Good motor, running a stock 430, in my 53 chevy, runs a 13,55 with street tires all day.. The thing is soo constint it ant funny. Speed parts are hard to find.
Tourque, you could pull stumps out in drive... They are good stong motors... They came out befour the 455.
Anything special done to the engine? Speed parts aren't too hard to find, but some of them can be expensive. There are some budget ways to build one for a street runner.
I did one years ago for a fellow. We became good friends afterwards. They are an excellant motor and probably severely under appreciated. they have aunique blend of old time brute stength and modern design. I wouldnt be afraid to get serious on one as I think they have a lot of undiscovered potential. I mighht be off a bit but it seems to me back in the day some racer used to use a BB mopar intake with minor mods on these motors. If I dont force it i might remember who. I would think 1 hp per cube would be as easy as falling of a log. For some reason though late model buicks never caught on save for the Stage 1 through II motors. I remember a fellow who had a 66 Skylark and was offered a 430 . I told him it was a no brainer and it would have been a super car with just bolting it in. Unfortunatley he got talked out of it by the "che+#$&#-et crowd. Probably because they were afraid he would whip them. Don
The 430 is a great motor. Like it has been said here, it is a torque monster. it would be a great engine for pulling.
The Buick motors have a lot of torque, and it's accessible at insanely low RPM's. I don't know much about the 430, though. I'm into the Nailheads.
My grandfather had a '69 LeSabre with a 430 and I remember him complaining once that the car was too powerful and fast. A LeSabre was the smaller full size car, about 4000 lbs or so. I of course said, where can I get one of these? But ended up with a 455-powered Pontiac instead.
I'm on that forum, and I'd definitely recommend it. They can really help you out with anything you need to know.
I have one in my 46 ford. I love it.... basically stock but pulls like hell all day long. tons of torque. speed parts aren't hard to find either. Theres plenty of stuff for them. I take mine to 5500 rpm easy.
I found one not to far from me. It is a '67 block by the #s, supposidly rebuilt with performance parts. Has in 455 edelbrock intake and carb. Been sitting for years but turns over. Ant suggestions on a reasonable offer on this?
Found this elsewhere: Hey Guys, If you are building your 400/430/455 Buick and want a greater selection of intake manifold choices, then I've got the thing for you. I'm making adaptor plates to enable you to use Mopar intake manifolds on our Buick engines. They are made out of 7075 T-7 351 alum. and that's top grade NASA stuff! In other words it's a better material than it has to be. #1 If you are using standard cast iron Buick 400/430/455 heads, or any of the TA "low port" alum. heads such as the Street Eliminator series, then I have a specific set of billet alum. adaptors to let you use any Mopar intake from the "B" engine series meaning 361, 383, & 400 CID. These are considered "low deck" blocks by the Mopar engine builders. The cost is $240 plus shipping for my adaptors, and that includes the valley plate and specific bolts which are countersunk. #2 If you are using any of the TA "high port" heads such as the Stg 3 or Track Eliminator heads, then I have a DIFFERENT set of adaptors that allow you to use any Mopar intake from the "RB" engine series, meaning 413, 426 Wedge, & 440 CID. These are considered "high deck" blocks by the Mopar engine builders. Again the cost is $240 plus shipping for my adaptors and the kit includes the valley plate and specific bolts which are countersunk. Please contact me via e-mail at; [email protected] or call (270) 685-4654. Thanks, Charlie Evans Evans Racing Engines 1231 Upper Trace Owensboro, KY 42303
Good info. I believe Charlie is pretty well known in Buick (as well as 460 Ford) performance circles. http://www.evansracingengines.com/
What I can tell you about the Buick 430 is that my dad bought a brand new Wildcat 2-dr hardtop in 1967 with that motor. I think it had 360 hp stock with a 4bbl carb. I was 17 at the time and he let me take it "around the block" by myself. Well, as I was driving past one of my buds house he was outside and I stopped to show him the car. As I was leaving I wanted to impress him so I floored it from a standing start. There was a screeching and grinding noise coming from the engine......I took my foot offf the gas but it continued....I freaked and turned the key off. I then turned the the engine back on and it sounded normal so I drove it home. Well........coolant was drippin out and my old man was pissed. We opened up the hood and saw that coolant was coming from the water pump shaft. Also, the tips of the fan blades were bent and the air cleaner had a dent on the top. What had happened is that I ripped a motor mount which allowed the fan to contact the the shroud and carb linkage stuck. It all settled down only after I shut the motor off. Yeah.........it had a lot of torque.
My Uncle had a 67 Skylark GS with a 430 and it would routinely beat big block Chevelle's at the strip..... ton's of torque, car ate motor mounts.... he had a piece of chain bolted to the block and the frame to limit engine movement. Probably one the best engines to use if you wanted to tow.
I ended up getting one for $260, the one I mentioned earlier. It comes with the engine stand it is on as well. I figure the stand, Edelbrock intake and carb will have to be worth at least what I am paying for it.
Awesome! You can't get hurt at that price. You'll want to pop the pan off and check all the rod bearings. You want to get rid of the old rope type rear seal anyway. The 400 and 430 have a very weak oiling system and love to eat rod bearings. Check the top end too, a lot can go wrong in a high milage 430. A high pressure/high volume oil pump from TA or somewhere similar is a must have. I'd also take the water pump housing/timing cover off and replace the timing set with a quality all metal set just as a mater of course. Beware though, there are at least 2 of the cover bolts that will be stuck if not frozen tight because they go right into a water jacket, fun, fun, fun. I've found them corroded right in two. While you have the front cover off check for excess corrosion of the aluminum where it meets the block. They can get pretty porous there. If there's water in the oil for no apparent reason it's probably the cover. Other point's of interest: An HEI from any year 455 slips right in. If your going to tow with it, the TH400 out of an Electra 225 with tow package has a really low first gear. These engines like lots of radiator.
Many, if not most of the big Buick (BBB) bearing problems come from high RPMs. The very large diameter main bearings are said to contribute to that because the SFM (Surface Feet per Minute) is higher on a larger bearing. Maybe, is my thinking as far as the large bearing goes. One thing the large bearing does is spread the load out over a larger area. Keep in mind that the BBBs were designed to drag Luxo-Barges around. Since some serious torque was required, didn't take long for the hot rod gang to realize that a BBB in a light car was a whole other ball game. It's fairly easy to get a Camaro size Buick (Skylark I think it is) to run tens without too much done to the engine and they had no probs holding their own on the dragstrips. Much to the dismay of a few Chevy owners. As noted, high revs are hard on the Buicks and it's usually #8 rod bearing that fails. I understand that oil pressure to #8 is 10# less than pressure at the front rod bearings. In normal use a non-problem. The Clevelands had the same basic problem and the cure was to route oil from the front of the engine to the rear oil gallery. Clevelands usually did it all internally. Here's one way the Buick guys do it. Not sure where this guy is picking up oil pressure, the ones I've seen with a modified oil system tap into full pressure at the front right of the engine. The right angle fitting in the pic is tapped into the right side oil gallery by pulling the welsh plug and tapping the hole. Easiest way for most of us is to build your own oil pump with tight clearances and keep the revs under 5500. I use 5000 rpm as a limit in my 32. I do have K-B springs, roller rockers, retainers etc., but they're not required for the lower rpm levels I run. Do some searching on the Buick V8 board and you'll find what stock Buick rockers etc. to use. I do recommend an aftermarket rocker shaft. Talked to a couple different guys who'd broken the stock ones at the strip and I believe they were shifting 6000-6200 rpm. Stock valve springs will be sufficient on the street. Some nice features about the BBB: Replace the heavy intake manifold with an aluminum one and the Buick weighs 15# more than an SBC in similar trim. The stock exhaust manifolds, heavy they are, flow pretty good and if they fit, I'd use them on a mild street runner. You can always do headers later. Headers don't do much until you pass 3000 rpm anyway. Front distributor. Rear sump. Note in the above pic the cast in numbers that say '455.' That indicates a 455 cid engine. Same with the 430. Not sure about the 400. There are also some CID numbers cast into the side of the block, upside down behind the starter. My Buick runs cool in the cramped quarters of the 32 roadsters engine bay. A Walker 4-core from 1985 is used. Big trick here is to run a vacuum advance distributor and source the vacuum to manifold vacuum vacuum and not ported vacuum. If you select ported vacuum the engine will overheat in 5-10 minutes in traffic or just idling on a hot day. Lots of other stuff, but we still need to know what kind of engine you plan to build....
Just happen to be working on my son-in-laws '68 Riv, 430 at this time. 430's are great engines as stated and probably overlooked. Just found out that a neoprene rear main for a 200ci Ford six will replace the rope seal on the 430. Much easier to replace, too.
Yes, GM has a corporate bell housing (BOP) OD trans. Furbie put on behind the same 430 motor in a budget beater in a tech article in Hot Rod back when.
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