careful.
the Buick 350 is very close to the 455 in size and is often mistaken for a big block ( they use the same distributor, only a drive gear change at the bottom of the distro shaft is needed ). people have tried to pass off a Buick 350 as a Stage 1 455 before.
how many valve cover bolts? 5 bolts, 3 on top and 2 on bottom is the big block. 6 bolts, 3 on each side is the SBB 350.
if the seller is right about that being a big car 455 from 1970, that's still pretty good. the SF code engine was rated higher than the Stage 1 for hp ( although this had more to do with meeting GM hp / weight edicts than actual output ).
My new question is how likely would it be to obtain the correct, rebuildable, SS block with intact crank, pistons, piston rods, cam and heads?
not. production runs for Stage cars are even lower than for Gran Sport. there were only about ~3000 Stage 1 engines produced for the Gran Sport in 1970. the Riv got some Stage engines as well so it's a little bit higher than that, but those engines are still coded SF. but i wouldn't even guess that there are still 3000 455s from 1970 still on the road and total Buick production that year was north of 600,000 vehicles.
http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclec...pecs.shtml#VIN
what's the fascination with an SS engine, anyways? you've got the high compression heads. the primary differences from a normal 455 to a Stage 1 455 ( Stage 2 is a WHOLE nuther animal ) are the oversize valves ( which any 455 heads can be cut for, Stage heads are the same casting as regular heads, the engineers just pulled them out of the normal production line ) and the Stage 1 cam.
there's no point in the Stage 1 cam, we have much better grinds available today. and no concours judge is going to tear your engine down.
1970 pistons are all the same.
i would:
rebuild the SF with all oil mods and neoprene crank seals
deck the block and heads to square them up and get whatever compression you want
install stage 1 valves
clean up the port matching intake / head / exhaust
get a 1972 and up 800cfm Quadrajet from a reputable Buick carb rebuilder ( 1970 has a 750cm Quad )
get a BBB HEI distributor and recurve it
get a new cam suited for whatever your purpose is ( full race, cruising, whatever )
see here for the Stage 1 registry, they've got a lot of good info
http://www.stage1registry.com/stage1info.html
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin
Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)
Bookmarks