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Have a look at the Australian Leyland P76 tall deck alloy V8 270 ci motor based on the Rover , runs big valves and an alloy four barrel intake for a GM Quadrajet . The heads use chevy style rockers .

I ran a switch pitch 400 in a '80 GMC Heavy Half from 1988 to 2008 behind a 350 then 454. I had a few problems but none related to the switch pitch set up. GM called the transmission with the switch pitch version of the 400 a Super Turbine 400. Non switch pitches were Turbo Hydramatic 400's. Kenny-Bell seems to be credited for naming them switch pitches. According to any literature that I found Chevys and Pontiacs never used them but several guys that worked in transmission shops back in the day said they saw many Pontiacs with them. Kenny-Bell claimed that a normal 400 converter would give up to 2:1 multiplication at max stall and a switch pitch would go up to 2.5:1 at max stall. I was told by a tranny guy once that multiplication was really 1.6:1 and 1.9:1. If you crunch the numbers you set the same results. GM made two sizes, a 10 inch for mid sized cars and 12.5 inch for large cars. GM apparently referred to the switch pitch converter as a 12.5 inch and a non switch version a 13 inch. Both converters were the same size and a switch pitch stator can be put in a normal 13 inch convertor. Three ways of telling are; 1.the splines on a switch pitch input shaft for the stator are markedly shorter. 2. If you stick your finger in a switch pitch converter you can't quite, or barely, touch the stator splines where you can more easily in a non version. 3. The pump also has passages and such all the way around the body whereas a non version doesn't. According to Kenny-Bell the lower the rpm the greater the difference there is between stall speeds. By 4000 rpm they have equalized. If you can find an early Turbo 400 book it gives the stator angles in fixed and switch pitches, I don't remember them but it's impressive engineering. Most things I see claim you need a switch pitch valve body but Kenny -Bell claimed you didn't. I ran both at different times and couldn't tell the difference. After a lot of experimenting I ended up using a dirt bike rear brake light switch mounted in a washer welded on the end of the throttle cable bracket and a spring to the bottom of the throttle arm on the carb so it pulled when the throttle was opened. The brake light switch is rugged, cheap, and the body is threaded with a round nut designed to fit in a lug welded on the bike frame, it then makes your activation point very adjustable. I also had a temporary on push button switch out of sight on the bottom lip of my dash where I could easily reach it as well. I was running propane {cheap then here in Canada} which used a selenoid for high idle. I used a sensor designed turn on a cold light in early '60s Chevys to activate a relay wired to the brake lights to give high stall to cut down on brake creep when stopped on high idle. I had OHG mixers which have a power valve or enrichment circuit that opened at @ 4.5 inches of vacuum and I found that cutting in the converter at @ 5 inches of vacuum seemed to be a little easier on fuel for normal driving and was noticeably more lively than just opening the enrichment circuits alone. Push the pedal a little farther and you get it all. What it allowed was when you go to pass in high gear it gave the feeling of going halfway to second, splitting high like a two speed rear axle in a larger truck popped into low range would feel like. It's much smoother on icy roads when you are looking a little bit more than kicking down to second and getting too much. My hot rodding friends thought I had two heads when I was tinkering with this but after a couple of rides they always wanted to drive. One thing you can do to your 400 is getting the planetary gears from a medium duty truck 400. they are a 2.98 first gear ratio instead of the normal 2.48 but, they are straight cut gears and not that easy to find. I'm not sure how much noisier they are, I've been told they sound like an M22 rock crusher. I don't know but I'm going to find out. An old, from the sixties transmission book I have somewhere claimed the 1964 Buick Super Turbine had planetary ratios around that ratio and in 1965 they went to the 2.48's. I wonder if they were helical cut. I don't know but I'm looking for one. Also the Gear Vendors overdrive splits ever gear so that would eliminate the larger steps between the gears. Money, money, money I know but interesting stuff to think about. You could have a 12 speed transmission. No lockup, but otherwise right in there with the new stuff, two more speeds than the Allison in my 2024 High Country HD 2500. I ran soft Pirelli all season tires and with the weight of my propane tank and posi it didn't spin the tires very well but I could bounce someones head off the back window if they weren't prepared any time I wanted to. One thing all the old tranny guys that I talked to told me if you're going to use it on hills for towing, run a big cooler. According to John Kilgore Automatics the low ratio planetaries, switch pitch and overdrive combination was the darling of the GM motorhome crowd until the bigger overdrive transmissions came along. One year of Toronados used it too, I think 1966, which had the front wheel drive GM motorhome guys looking for them. Bottom line, those who have them, love them.

Someone should weld up a year 2005 Buick V6 and add 2 cylinders same with the heads and make a modern day Buick LS . As this Buick Small Block is were the 3800 and 4100 V6 injected Buicks came from.

Do you've any idea where i could find a full rocker arm assembly for the 430.4? I recently got a Wildcat and it came without them, could i buy some from a different buick model?

Sounds great !!!

Usually, I don’t want to try, ti

Looking great, Dallas... But that aint no Buick....

I have a buick 310 cui engine from 1966 and i have the intake manifold aluminum from a 64 because i would like to install a 4bl carburetor. How far as i understand it would fit but is that making sense? And would be possible to make the ports bigger of the intake manifold to fit the 66 heads? Greetings from Switzerland.

mic the steps on that trick guage and post em on the net....then easy to make...

