Im building a 455, please give me tips

Adrian,
Find a local machine shop with a very good reputation & talk to them a few times before you commit. Post here to know what questions to ask first.
Everybody thinks it's the same as a BB Chevy.
Get them to re-bore & install the rotating assembly, heads & intake.
Get it home & you can bolt on everything else yourself with a few hand tools.
Distributor, water-pump, oil-pump,fuel pump, pulleys, clutch & fan, fuel line, oil pan etc. are an excellent place to start.
I had my own 350 rebuilt the same way last year. Kept to stock specs.. for now. I want to know how the engine works as stock before I start tinkering.
Considering a posi. before I go any further with the engine. It will likely be a 2 series to agree with my own grandpa grocery getter driving. Every now & then show the kid in the Civic what this big ole whale can do.
A good Q-Jet, electronic points conversion & a distributor recurve will be very helpful.
I never appreciated how well my 350 works until I put part of it together & installed it. Had timing cover off 2-3 times 1st week due to leaks - left paint on a mating surface. This is how you learn.

 

Hmmm maybe you guys or right...keep this one a little cheaper for my first build and put it in the riv.
So what would be considered a mildly good build for it?
Some ported heads a cam intake manifold a carb and maybe some oil mods?

 

is asking about 400+ too much?

 

do-able
$4500 ( including shipping block) into mine not including carb and headers 448HP 530+trq and built by an excellent Buick Shop!

 

Nice any hints/tips/insights into your build for mine?
I bet that thing gets down. Probably be a huge step up from the rivi right now.

 

With a rejet etc i would be able to use the same carb right?
And the shorty headers from TA will bolt up?

 

Adrian, it won't take much to put a Skylark in the 12's for you. You won't need a turbo. Some minor work will get you there. Take the weight out of it. Main thing is, like the advice already given. Create a plan with the help of some friends on the board, and then follow that plan. It will save you a lot of money to learn from other people and do what they have done.

By the way, I haven't forgotten the pictures for you. I've been out of town.

 

found the old thread of my build
http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=134046&page=4

 

Aid- So now we are building a 12 second streetable skylark

This is what you should be looking for (just my opinion)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969....c0.m245&_trkparms=65:12|39:1|72:317|240:1318


Most of what you need is already there. Just needs to be worked on some. Im not saying to buy that aprticular car just somthing where you need to do limited work to it to have a real nice Skylark with a BBB in it. And yes we can put you in the 12's relatively easy with one like that

 

Haha nice, was thinking you had for a second :beer

I plan on getting one in that condition from carman.
Hey Yacs, you know youve been one of my main friends here on the site and I always appreciate your help. Are you willing to be one of my main men with helping me out with doing a build plan on this thing?
I am picking up the blocks this weekend and then i guess we would start with which would be best to use and go from there...
You in?

 

like i said before in the past, there is a built 72 skylark that has weight reductions already, gs hood, badges, center console, and 455 built to be very fast, i was looking at buying this one a while back, it also has a newer paint job on it done about 3 years ago.. they wanted 7k for it dropped it down to 5800 and with money in hand (getting a loan if you can) and the guy will drop the prices even lower i think, he is in san francisco area..just thought id let you know look for him in the SF craigslist.org area..by the way what bores are the blocks your getting.

 

getting a standard bore and one that needs to be cleaned up he said...
couldnt find the guy on craigslist...maybe not looking right? o No:

 

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/cto/1202349989.html here it is..how far are you from san francisco..im in sacrament,ca...im guessing about 3 hours to San francisco:idea2:

 

if anyone lives around the area check it out.. that would be a good deal i think.. i started off with a 350 and just getting my 455 to barely run right was allot of money and time and thanks to a couple of buds here Thanks Larry..and others too many to list.. i managed to make it run good.. now working on my combo rearangement because i started off with a bunch of parts i had and ended up mismatching my setup. now correcting it piece by piece..by all means listen to these guys and make sure you do it once and not twice as i did.. it sucks knowing you did this twice...but with all that comes great experience, being 22 years old myself i always get asked how i do it, to either manage to maintain my car and how i managed to build it in such short time, the outcome of all this is if you rush things specially in the engine, you will have to do it over and over till you do it right.. think about it..and if you can take a day or too in every critical spot on the buick just so you get to know how it works and what you can do to make it better..i did that with the chebbies and build some great reliable engines everytime..hope this helps..

 

Aid of course I will do my best to help you out. I know I am not an expert here but I can help guide you. There are many here who are more qualified and I know will chime in to help so don't sweat it.

What you need to learn is patients and slow down. Here is a great lesson, believe it or not it kept me alive for 20 years as a cop.
Robert Duvall (PO Hodges) Colors
Baby bull and a Pappa bull are sitting on a grassy knoll over looking a pasture of cows. Baby bull says to papa bull "hey pop why don't we run down the hill and screw one of those cows". Papa bull retorts " why don't we walk down son, and screw them all." Simply stated that is some smart advice.
If you take your time, set this engine up right, and have all of the correct things done by people in the know, you will have an engine that is fast and reliable for years to come.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth (but with a better quote haha)
I definitely am gonna take my time on this thing.
I just got a job (finally!) so I will actually be able to spend little by little on this thing. I will spend as long as it takes on each part and make sure each part that i get done is done by the right guy.
Cant wait to get the block tomorrow, take pictures and get some advice to start picking parts for that rotating assembly.
And another reason to take my time is to make sure I keep the price as low as possible. I know a lot of good deals come up on here and i got to wait on it.

 

not sure if its been said already but one of the things that taught me A LOT was actually breaking down the engine. take your time with disassembly, taking as many pictures as you can. :TU:

 

Good point Pete. That will definitely teach one how everything interacts. First things on the to do list will be the engine crane and engine stand. Got to be able to move then engine around some and have a place to work on it. These are like a crib and high chair waiting for the arrival of a new baby to occcupy them. :TU:

 

Got a crane left over from my old charger.
Think im gonna by just a stand to build it up on at like harbor freight or something...

 

If you have a harbor freight near by, buy the 1200 lbs. one it is better quality and has better wheels. Couple bucks more but worth it. Next stop is to get parts bins/storage containers various sizes. Stop at Staples and get peel and stick labels. Zip lock bags. Sharpie pens. Digital camera.
Take a few pics of the piece to be disassembled, shoot pics as you disassemble and place bolts and small parts in ziplocks and label, larger parts in the bins, label them as well. Have many cans of brake clean on hand to clean the parts as you disassemble. You want your work area to be clean and neat at all times and do 1 thing at a time, this way you dont cross the parts up. Have fun and learn. I would buy a 70-75 service manual for a 455 as well just in case you need to know how something comes apart and in what order they should be taken apart- Capishe':TU: