Buick 455 in 88 GW what is needed?

[starlifter]

I've located a 70 Buick Rivera with a 455 Turbo 400 combo. I know these motors have tons of torque in stock form. A few questions.
1. What transfer case would I need to keep the original drivers drop D44 axles?
2. Any one with experience building Buick engines? Will the cost of parts be about the same as building a good AMC 360? It appears it shares the AMC front timing cover, oil pump design.
3. Will the stock D44 axles hold up?
4. Am I crazy to think about doing this because of the added expense broken axles etc be too much or will the torque monster put a smile on my face to make it all worth while?

[Chevelleguy]

You will need a transfer case from a '88 or newer Chevy (NP241 or what ever came behind the TH400) and the 4X4 output shaft for a TH400 (if they are different than 2WD). I think Elliot has a 455 is a FSJ.

[Headhoncho]

Get in touch with Pineymike as he has one in his. I think he's running a dana 20 too. Trans should be a th400.



JR

[AKJ20]

Sorry i have to ask........

Is the Rivera body, rusted out or damaged. I would hate to see a classic car get stripped for the motor.:eek:


FLAME SUIT ON

[Mikel]

Sorry i have to ask........

Is the Rivera body, rusted out or damaged. I would hate to see a classic car get stripped for the motor.:eek:


FLAME SUIT ON

I agree, but '70 Rivieras a bit of an ugly duckling :rolleyes:

[TPICherokee]

I agree, but '70 Rivieras a bit of an ugly duckling :rolleyes:

x2

http://www.classicreflectionscarclub.com/Big%20Squeeze%202006%20resize/P4010292.JPG

[Elliott]

Not done with my install yet but you might find some info useful on my dually truck build at: http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=83955
I'm running the 455 with a NV4500 and NP205 in passenger drop.

[Chevelleguy]

I thought those were front wheel drive like the Eldorado.

[gsmikie]

the 425 olds has more pull than the 455 buick the caddy 500 is the same as the turbo cummins

[starlifter]

Sorry i have to ask........

Is the Rivera body, rusted out or damaged. I would hate to see a classic car get stripped for the motor.:eek:


FLAME SUIT ON

It's far from perfect although, it did have a fancy center console with slide shifter. The land owner had a towing company pull it and about 10 other vehicles to include a mid 80's Chepy 4X4 out of the woods where they have been setting for 10 plus years. The owner wants to sell the land (30+ acres) and cars however, he's probably one of those who watches too much Barrett Jackson:rolleyes: If he wants more than $300 I'll pass.

[Tonka J200]

I thought those were front wheel drive like the Eldorado.
Rivieras were all rear wheel drive until the '79, then they were front wheel drive like the Eldorado and Toronado.

[COLOFIREMAN]

455 buick the caddy 500 is the same as the turbo cummins


:eek: I would pay to see a Caddy 500 motored anything out pull my Cummins. Agreed they have a ton of torque straight out of the box but not like my 01' Dodge with a CTD. ;) :D



I've located a 70 Buick Rivera with a 455 Turbo 400 combo. I know these motors have tons of torque in stock form. A few questions.
1. What transfer case would I need to keep the original drivers drop D44 axles?
2. Any one with experience building Buick engines? Will the cost of parts be about the same as building a good AMC 360? It appears it shares the AMC front timing cover, oil pump design.
3. Will the stock D44 axles hold up?
4. Am I crazy to think about doing this because of the added expense broken axles etc be too much or will the torque monster put a smile on my face to make it all worth while?

As far as your question....... I have a 455 buick in my 74' J-10 which I was using for a plow truck until I brought the 73' J4800 to replace it.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd218/COLOJEEPGUY2K/mytruck1.jpg:thumbsup:

[starlifter]

As far as your question....... I have a 455 buick in my 74' J-10 which I was using for a plow truck until I brought the 73' J4800 to replace it.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd218/COLOJEEPGUY2K/mytruck1.jpg:thumbsup:[/quote]

How would you rate the 455? From my initial research the early versions had some oiling issues. It appears much like AMC products replacement and hop-up parts are out there but expect to pay a bit more. The good I noticed is it is about 150 lbs lighter than a BBC.

[Chevelleguy]

50lbs maybe, but not 150. A small block chevy weights 450, a big block weights 550, the caddy 500 weights in at 500lbs. There is no way a 455 weights 300lbs.

[Aaron871]

I ran 3 different Buick 455's in my Kaiser.
They have a ton of torque.
They all had good oil pressure.

I had a hard time keeping the bottom end together in them. They don't like anything over 4k rpm. The rod and main clearances are a lot more strict than a Chevy. You can't take the crank to just anyone to have it turned and polished.

I had a 454 TBI installed on them and it ran great with a tuned chip.

I went to a Corvette motor because I missed being able to turn the higher rpms....

edit: oh and they need a lot better cooling system than any other v-8 I've had.

[Elliott]

I thought 454's with the iron intake were more like 650Lbs. Heck the AMC 327 weighs almost that much.

...685, what ever;: The Buick is no lightweight either...

http://performanceunlimited.com/documents/img80.gif

[starlifter]

50lbs maybe, but not 150. A small block chevy weights 450, a big block weights 550, the caddy 500 weights in at 500lbs. There is no way a 455 weights 300lbs.

Darn Wikipedia - Quote:The 455 was one of the first "thin-wall casting" engine blocks, and because of this advance in production technology it weighs significantly less than other engines of comparable size (for example, 150 lb (68 kg) less than a Chevrolet 454 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_engine)).

This site below puts it about 85 pounds less.

http://www.team.net/sol/tech/engine.html

Either way it looks like the 455 would have about 200-225 more foot pounds of torque in stock form. With that being said, would the cost of a Cheby TC & output shaft, exhaust and possibly cooling modifications be more than a rebuild and performance upgrade to the AMC 360? This is assuming the 455 was in good running order. I guess he common sense side of my brain say skip the headache of the Buick and pump up the 360.:thumbsup: If the 455/T400 (he's selling the whole car) comes available (at a reasonable price) would anyone here be intrested? It's located in middle Georgia.

[pineymike]

I've been running a '73 455 buick in a '79 cherokee for close to 20yrs,with a 780 holly[better than a 360 2bbl on gas:eek: ],My brother put it together as a "family truckster in the late '80's he drove it every day&weekends up to the PA mts from southjersey camping& watever,I finaly got it back a few yrs ago,It needed everything that a vehicle would after sitting for 4-5yrs,but it started&ran with out going inside{it hasn't been apart since'73!} It's just a toy now but I run it hard!& wheel the!@#$% out of it it's a great motor I would recomend it to any one mine has the original t400 out of the buick centurian no problems with that either,I'm not saying its the greatest motor out there just what my experance has been with one motor,I used the factory adapter to put a spicer20 t case behind it any short tail shaft t400 GM trany will work with factory jeep parts.The draw back to that is pass drop for you unless you swap axles?I have sevral Tcases with this adapter if you need one,Good luck have fun!:drivin:

[joe]

Hopefully Zack will chime in here since he and Brad F. stuffed one into a J20 and proceeded to transform the D20's guts into wet belly button lint.

[710 Burner]

Before I decided to go diesel, I was looking at putting a 455 Olds into an 87. I wanted to use the NP229 in the stock location with an adapter to the TH400. I think it could have been done with an electric fan. I have been told many times no. That did not change my mind.

[JeepinPete]

Starlifter, the NP241 shouldn't cost more than $100. Finding the output shaft for the TH400 will be the tricky part, since the TH400/NP241 combo wasn't that common. But if you are patient I am sure you can find the TH400/NP241 combo for a couple hundred.