We have built a dozen 455's and torqued sequenced the same way you do. One of the reasons for going to a single plane manifold on a Buick is to take away some of the low end torque and move it up the power curve a bit. Tires still die.
I used to do the same thing when I had a Pontiac GTO. I put a Holley Street Dominator on it just to soften up the low end torque so I could keep it hooked up. Pontiac intakes are so good they don’t really benefit much from a single plane unless you spend a bunch to make it spin 7000 rpm.
@@raylaux8295 it would depend on what year Duramax. If compared to the early ones I bet it would out tow them if you could get an A1000 behind the buick.
for sure, the Buick and Olds 455's made monster torque numbers bone stock. You turbo either one, WOW! The Olds was made for twin turbos. Looks like the Buick is too.
If my Duramax ever dies. I know what I'm replacing it with. Everyone: Why are you putting a gas engine in there? It won't tow the same. Me: Hold my beer.
Everyone thinks that a diesel makes more torque truth is they just make less horsepower because they don't spin very fast and the only reason they make any torque at all is because of the boost with that same boost level in a gas it would kick their butts all over the place
@@YZFoFittie obviously you're not very familiar with a naturally aspirated diesels with all the things that everybody claims make torquehigh-compression fuel density still didn't make torque for s*** until they added alot of boost
Back in the day I would hear the old heads tell stories about how they would get on the highway and everyone takes off for an out of town spot. Before they could get to the next town that old 455 Buick or 455 Olds would be walking them down. With the high torque at low rpm made those motors highway champs. Keep up the good work Richard
Your right on the mark with the Stage 1! Larger valves machine operation to open up the bowl. Larger cam. These engines really wake up to those mods. Can’t wait to see. The un-ubtainium stage 2 heads took things to a whole new level!!!!!
Miss the yearly Hemi versus Buick meets and coverage. Halcyon days. Buick Stage 1 and the one actual Stage 2 455 I knew the owner of impressed me as much or more than any other stock muscle car back in the original musclecar years. "Old man's car" that made LS6's (among others) run home and count their cubes and advertised horsepower. Laying the smack down on the more popular & famous stuff with 3.42 gears, no less. Very, VERY glad that you are putting this thing through your testing process.
I plug the exhaust crossovers in the heads by melting aluminum and pouring them full from the exhaust side. You can then port match the center exhaust ports!
Only a person involved in the assembly and tuning of racing motors will be able to understand how much work remains behind the scenes of each video! hi from motor sportsmen from Russia) with great respect!
@Jeff Kopis drivers are different everywhere, there are good and bad. If you imagine that we have a movement like in India, then this is not so :) at least we do not have total accidents on the roads and do not stop traffic when it snows 10 centimeters, any housewife drives in such weather. we build European cars, including lada, don't laugh. since the Soviet Union, motorsport has given a lot of tuning components. You can buy anything from a crankshaft to a custom intake manifold. The fastest fwd lada in drag racing currently has ET 8.1 -301km / h (rotary engine), the fastest lada on a factory engine has ET 9.3s. and so everything is like everyone else, k20-24, c20xe, 2jzgte, sr20 and much more. and we have no trabants)
Man! That engine sounded SO comfortable after the head gasket change. 2nd run, I was like, "Yep. There's 500 right there." Because it blew on the run with 8-something PSI. And when you rebuilt it, it SHOULD have been even better (which it was). So once you said 9+ PSI, I was like, "That's a wrap, folks." I can't wait to see how this thing performs through all the mods. And that torque... just wow.
buicks can be great mills and make a lot of power. but the the blocks are cast to save weight. lifter valley is a weak point fot these engines. they make reinforcement plates to keep the lifter bores from collapsing. there are some oiling improvements that people do to race these engines. low rpm's is what this engine was sesigned for. performance was an after thought. pulling a heavy luxury car or station wagon was what they built this engine for. i love your vids and keep them coming.
I was the subject of a sheriff department stakeout in the early 80's due to one of these engines. After purchasing a cool but very underpowered 70 GS with 350(?) I found a mid 70's Electra and robbed the power train. Due to frame mount differences I just left the big car frame mount on and welded to the chassis (teenagers) I then proceeded to destroy the bias ply L60's on a daily basis. I suppose one of my neighbors must have taken exception to that. Luckily one of my compatriots called me after seeing the aforementioned "stakeout". I walked my dogs right up to where they where backed in and explained that the jig was up. They were none to happy I assure you. I can also assure you that I found a new place to abuse bias plys....
Why would you let them know? Think I would have found a new place for fun and drove by the stakeout eating donuts. I've got a lot of respect for police officers in general but the highway patrol are on the bottom of that list.
@@Parents_of_Twins Again I was a teenager and didn't think it that far through. I really only went to confirm for myself, I was probably convinced that I was going to prison or sumthin. I imagine I figured that I'd pushed my luck far enough. Little did I know your luck streaches a lot further than you'd imagine. I did however, later in life thoroughly test the limits of my luck several times....
Ohhh the dyno noise is the best thing to hear as I approach the LA traffic today. The spine chills are like a gentle massage which makes everything OK. Thank you sir
This channel is criminally underrated. I would love to request DIY boosting 2 smog engines that have always been on my mind, the Olds 307, and the Ford 400. I really want to know how much power you can make boosting the hell out of them on stock internals.
Insanity is usng that same elbow on top of the carb and expecting the carb to jet correctly. The tight short radius shears the airflow into the carb and boosters screwing up the signal. TEST IT! Always enjoy your videos Richard, thanks!
For sure, get flow numbers as you mod the heads. Port match (to show it's not very beneficial), bowl clean up, unshroud, back cut for low lift flow. The back cut improvement should show good gains on the 0.100 to 0.250" lift area. Keep up the great content! Lov'n it
It's been 44 years since Buick made the 455! I remembered what a monster 👹 they were especially when Grand National guys love to embarrass old school Buick guys! But when someone dropped an all motor built 455 in a late model Regal that's when people realize that a turbo V6 has its limits and size matters!
Its a good engine for me and my father we had a chevy vega 1974 with 455 buick engine with nitrous for 37 year and its good ,it expensive but that what we got ,a cupple thing inside engine ,10.5 pistons ,pro system carb 1180 cfm,sportman rod, stage 2 valve in a factory heads ,with sigle plane intake,rollers ,with high volume pump asamble ,msd system ,sfi aprove balancer ,long 1 7/8 headers 3 1/2 , th 400 , 331 end rear posi , 28x11.5 -15 ,pretty kool ,best 1/8 6.24 111mph 91octane, no transbreak.
Richard ... before going too far, consider re-ringing and doing a bearing job on this thing, just to give it a fair chance to win. It'd give you a chance to inspect all the bits/pieces to ensure they are up to the task of making power. No sense in destroying the motor over something which could have easily been avoided. You're going to have the heads off again anyway to get them upgraded ... perfect time to refresh the bottom end.
@@richardholdener1727 Ring gap would definitely be on my list if you're going to throw more boost at it or if you are expecting MOAR POWA! :o) Looking forward to seeing what it will do. Already impressed!
I’m just here to have some fun with Richard. He’s got so excited over these last few weeks about the engines he picked up. A kid in a theme park !!! Lol. Let’s have some fun!!!
My dad put a 455 Buick in his ‘70 C10 after the small Chevy quickly gave out back in the day. Gas mileage nearly doubled and it lasted 20 years coming straight from the junk yard.
The 430-4 engines torque curve on my Buick and the power it made was more than enough for a stupid 15 yo kid. I learned a lot from that car about how to control the dynamics when you put your foot down and sometimes learned the hard way. Made me a better driver in the end.
Yes Mike Tomaszewski is the man and knows all about those heads :) just came back to leave a side note.. according to the old men back in the day the 1967 430 heads were THE heads to use for 455s.. the smogger heads have the passages that need filled, and the ports on the 67 heads are notably bigger to the eye. I used to have some but no more. Also the 1970 455 was 10 to 1 compression and the Stage 1 was 10.25 or 10.5 to 1 due to valves.. you might see half a point or better with the flat valves.. thats another reason I used the 430 heads.. smaller chambers.
I've been running a carbureted turbocharged big block Chevy in my one ton pickup since 1986. I built it for towing a trailer up and down the east coast. I've known since I started playing with turbo's in the mid 70's that they are the only answer to the combination power/mileage/drivability/heavy vehicle concerns. While the diesel guys may not like to admit it, cubic inch for cubic inch, manifold pressure being equal, a gasoline engine will out torque and over twice out horsepower a diesel every time. Imagine the new Ford Godzilla V8 with 15 pounds of intercooled boost. The Powerstroke diesel would be way outclassed in torque and horsepower!
Great video, this kind of stuff is super interesting. That detail about turbos and heat energy was also thing that rarely gets mentioned. And also using engines that are a bit outside of the mainstream, makes these videos even better!
That engine is screaming for a Camshaft, that is a lot of volume in those valves, but on the other hand if it was prone to valve instability I guess with heavier valves it will make it even worse but still it will be interesting what that added weight will do with the stock spring, are you going to mill the heads and install .027" Cometic head gaskets to bump up a little further the compression ? if you have the time, please weight the OEM intake manifold vs Aluminum just out curiosity. Definitely torquing cylinder heads from the center out is the right way to do it, I do it in spiral pattern not cross wise, I think both work but for what I have experience with the industrial machines the spiral pattern is what I go for and I have applied to machines that had suffer from matting surface leaks and the spiral pattern had never disappointed, one have to picture in the head how Iron/steel/Aluminum move while torquing with a gasket in between specially one that have a lot of compressibility, and if you want to go more scientific about it install 4-8 dial indicators near each bolts and torque, and watch what happen to the piece of iron/steel/alu with spiral method vs cross method, other factor to take in account if bolt length, and how much they relax after 24hr of being torqued and more so when they heat-up, I torque everything in 3 or more steps depending the amount of torque and after each pass i go thru it again because the first bolts are always loose and it has to do with the gasket compression, with a race engine I will definitely re-torque all bolts after the engine had gone thru some heat cycles and the bolts grain material has relaxed, that I believe will safe you from blown gaskets. Were you at with the 292 ? we the audience are such pricks always demanding and demanding more
The larger flatter valves(augmented with Stage 1 spings) were one of the reasons that Stage 1 engines were rated at a higher compression than standard 455's. Plug the crossover holes with 18mm core plugs. 11/16 is a little too small and barely tighten up without JB Weld or something and 3/4" requires some opening up. The 18mm should fit tight with minimal fuss. Of course if you are maching the heads fitting the 3/4" is no problem. Way back when there actually was an intake gasket with blocked heat crossover available, but that was only for the earlier non-smog heads.
I built a low compression regular burning 455 for my old '81 Suburban. Worked great towing a car trailer & race car and got better MPG than the SBC it replaced. I estimate it would have turned about 90MPH in the 1/4 which is not bad for a 3 ton regular burner.
I believe you should do an SP1 single plane intake. Mike at TA really knows what he's talkin' about. Maybe let him know what you're doin' and see what he says. Good luck either way!!! Love the Buick!!!
I wonder how many guys with Turbos that drag race wished they knew to get that turbo hot before making the first run of the day. I never knew there would be that big of a difference! Never knew about the stage 1 heads either. Cool stuff! T/A performance cool runner intake! C’mon man!
This is a great video again! “The other guys” for the win! I am loving all the non LS testing. This Buick is legit! Look at those curves or lack of. Table flat hp and torque is amazing!
Depending on what cam you are putting in this thing, it's going to be a WHOLE different monster with a the head/valve upgrades. Carrying that torque number just a little flatter for a little longer will make PILES more power. Looking forward to seeing the results!
This is like a drug. I'm trained as an engines guy, but job-wise I've been doing more financial analysis, which is fun, but it's not engines. I hope your business model holds up, because this channel is amazing. I can't wait to get back and fiddle with the '70 LT-1 in my '70 C10.
When you said “guess how much dish is in the valve.” Before you said anything else I literally guess 3cc’s and I was spot on. I’ve never researched or even messed with a Buick 455 in my life. I surprised myself
Recoment a water pump with oilpump intergrated upgrate. Best mod for this engines!. 455 buick's are the nightmares of the other bigblocks .. torque monster+ligth weith
It would be super cool if you could get a TA intake, and an Edelbrock, and a Poston dual plane to show the real difference. Not sure how hard it would be to get ahold of them.. Weiand also made dual quad in take for these things lol
I’m not a Buick specialist but I seem to remember that about the Stage 1 heads being the same as stock castings. My old boss built a Stage 1 clone and he just had the machine shop put the 2.14 valves in it. With a Kenne Bell hydraulic cam and headers it ran 12.50 in a 68 Skylark. Stock intake and torque converter, 4.30 gear and 9 inch slicks. That thing had so much torque the license plate Mount would fly open every time it did a dry hop.
According to the Buick experts it makes more economic sense to port the heads than to just install the Stage 1 valves because the ports are so restricted that they can barely keep up with a 2 inch valve. Big valves alone are an expensive way to gain about 5 HP.
see this helps me save some money. I've got a moderately built 464 (69 430 bored). Edelbrock heads and intake. So as these videos come out, kinda a free dyno test lol. Glad to see these Hemi killers get some screen time.
The car magazines back a decade or two ago often mentioned that with a swap to an aluminum intake these Buick engines would weigh comparable to a gen1 sbc.
I would love to see you build a set up, dyno it and then put it in a drag car built on the channel. Would be interesting to see how your dyno builds translate to the track.
All good shows going into the in's and out's of Buick. Really great that you are evolving the motor as you go. I suspect the dished valves were an attempt to manage heat flow to the stem and seat ... You almost never see a Buick with burned valves. I suppose it happens with a vacuum leak or something. But I've never run across it. Big heavy cars pulling camp trailers or ski boats back in the day with the A/C going full blast and never a ping or a rattle - that's Buick :)
@@richardholdener1727 The larger numbers due to increased heat piqued me. Usually I've seen people recommend "ideally" placing the turbo up close to the exhaust valves. I assumed that recommendation was due in an attempt to prevent and minimize exhaust leaks. But, your setup places the turbo far out... how or why does HEAT itself increase hp/tq numbers ? Please and thank you.
You're amazing Richard holdener! I eagerly await your "other guys" old school videos. As informative as your LS stuff is, I find this other guys stuff much more interesting! Keep it coming.
This latest series on engines that nobody should be interested in have been awesome. Liked the in line 6 and really like this stump puller Buick. This would be a great street light racer. Anyway how about a little love for the Olds fans out here. Just an idea, I’ll watch even if you don’t. I may even know where a few out of the car Olds 455 may exist in N.Hollywood which is sort of on your way to the dyno from your place. Thanks again, great videos.
Buicks love big jets always did. I ran 80 jets square on this same engine with a mild cam intake and headers. Car only ran high 11s with the low compression but TA performance warned me they loved lots of fuel!
