Update 6-26-2001
Hot off the dyno! We got 417 HP at 5,300 RPM and 485 lb-foot
of torque at 3,900 RPM. She pulled nice and crisp. The Rochester carb seemed to
be perfect for the combination with the Edelbrock B4B intake. Tom Andresen of Andresen
Engine said on a "Happy Dyno" as he refers to others,
we would be around 450 HP. With a Poston "Cool Runner" intake, we
would probably gain 25 HP. But for street and strip this is the best combo. He
mentioned that all dynos differ from each other, some read higher, some lower.
He mentioned his seems to be more realistic numbers because if you enter his
dyno's figures into those calculations where you take the cars weight and
horsepower to figure your quarter mile time, he has seen the cars many times
come within a couple tenths of those calculations. We also took some video of the engine on the
dyno and hope to add them to our "Downloads" page.
Update 4-28-01
When
you get the crank back from the machine shop, thoroughly wash the crank with a
pressure washer or hard stream from a garden hose, paying close attention to the
oil holes to blow out all the machining dust and grit.
Thoroughly
wash the engine block with a sponge and plenty of water and dishwashing
detergent to float out all the remaining machining dust and grit. Pay close
attention to the cylinders to be sure to get the grit out of the cross hatch of
the cylinders. Work quickly to get to the next step to avoid rust!
Pressure
wash the block like the crankshaft before. Make sure you get inside all the
small oil passages and lifter bores to flush out any hidden chips or grit. Work
quickly to get to the next step to avoid rust!
Blow
dry the crank and block with compressed air and follow up with plenty of WD-40.
Have plenty of cans on hand and be sure not to miss any areas or rust will begin
quickly.
A
good thing for a Buick 455 is a main stud kit for the crankshaft bearing caps.
These were available from ARP. They help strengthen the lower end of any Buick.
We used a neoprene rear main seal rather than the old rope type to ensure
no rear main seal failure under high oil pressures in a high performance motor.
We
also added a crank scraper which you can see along the left side of the block in
the picture to the engine to help control oil windage that can occur when the
oil gets wrapped up around the crank at high RPM's robbing horsepower by slowing
the cranks rotation. We hand filed and fit the scraper and roll pinned it in
position when finished.
Update 3-10-01
The crank main journals are being ground for .010 undersize bearings. Undersize meaning the crank will be .010 smaller. So the bearings will be thicker. For the rods we will be able to use .001 thicker bearings which should bring us right where we want to be. While Andresen has the engine block the main oil galley will be drilled out to 5/8" from the stock 1/2" for more oil volume to the pump. This will help feed the Buick's huge main bearings. '71 and later 455 blocks were this way from the factory. We already have the large 5/8" oil pick up tube from a Stage 1 motor. The timing cover also has to be enlarged where it meets the oil galley in the block. The oil pump is in the timing cover on a Buick. We should be able to pick up the block and crank mid March.
Update 2-24-01
We test fit the crank and rods using "Plastigage" to check the clearance in the main and rod bearings. A Buick 455 should be closely held to around .0015 to .002 on the mains and no more than .0025 on the rods. Our motor was at .0045 on the mains and .003 on the rods. Way to much for the big 3.250" mains on a Buick. The crank was undersize by about .001 from polishing. the block bores for the mains were oversize from the factory by about .001. The new bearings were on the low limit of their tolerance so they were under about .0006. All this added up to the excessive clearance. We took the crank back to Andresen where it will be reground for .010 crank undersize bushings. Each crank journal will be sized to its bore and bearing. We're still shooting for March dyno testing. We will have some assembly photos and tips in March on this web page.
Update 8-24-00
We dropped in the crank and installed 2 pistons to check the piston to valve clearance with the new cam. The first picture we degreed in the cam to check it for accuracy. It checked out within 1-2 degrees which is quite good. The cam when installed at final assembly will be 4 degrees advanced. We chose the "Hemi Killer" cam from the G.S. Club of America for a well proven record of power and streetability. We installed a cylinder head and head gasket after first putting some clay on the piston dome. After installing the valve train for that cylinder, we rotated the motor so the clay would make contact with the vavles as seen in the second picture after the head was removed. (Remember you can click on these thumbnail pictures to see them full size). You will also see the piston is at "0" deck after block machining. (The piston dome is level with the engine block). The last picture shows us checking the valve impression depth in the clay which shows about .150" to .180" clearance to the piston valve relief, which is plenty. This simple check of piston to valve clearance should always be done on a none stock motor. In September final assembly will begin to get the motor ready for the dyno. Stay tuned!
Update 7-04-00
The roller tip rocker arms have been shipped. We should be on track for trial assembly this month. Stay tuned!
Update 6-04-00
We are still waiting for some parts. Specifically the aluminum roller tip rocker arms. We need those to check piston to valve clearance during the trial fit assembly of the motor. Hope to have everything this month.
Update 4-16-00
We have begun trial assembly of the motor. We dropped in the crank and installed piston and rod assemblies 1 and 2, so there would be a piston in the left and right bank of the motor. This way we can check the piston to deck (top of the block) clearance. Which right now checks out to be the pistons sticking out about .005 thousandths of an inch. The piston tops will have to be shaved down slightly to get them a little below deck. The cam and lifters have been ordered and we should see them in about 2 weeks. Once we have those we can check piston to valve clearance. I f that checks out we can begin final assembly without any more machining on the pistons. When the motor is finished we may run it on the dyno at Andresen.
Update:4-9-00
The motor is back from the machine shop. After the head work and the block was decked the final compression ratio should be around 11:1! Up from 9:1. That ought to give the old mojo some more pop! The heads were converted to Stage 1 specs with bigger valves and the valve pockets cleaned up along with some light bowl work. Trial assembly will begin this month to check piston to deck clearance and valve to piston clearance. A light cut may have to be taken off the piston crowns to get them just below the new deck height. We will be updating with pics. and info as we go. Can't wait to run her at the track! Should be a big improvement over last times. Thanks to the folks at Andresen Engine Development for the machine work and tech support. We will feature them in the future on this site.
