'67 400 heads on a '72 455?

Hey dudes,

I'm building up a 455 to wail on in my '67 GS400, rather than run the risk of hurting my #'s matching 400. I'm going with Keith Black hypereutectic pistons, .030 over bore, and a Comp 268H cam with 215 degrees at .050 and sub .500 lift. My question is: can I use my '67 400 heads on the '72 455 block? Would there even be any advantage? I was told the earlier heads have a slightly smaller chamber worth around half a point of compression. I'll surely be using an aftermarket intake manifold, so I'm also wondering if there's any difference there between the earlier and later heads. Eventually I'll be getting a set of Edelbrock aluminum heads, but I just can't swing it this year.

This is my first Buick build, but not my first from-scratch engine build by any means, so any Buick-specific tips, tricks, stuff to watch out for, etc... would be highly appreciated. Can anyone recommend a good engine assembly book? I have a factory Chassis Service manual, as well.

Thanks in advance, and drive fast with class,

Justin

call TA. it is done but there are a couple of variances between the 455 and the earleir engines. the 430 uses smaller pushrods, oils through weepers in the rocker shaft, uses smaller head bolts and, i think, has a different water passage.


being 67, you might have 'big port' castings as well as the smaller comb chamber.

Right. A guy at the machine shop told me that today about the bigger ports. He said they were about the best stock head outside Stg. 1 but wouldn't work on the 455, but couldn't tell me exactly why. Once I get back home to where the car is, I'm gonna run the head #s and see and call TA for the info. Do you know where I can find a good reference for Buick casting #s?

Thanks man,
Justin

Have a look at this:

http://www.teambuick.com/forums/view...bers_big_block

A guy at the machine shop told me that today about the bigger ports.

correct. check out the casting number list that Bob directed you too. there's a lot of other stuff under the "*Reference" tag in the toolbar at the top of the page as well.



He said they were about the best stock head outside Stg. 1

considering that you can install Stage 1 valves in them, they can probably be better than the 1970 Stage 1 head.

most people who are really serious about this just go with alum TA heads to begin with though. you get better flow from an out-of-the-box TA head than you do from a fully ported and blended factory iron.

and then you can have a porter go to work on the alum and get even better.



but wouldn't work on the 455,

not true.

as for the rocker oiling, you can use the oiling pushrods and they work just fine. you need to block off the oil passage on the one side of the block ( the oil passage doesn't exist in the other bank which is why it's not really feasible to try to convert a 455 to the 430 "weeper" style oiling system ) and use the hollow pushrods. don't know if you'd need to use a dual diameter pushrod though.

i know when putting a 455 head on a 430 the upper end of the pushrod needs to be the larger size or it wears out the rocker. don't know if there is any issue with the larger pushrod and smaller rocker cup.