Wake up! It's 2AM Nice job Richard, I'm with you and your thoughts on the direction you're going here. It's fascinating. It will be interesting to see what you find inside that thing. Especially since the stroke is about 3.8". I also read the block is about 50 pounds more than an sbc, a light weight casting. Thanks for the show
My guesses for the carb issue is several factors. The intake is a dual plane, the hat has a big effect on the signal to the bowls, and lastly, air bleeds
So much great information, Unfortunately it is lost in poor audio quality ! Echo chamber in your Dyno room ! Love this specific 455 project, trying to duplicate it here in my own shop ! However, afraid too many details are lost on the bad audio !
430 heads flow about 5% better if you want to pump that compression up but you have to choose which oiling system to use since the 430 and 455 were different.
OMG! 505hp with stock cast iron heads, intake and exhaust manifolds! So much room for improvements! These 455 Buicks were no stranger to a thousand hp!
If you ever get your hands on one a 350 Buick is a little torque monster as well. An TA had their new aluminum heads for it (first heads ever for the 350). You don't have to go as in depth with that, but itd be cool to see someone do a good walkthrough on one. NO ONE has and its a damn shame they're really stout engines. Plus they love boost. Its basically a bigger 3.8.
I love my buicks. The 455 Buick is notorious for needing as much carb as you can give it. also the stock oiling system is bad and needs a upgrade desperately. The 455 only wieghs a 30 pounds more than a old school small block chevy. The Buick 455 is a torque monster even in the mild stock setup.
Totally awesome as usual Richard, I new some guys in high school that had Electra 225s with these in them, what a heavy boat they were! What a sleeper build deuce and a quarter rolls up and you hear that turbo wind up ! Oh crap!
TY for doing this. was having convo with people while back on facebook about how a boosted 455 could make insane power cheaper over all then other engines. and how after you get y our hp then look at the torque :) love these engines.
Someone already mentioned go to TA Performance. The 455 was one of the best big blocks GM ever made. Yes, the Buick. Not the Pontiac or the Olds. The timing cover is made of aluminum and usually welds itself to the block. You had better buy one before installing a camshaft. Ask me how I know...
@@erenzoscroggins8056 LOL! I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of seeing an LS in everything. I know that they are a really good engine but is that all people can think of? I s'pose I'd reach for an LS, too, due to availability/cost/parts/etc but I'd like to see a mix of more engines. Speaking of: "Make mine a Ford 5.0 Frap, please." Haha.
5 am here . Starting my day with a Buick lol
7:19 am ending my day. Lol
Same
Every day starts with a buick when you drive a century
4:30 in the morning and this is better than coffee. I swear Richard never sleeps. Thanks for all that you do buddy!
I believe he is running a "night shift" at Westech.
We have built a dozen 455's and torqued sequenced the same way you do. One of the reasons for going to a single plane manifold on a Buick is to take away some of the low end torque and move it up the power curve a bit. Tires still die.
I imagine the power handling improves tremendously with less low speed torque. That is a torque shelf, not a curve.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 "tires still die" classic
I used to do the same thing when I had a Pontiac GTO. I put a Holley Street Dominator on it just to soften up the low end torque so I could keep it hooked up. Pontiac intakes are so good they don’t really benefit much from a single plane unless you spend a bunch to make it spin 7000 rpm.
That thing is gasoline DURAMAX. Those high numbers at such low rpm. 😲👍
Would like to see 1,500 rpm torque. Doubt it's more than 500 ft/lbs
@@raylaux8295 My 455 made >500 ft/lbs at 1500rpm N/A with Edelbrock stage 1 heads, B4B intake, and T/A performance's smallest cam on an engine dyno
Funny, I was thinking nearly the same thing.
@@raylaux8295 it would depend on what year Duramax. If compared to the early ones I bet it would out tow them if you could get an A1000 behind the buick.
@@jeremymardlin5381 duramax has the same bolt pattern as bbc guys are running 4l80s behind dmax
Man, look at Richard here doing the lords work. Thank you!!
That thing is a torque monster
for sure, the Buick and Olds 455's made monster torque numbers bone stock. You turbo either one, WOW! The Olds was made for twin turbos. Looks like the Buick is too.
If my Duramax ever dies. I know what I'm replacing it with.
Everyone: Why are you putting a gas engine in there? It won't tow the same.
Me: Hold my beer.
Everyone thinks that a diesel makes more torque truth is they just make less horsepower because they don't spin very fast and the only reason they make any torque at all is because of the boost with that same boost level in a gas it would kick their butts all over the place
@@bill2178 yeah, NOPE, it's because diesel fuel has WAAAAAAYYYY MORE energy density... lol
@@YZFoFittie obviously you're not very familiar with a naturally aspirated diesels with all the things that everybody claims make torquehigh-compression fuel density still didn't make torque for s*** until they added alot of boost
@@bill2178 why don't you just Google the BTU's for yourself? You can't argue science...
Ford now has the answer: 7.3 pushrod big block with 500+ lbs of torque...
Perfect timing around 8PM in Australia.
Back in the day I would hear the old heads tell stories about how they would get on the highway and everyone takes off for an out of town spot. Before they could get to the next town that old 455 Buick or 455 Olds would be walking them down. With the high torque at low rpm made those motors highway champs. Keep up the good work Richard
6:23 am here, nothing like a boosted buick in the morning haha
This is my favorite UA-cam Dyno series ever.. so thankful for your hard work!
