I'm looking for some advice on building a street/
strip 1975 Buick 455 engine. Are Buick 455 heads from other years interchangeable ?

Thanks,
Mark J

Need some more info. There are no two engines built exactly the same.

How much do you want to spend (most important!)?

How much "Street" and how much "Strip"?

You ever gonna drive on long trips? Just go to cruises? Make it barely streetable, but it should make it to the track okay?

What kind of car (how big)?

How much work will you do yourself, and what kind of experience do you have?

What do you have for an engine?

Want it loud? Soft? Harsh? Pleasant? Do you even care?

Give us some guidance, you'll get some good advice!

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org

I'm planning on putting the 455 into a 1965
Skylark Coupe. Right now, it has the 300 nailhead
with a TH 350 auto trans. I will probably spend $ 1,500 to $ 3,000 on the engine. It will see more
street time than strip time, but I would like
something that will be capable of taking on a Firebird or Camaro at the track. I have the parts
for a front end rebuild, and I'm going to switch to disc brakes. I also have a 12-bolt posi rear
that I will put in when I rebuild the rear
suspension.

The main reason the '75 455 is so wimpy (205bhp)is because of the poor camshaft and lack of compression.
So, naturally the first thing to do is use higher compression pistons, anywhere between 9-10:1 and swap in a better camshaft. Both of these mods will really wake up the engine. Also, without these, any other modifications won't gain any real power.
The next upgrades would be to add an aftermarket intake manifold and headers.
Depending on how much money is left in the bank, or how much you like to scare yourself, a set of heads from a big valve '70-71 455 will bolt in.

Also, I don't know if the 65 TH 350 will bolt onto the engine so check the bolt pattern.

TAperformance and Poston (251)368-8577 make many aftermarket performance parts. Poston doesn't have a website, but try taperformance (http://www.taperformance.com)
happy camaro hunting!