its easy to find out crank it around till a piston is at top dead center and measure down from the deck surface
The casting number of the block is on the back of the block along with the CID. It is behind the rear intake seal right where the block bolts to the transmission. http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s110/tspjim455/000_2551.jpg Can't really tell from pictures whether the block is 0 decked. Bring a piston up to TDC and measure. The stock pistons from a 69 430 had about 16cc.
http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/engine_ident_where.html This link here Larry makes me think that the number was ground off when decking it because of the 1968 Model year 430 section. The casting numbers should appear on the two spaces below and between cylinders 1 and 3, 5 and 7. However there are no numbers there. Edit: I read "left" in the article to mean driver side. I could very well be wrong
No the casting number is raised, and is on the block. You are talking about the engine production code, and VIN derivative are STAMPED into the deck. It doesn't take much to remove them if a machine shop simply made a clean up cut on the deck. It looks to me like there was a Felpro blue head gasket on that block, not the steel shim gasket so it seems like it has been rebuilt.
When I was cranking it over myself I noticed the pistons nearly exceeded the deck, when looked at levelly, so I bet it makes sense now. With that knowledge I will put the lifters (amazing condition) back in their respective places, then organize them correctly, remove the bottom end, hot tank it, and then decide if I want to keep the cam. Currently the cylinder walls are in great condition, and the pistons are standard bore(will get new rings), so I will likely keep everything as low budget as I can(unless the cam and main bearings have died), and regasket the whole thing. Then maybe swap it in. Who knows. Thank you all for the help, this has been good to learn.
You are correct, left is drivers side. Right is passengers side Easy to remember.... all left or right references are made when standing at the rear of the vehicle looking forward, same as sitting in it
Hey all, update on this. Definitely not 0 decked, two mismatched pistons with 6 full skirts and 2 half. Pretty nice amount of ring ridge. It's going 30 over whether I like it or not. Any 430 .30 0ver pistons for sale? Probably at least .050 in the hole for most of them. I don't have it apart yet, but I pulled the pan and the bottom end visually is good, all connected and whatnot. Cylinders 1 and 4 have the oddball pistons. Who does this stuff? Don't people know the difference?
Coming from a guy who has rebuilt a 430 i would tell you to look for a 455 block. Way better piston options
I would ask Jim Weise about the Autotec pistons. See what's available. If you can get a custom piston with the better CD, that is the way to go.