Richard you are the most humble mechanical genius I know. Thank you sir.
Your right on the mark with the Stage 1! Larger valves machine operation to open up the bowl. Larger cam. These engines really wake up to those mods. Can’t wait to see. The un-ubtainium stage 2 heads took things to a whole new level!!!!!
Miss the yearly Hemi versus Buick meets and coverage. Halcyon days. Buick Stage 1 and the one actual Stage 2 455 I knew the owner of impressed me as much or more than any other stock muscle car back in the original musclecar years. "Old man's car" that made LS6's (among others) run home and count their cubes and advertised horsepower. Laying the smack down on the more popular & famous stuff with 3.42 gears, no less. Very, VERY glad that you are putting this thing through your testing process.
Who TH dislikes a video like this. Its free knowledge. Great results Richard!
One of the best channel on utube
@@MinionnitrousBHPtoBHP 💯🦀🎂🚫🗑
I plug the exhaust crossovers in the heads by melting aluminum and pouring them full from the exhaust side. You can then port match the center exhaust ports!
Only a person involved in the assembly and tuning of racing motors will be able to understand how much work remains behind the scenes of each video! hi from motor sportsmen from Russia) with great respect!
Its amazing how fast turnaround time is on these engines goes from blown up to reboost in a day
@Jeff Kopis drivers are different everywhere, there are good and bad. If you imagine that we have a movement like in India, then this is not so :) at least we do not have total accidents on the roads and do not stop traffic when it snows 10 centimeters, any housewife drives in such weather. we build European cars, including lada, don't laugh. since the Soviet Union, motorsport has given a lot of tuning components. You can buy anything from a crankshaft to a custom intake manifold. The fastest fwd lada in drag racing currently has ET 8.1 -301km / h (rotary engine), the fastest lada on a factory engine has ET 9.3s. and so everything is like everyone else, k20-24, c20xe, 2jzgte, sr20 and much more. and we have no trabants)
Yo Russia!
Don't worry-Jeff is gone!
4:55am in AZ... Buick power to the Front💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻... Richard is the Guy!!!
Man! That engine sounded SO comfortable after the head gasket change. 2nd run, I was like, "Yep. There's 500 right there." Because it blew on the run with 8-something PSI. And when you rebuilt it, it SHOULD have been even better (which it was). So once you said 9+ PSI, I was like, "That's a wrap, folks." I can't wait to see how this thing performs through all the mods. And that torque... just wow.
buicks can be great mills and make a lot of power. but the the blocks are cast to save weight. lifter valley is a weak point fot these engines. they make reinforcement plates to keep the lifter bores from collapsing. there are some oiling improvements that people do to race these engines. low rpm's is what this engine was sesigned for. performance was an after thought. pulling a heavy luxury car or station wagon was what they built this engine for. i love your vids and keep them coming.
I was the subject of a sheriff department stakeout in the early 80's due to one of these engines. After purchasing a cool but very underpowered 70 GS with 350(?) I found a mid 70's Electra and robbed the power train. Due to frame mount differences I just left the big car frame mount on and welded to the chassis (teenagers) I then proceeded to destroy the bias ply L60's on a daily basis. I suppose one of my neighbors must have taken exception to that.
Luckily one of my compatriots called me after seeing the aforementioned "stakeout". I walked my dogs right up to where they where backed in and explained that the jig was up. They were none to happy I assure you.
I can also assure you that I found a new place to abuse bias plys....
Why would you let them know? Think I would have found a new place for fun and drove by the stakeout eating donuts. I've got a lot of respect for police officers in general but the highway patrol are on the bottom of that list.
@@Parents_of_Twins
Again I was a teenager and didn't think it that far through.
I really only went to confirm for myself, I was probably convinced that I was going to prison or sumthin. I imagine I figured that I'd pushed my luck far enough.
Little did I know your luck streaches a lot further than you'd imagine.
I did however, later in life thoroughly test the limits of my luck several times....
16 years old, late '80's. 70 Skylark with a dying 350. Junkyard Riviera 455/TH400 and welded the mounts because I couldn't afford the right ones:)
@@nferraro222
Never crossed my mind to actually purchase the correct pieces.
Ohhh the dyno noise is the best thing to hear as I approach the LA traffic today. The spine chills are like a gentle massage which makes everything OK. Thank you sir
This channel is criminally underrated.
I would love to request DIY boosting 2 smog engines that have always been on my mind, the Olds 307, and the Ford 400. I really want to know how much power you can make boosting the hell out of them on stock internals.
Insanity is usng that same elbow on top of the carb and expecting the carb to jet correctly. The tight short radius shears the airflow into the carb and boosters screwing up the signal. TEST IT! Always enjoy your videos Richard, thanks!
Best series yet!
I'm loving all the love your giving to the Buick. Thanks man.
For sure, get flow numbers as you mod the heads. Port match (to show it's not very beneficial), bowl clean up, unshroud, back cut for low lift flow.
The back cut improvement should show good gains on the 0.100 to 0.250" lift area.
Keep up the great content! Lov'n it
I’m loving it. Keep going with this old Buick.
