If I decided to build a 430, is there a source for forged pistons?

I am weighing the pros and cons of a 430 against a 455. I know for some people, the decission is no problem, you just can't beat the cubes!!! And, there's nothing slow about a nice 400.

I have a few 430's and a couple of newer 455's (HEI). Some of the things I like about the 430, is it was available in 1967, which is the year of the GS400, 4spd. that I want to put it in. I guess that is definitly nostalgia...

Another is that they all had good h.p. stock from the factory, not a realistic consideration when your going to change most of what matters anyway. I understand I can modify the 430 heads to go on the 455 easily enough. I do want to run at least a solid cam, and would like to consider a roller cam and roller rockers. The rockers could be problem for the 430 because of the top end lube. I would have to have a closer look at this. Roller rockers of some kind may not be available in materials suitable of street use, maybe someone can comment on this...

The main considerations are the motor will be stock in appearance, and retain reasonable drivability.

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Bob,

TA Performance had a forged 430 piston at 10.1 to 1 compression. They were $325 w/o valve notches and $375 with valve relief.

You can work around the rocker issue with hybrid pushrods for the 430 rockers on a 455, or by switching to a complete 455 valve train regardless of the head/motor combination. The advantage of the 430 rockers was the 1.6 ratio vs. the 1.55 ratio of the 455.

You will want roller rockers anyway for cams with more than a .530" lift, and a lifter bore girdle for roller cam applications. The fast action of the roller cams can be very hard on the lifter bore gallery. You will need some good head porting and compression to take advantage of most solid and roller grinds. I think you could use a 10 to 1 motor and a good set of ported heads with the solid TA 210 or certainly the solid TA 112 grind. These cams would require adjustable pushrods or roller rockers in order to adjust the valves. There are more cams here (http://chicagolandbuick.org/partners/Charlie%20Evans%20cam%20tables.htm). You would not have to worry about stall speed since you can slip it anywhere you want with the 4 speed.

Any of the Buick 400/430/455 roller rockers are suitable for street duty. They are all HD units that reduce friction and wear less a result.

A problem with the stage 1 head on the 430 engine is that the smaller cylinder will act to shroud the valve and reduce air flow some while the stage one valve is uncompromised on the 455 engine.

I was just looking at the casting numbers on the site, and the only stage I specific casting that shows is for the '72. Did the earlier stage I's use the regular castings with larger vavles, or are there some casting numbers missing?

Bob,

The NHRA site lists that head casting 1242455 was used for Stage One heads alone in 72, but the other two 72 castings were used for both Stage One and smaller valve heads. 455 head castings in the other years through 74 list the head casting numbers as appropriate for both Stage One and smaller valve heads. The Stage One head had only larger valves and seats in any given year. Accordingly, 400 or 430 heads can be converted to Stage One heads by installing the larger valves and seats. Other changes in the heads related to provisions for smog equipment and cooling passages.

Any of the 400, 430 and 455 heads through 74 are suitable for Stage One applications. With minor milling to the head surface and Stage One valves, any 400, 430 and 455 head through 74 will have the same compression and flow as well as any other. There were a few big port intake head castings in 67 and 68 (see link (http://www.atlantabuick.com/CastingNumbers.htm)) that flowed 5% better on the intake, but with porting there is no advantage to one head over the other. In fact, head porters often prefer the 70 and 71 castings as they were less prone to cracks, had minimal smog provisions and had more material to work.