It's been 44 years since Buick made the 455! I remembered what a monster 👹 they were especially when Grand National guys love to embarrass old school Buick guys! But when someone dropped an all motor built 455 in a late model Regal that's when people realize that a turbo V6 has its limits and size matters!
Its a good engine for me and my father we had a chevy vega 1974 with 455 buick engine with nitrous for 37 year and its good ,it expensive but that what we got ,a cupple thing inside engine ,10.5 pistons ,pro system carb 1180 cfm,sportman rod, stage 2 valve in a factory heads ,with sigle plane intake,rollers ,with high volume pump asamble ,msd system ,sfi aprove balancer ,long 1 7/8 headers 3 1/2 , th 400 , 331 end rear posi , 28x11.5 -15 ,pretty kool ,best 1/8 6.24 111mph 91octane, no transbreak.
Holy torque monsters, Batman! With a modern top end, that thing is gonna SCREAM!
Yea, it currently has a flatter hp curve than what people are bragging about for a torque curves...
I like that custom throttle linkage. Ran a similar set up on my 68 firebird.
Richard ... before going too far, consider re-ringing and doing a bearing job on this thing, just to give it a fair chance to win. It'd give you a chance to inspect all the bits/pieces to ensure they are up to the task of making power. No sense in destroying the motor over something which could have easily been avoided. You're going to have the heads off again anyway to get them upgraded ... perfect time to refresh the bottom end.
The short block is perfect-I might check ring gap before next boost session
@@richardholdener1727 Ring gap would definitely be on my list if you're going to throw more boost at it or if you are expecting MOAR POWA! :o) Looking forward to seeing what it will do. Already impressed!
I’m just here to have some fun with Richard. He’s got so excited over these last few weeks about the engines he picked up. A kid in a theme park !!! Lol. Let’s have some fun!!!
My dad put a 455 Buick in his ‘70 C10 after the small Chevy quickly gave out back in the day. Gas mileage nearly doubled and it lasted 20 years coming straight from the junk yard.
Turning out to be a really nice project ... Super interesting... Glad you're trying it in many configs.
the Key, "super interesting"
Hey you got it back together. Really like your passion for what you do with these old motors
The 430-4 engines torque curve on my Buick and the power it made was more than enough for a stupid 15 yo kid. I learned a lot from that car about how to control the dynamics when you put your foot down and sometimes learned the hard way. Made me a better driver in the end.
Awesome Richard, I never thought of changing the chamber volume with valves, I learn a lot from you, thank you Richard.
Yes Mike Tomaszewski is the man and knows all about those heads :) just came back to leave a side note.. according to the old men back in the day the 1967 430 heads were THE heads to use for 455s.. the smogger heads have the passages that need filled, and the ports on the 67 heads are notably bigger to the eye. I used to have some but no more. Also the 1970 455 was 10 to 1 compression and the Stage 1 was 10.25 or 10.5 to 1 due to valves.. you might see half a point or better with the flat valves.. thats another reason I used the 430 heads.. smaller chambers.
I've been running a carbureted turbocharged big block Chevy in my one ton pickup since 1986. I built it for towing a trailer up and down the east coast. I've known since I started playing with turbo's in the mid 70's that they are the only answer to the combination power/mileage/drivability/heavy vehicle concerns.
While the diesel guys may not like to admit it, cubic inch for cubic inch, manifold pressure being equal, a gasoline engine will out torque and over twice out horsepower a diesel every time. Imagine the new Ford Godzilla V8 with 15 pounds of intercooled boost. The Powerstroke diesel would be way outclassed in torque and horsepower!
That would make a KILLER truck engine. Those numbers rival or beat most diesels.
I LOVE the tie wire carburetor linkage. A man after my own heart, whatever works!
Great video, this kind of stuff is super interesting. That detail about turbos and heat energy was also thing that rarely gets mentioned. And also using engines that are a bit outside of the mainstream, makes these videos even better!
That engine is screaming for a Camshaft, that is a lot of volume in those valves, but on the other hand if it was prone to valve instability I guess with heavier valves it will make it even worse but still it will be interesting what that added weight will do with the stock spring, are you going to mill the heads and install .027" Cometic head gaskets to bump up a little further the compression ? if you have the time, please weight the OEM intake manifold vs Aluminum just out curiosity.
Definitely torquing cylinder heads from the center out is the right way to do it, I do it in spiral pattern not cross wise, I think both work but for what I have experience with the industrial machines the spiral pattern is what I go for and I have applied to machines that had suffer from matting surface leaks and the spiral pattern had never disappointed, one have to picture in the head how Iron/steel/Aluminum move while torquing with a gasket in between specially one that have a lot of compressibility, and if you want to go more scientific about it install 4-8 dial indicators near each bolts and torque, and watch what happen to the piece of iron/steel/alu with spiral method vs cross method, other factor to take in account if bolt length, and how much they relax after 24hr of being torqued and more so when they heat-up, I torque everything in 3 or more steps depending the amount of torque and after each pass i go thru it again because the first bolts are always loose and it has to do with the gasket compression, with a race engine I will definitely re-torque all bolts after the engine had gone thru some heat cycles and the bolts grain material has relaxed, that I believe will safe you from blown gaskets.
Were you at with the 292 ? we the audience are such pricks always demanding and demanding more
I think my stock intake weighed 50 to 55 pounds. But. Its been awhile
@@timothyryan2847 that is a lot
I suspect about 25 kilo to around 16. Using a Performer style intake.
it felt like 300 pounds
@@richardholdener1727 try lifting it lean over a fender. Its a great workout
Buick FTW!!! Thanks for the test Richard
The larger flatter valves(augmented with Stage 1 spings) were one of the reasons that Stage 1 engines were rated at a higher compression than standard 455's. Plug the crossover holes with 18mm core plugs. 11/16 is a little too small and barely tighten up without JB Weld or something and 3/4" requires some opening up. The 18mm should fit tight with minimal fuss. Of course if you are maching the heads fitting the 3/4" is no problem. Way back when there actually was an intake gasket with blocked heat crossover available, but that was only for the earlier non-smog heads.
Looks like a perfect truck engine
I think kaiser jeep used Buick 350s for a short time before they were bought by American Motors
I built a low compression regular burning 455 for my old '81 Suburban. Worked great towing a car trailer & race car and got better MPG than the SBC it replaced. I estimate it would have turned about 90MPH in the 1/4 which is not bad for a 3 ton regular burner.
If I am not mistaken, GMC truck used Buick engines during the mid 50's to mid 60's. They were lighter and had more torque then the Chevys.
I believe you should do an SP1 single plane intake. Mike at TA really knows what he's talkin' about. Maybe let him know what you're doin' and see what he says. Good luck either way!!! Love the Buick!!!
he is in the loop
I wonder how many guys with Turbos that drag race wished they knew to get that turbo hot before making the first run of the day. I never knew there would be that big of a difference! Never knew about the stage 1 heads either. Cool stuff! T/A performance cool runner intake! C’mon man!
Im loving how thorough you are Rich!
Always nice to wake up to another interesting ancient engine test. Thank you
If you're going to run more boost don't forget the ring gap. Good video, that torque is amazing.
If mike tomaszewski from ta performance tells you something about Buick’s it’s a fact. TA performance is the gold standard for Buick period!
This is a great video again! “The other guys” for the win! I am loving all the non LS testing. This Buick is legit! Look at those curves or lack of. Table flat hp and torque is amazing!
Years ago I put a Buick 455 in my 77 Firebird. OMG! Was a blast!
Depending on what cam you are putting in this thing, it's going to be a WHOLE different monster with a the head/valve upgrades. Carrying that torque number just a little flatter for a little longer will make PILES more power. Looking forward to seeing the results!
This is like a drug. I'm trained as an engines guy, but job-wise I've been doing more financial analysis, which is fun, but it's not engines. I hope your business model holds up, because this channel is amazing. I can't wait to get back and fiddle with the '70 LT-1 in my '70 C10.
Keep up the good work you never cease to amaze with your driven work ethics.
When you said “guess how much dish is in the valve.” Before you said anything else I literally guess 3cc’s and I was spot on. I’ve never researched or even messed with a Buick 455 in my life. I surprised myself
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day 😃😃
Recoment a water pump with oilpump intergrated upgrate. Best mod for this engines!. 455 buick's are the nightmares of the other bigblocks .. torque monster+ligth weith
Pretty sure this is the kind of experimental and fun build a lot of us want to see! Your enthusiasm and energy is also contagious haha 👍
It would be super cool if you could get a TA intake, and an Edelbrock, and a Poston dual plane to show the real difference. Not sure how hard it would be to get ahold of them.. Weiand also made dual quad in
take for these things lol
Super cool Series !
500hp at 4K rpm? Mom’s old oldsmabuick wagon ain’t gonna complain.
Awesome info like usual. ....cant wait to see this thing make 800hp
I’m not a Buick specialist but I seem to remember that about the Stage 1 heads being the same as stock castings. My old boss built a Stage 1 clone and he just had the machine shop put the 2.14 valves in it. With a Kenne Bell hydraulic cam and headers it ran 12.50 in a 68 Skylark. Stock intake and torque converter, 4.30 gear and 9 inch slicks. That thing had so much torque the license plate Mount would fly open every time it did a dry hop.
According to the Buick experts it makes more economic sense to port the heads than to just install the Stage 1 valves because the ports are so restricted that they can barely keep up with a 2 inch valve. Big valves alone are an expensive way to gain about 5 HP.
Richard, great work. Could you share a little more detail on the turbo??? Thanks
see this helps me save some money. I've got a moderately built 464 (69 430 bored). Edelbrock heads and intake. So as these videos come out, kinda a free dyno test lol. Glad to see these Hemi killers get some screen time.
Mill, or cut the manifold out where it has the pattern for the QJet. It makes a difference when you have a square bore carb
Yeah! new water pump!
I was shocked to see them heads stage 1. the vowels that deep wow . Hell yes change them is a must.
Great vid as always 👍
I would so totally love a similar series as these Buick 455 but on a Jeep 4.0L.
yes
The car magazines back a decade or two ago often mentioned that with a swap to an aluminum intake these Buick engines would weigh comparable to a gen1 sbc.
Yes, they are the lightest of cast iron GM big blocks
It's probably really close. They weighed about 50lbs more in factory trim and my KB aluminum single-plane must have knocked 30lbs off of that.
I would love to see you build a set up, dyno it and then put it in a drag car built on the channel. Would be interesting to see how your dyno builds translate to the track.
All good shows going into the in's and out's of Buick. Really great that you are evolving the motor as you go.
I suspect the dished valves were an attempt to manage heat flow to the stem and seat ... You almost never see a Buick with burned valves. I suppose it happens with a vacuum leak or something. But I've never run across it. Big heavy cars pulling camp trailers or ski boats back in the day with the A/C going full blast and never a ping or a rattle - that's Buick :)
that valve design is usually for weight
@@richardholdener1727
The larger numbers due to increased heat piqued me. Usually I've seen people recommend "ideally" placing the turbo up close to the exhaust valves. I assumed that recommendation was due in an attempt to prevent and minimize exhaust leaks.
But, your setup places the turbo far out... how or why does HEAT itself increase hp/tq numbers ?
Please and thank you.
You're amazing Richard holdener! I eagerly await your "other guys" old school videos. As informative as your LS stuff is, I find this other guys stuff much more interesting! Keep it coming.
This latest series on engines that nobody should be interested in have been awesome. Liked the in line 6 and really like this stump puller Buick. This would be a great street light racer. Anyway how about a little love for the Olds fans out here. Just an idea, I’ll watch even if you don’t. I may even know where a few out of the car Olds 455 may exist in N.Hollywood which is sort of on your way to the dyno from your place. Thanks again, great videos.
Buicks love big jets always did. I ran 80 jets square on this same engine with a mild cam intake and headers. Car only ran high 11s with the low compression but TA performance warned me they loved lots of fuel!
Awesome Buick videos! Looking forward to more and TA heads please!
Wake up! It's 2AM
Nice job Richard, I'm with you and your thoughts on the direction you're going here. It's fascinating. It will be interesting to see what you find inside that thing. Especially since the stroke is about 3.8". I also read the block is about 50 pounds more than an sbc, a light weight casting.
Thanks for the show
Wake up! Time to Di......YNO!
Bore is 4.3125" x 3.9" stroke
LOL! "That stupid hose." You're the best Richard.
My guesses for the carb issue is several factors. The intake is a dual plane, the hat has a big effect on the signal to the bowls, and lastly, air bleeds
So much great information,
Unfortunately it is lost in poor audio quality !
Echo chamber in your Dyno room !
Love this specific 455 project, trying to duplicate it here in my own shop !
However, afraid too many details are lost on the bad audio !
430 heads flow about 5% better if you want to pump that compression up but you have to choose which oiling system to use since the 430 and 455 were different.
OMG! 505hp with stock cast iron heads, intake and exhaust manifolds! So much room for improvements! These 455 Buicks were no stranger to a thousand hp!
If you ever get your hands on one a 350 Buick is a little torque monster as well. An TA had their new aluminum heads for it (first heads ever for the 350). You don't have to go as in depth with that, but itd be cool to see someone do a good walkthrough on one. NO ONE has and its a damn shame they're really stout engines. Plus they love boost. Its basically a bigger 3.8.
I love my buicks. The 455 Buick is notorious for needing as much carb as you can give it. also the stock oiling system is bad and needs a upgrade desperately. The 455 only wieghs a 30 pounds more than a old school small block chevy. The Buick 455 is a torque monster even in the mild stock setup.
Perfect motor for a pickup truck! Almost 800 ft.lbs. of Torque and 500hp at ~5000 rpm... Wow!
Totally awesome as usual Richard, I new some guys in high school that had Electra 225s with these in them, what a heavy boat they were! What a sleeper build deuce and a quarter rolls up and you hear that turbo wind up ! Oh crap!
Congrats on 90k subs!!!
Can't wait.
True. The only way you can verify stage 1 is to pull the heads and measure the valve.
wow! 500 hp with a stock cam. thats incredible, i can't wait to see what she does with a cam, head and intake!
Richard Mike at TA proforma is right , confusing but true. Can't wait to see the built motor run with turbo.
if you've got enough spring, i want to see what this thing does with some cam and some RPM!
TY for doing this. was having convo with people while back on facebook about how a boosted 455 could make insane power cheaper over all then other engines. and how after you get y our hp then look at the torque :) love these engines.
Someone already mentioned go to TA Performance. The 455 was one of the best big blocks GM ever made. Yes, the Buick. Not the Pontiac or the Olds. The timing cover is made of aluminum and usually welds itself to the block. You had better buy one before installing a camshaft. Ask me how I know...
455 Starbucks Frap Machine! Everyone ought to have one! LOL!
What like a LS??? hahahahahaha "Buick to the Front" is way more exciting then Everybody's LS
@@erenzoscroggins8056 LOL! I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of seeing an LS in everything. I know that they are a really good engine but is that all people can think of? I s'pose I'd reach for an LS, too, due to availability/cost/parts/etc but I'd like to see a mix of more engines. Speaking of: "Make mine a Ford 5.0 Frap, please." Haha.
@@tomnekuda3818 right lololol same here
Sounds like a plan that is going to be fun to watch.