Really well presented analyses and defense of that Buick engine class. This needed to be said and some light shed upon the data/facts.

Clearances determine viscosity...

If someone knows please give feedback

I have a chance to get a 350 Buick heads from a 68 jeep truck will they work on my rover v8 block?

Great video! Have you towed in the 9,000lb range with the BBB and the Suburban 2500?

Will a 67-69 camaro drum fit the factory 61-63 skylark brake shoes and backing plate assembly?

Would you please comment on the Engine to Transmission Adapter Plates useful to transplant any GM LT1, 350, 400, or 327 into a P38 V8 Range Rover 4.6 L HSE due to slipped cylinder Liners, I would prefer to transplant a Chevy, GMC, or Buick, V8, or even a Nissan VK 5.6 L V8. Thank you

Looks way better Dallas

Thanks!

Why do bloggers present useful information that is masked by background noise? It's effing stupid. Turn the damned fan off next time!

Somebody got their feelers hurt... There were plenty of other stock block Indy engines, besides the ones mentioned... Flathead Ford, Studebaker. Pontiac. Plymouth. Rambler inline six. Ad nauseam. Repco started with surplus Olds versions, with more head bolts, before switching to new in-house version. Open chamber, no-quench wedge, is nothing like a poly, or pentroof. Standing up the valves, without raising the ports, is a step backwards. Olds are 6 degrees, and flow poorly too. Where are the specs for 290hp? All I've ever seen is the 11:1 4bbl at 250hp.

Such a damn shame. Not that many of these around these days and they have to destroy it. Thumbs down idiots.

I run a QJ on my 231 Buick, it runs perfect and very strong.

isnt the burnishing tool supposed to be driven through the guide not drilled through ???

Thanks, now I know what I have. I taught mine was just a Caddy Turbo 400. I’ve been trying to sell it as a turbo 400. Now I’ll change the listing.

My all original 1965 Olds Delta 88 has the switch pitch setup. The clue was the throttle assembly with two wires coming from it. Trips people up at care shows all the time. Rarely to folks know what it is.

So thinking backwards can I put a 400 lockup converter into a switch pitch th425?

It'd be awesome if you could switch it manually a torque converter from high to low stall with a switch forget all the vacuum lines maybe a relay switch.

I think of a decent torque converter company made reproductions they would sell like hotcakes especially on the restoration market.

Tighter is better

Those fancy QC bearings. Hell in my day, we would just start with a coil of shim stock and make our own. Extra wraps reduced clearance.

Thank you for making this - my first intro to gapping rings for boost, very clear and complete.

What grit do you recommend for the newer Moly piston rings? There is so much mixed info out there... some say you can you put them in without honing!

very interesting info about the buick 455. Since that number 4 bearing is 2.5 wide, would installing a volume oil pump to assure oil to all the bearings make a difference ? anyway thanks for this video.

I thought you was going to break the cam in

I had a guy bring me a pair of carbs from a dual quad 427 last summer that were burned badly and had fire extinguisher debris sitting on them. I dumped and cleaned out my glass beads and changed my tip for Medium soda from HF. It worked amazing and I was able to save the main bodies, baseplates and metering blocks. Any good plating stays in tact unless you lay on it to long. I think you should try it out the next time you need to clean the inside of one like this. I would go to coarse for one as bad as this. Finish up with ultrasonic if you think any got stuck in the passages. On the Holleys I had good dry air and just blew them off.

can i put one of these on my 87 Rover with a 4.0? Internal oil filter original?

I wash mine like you did yours, but I immediately spray everywhere using WD-40 pump bottle, then follow up with KleanStrip Prep-All, mask everything, paint (Using Dupli-color paints)and then go back and use ATF to coat everything that is not painted. Never had any issues with paint adhesion or any flash rusting.

They were not hard to set up. Really easy. You younger people are not used to carburetors. They were not that mysterious.

In 1964 I ordered a new 1965 Skylark with the 300-4 high compression engine 4 speed 370 posi rear 2 door hardtop and dual exhaust. It surprised a lot of GTO and MUSTANG owners and small block chevy guys with glasspacks it really sounded great, right now I'm working on a 67 Skylark convertible it has a 340-4 I did exchange the switch pitch for a 2004r turbo hydramatic. I do enjoy your posts.

Nice score !! I been horting up Accel dual point Parts the last to few years for my small block Mopar. Check out the Vintage Mallory Doublelife distributors arguably the best dual point sets ever !

Dinosaur sauce? Hahaha! Luv it!

My wife has a pretty rowdy Buick 350 with pretty much the whole TA Performance catalog thrown at it with a 2004r in her Skylark and my basically stock rebuild SBC 406/th350 in my full size Bel Air pulls harder. The Buick sounds great and is nice to work on but it sure is expensive per horsepower. It may be a better base design but it's a hard sell for someone who wants to go fast on a reasonable budget. It's definitely an engine you choose for emotional reasons

Is why you put in squirters on the far holes.. rather than the drip youl get a directed drip aimed right on the money shot.. take a little shitty toyota 2az motor.. they’re known for burning oil which winds up overheating or melting a bearing. Its because the piston design is crap with 4 small holes in the oil ring that get clogged up solid along with the rod holes. That causes gum to clog different passages with that hot burnt oil.. the fix is installing squirters to directly lube everything if the pistons get clogged up and doesnt allow oil to return like it should, the squirters put the oil right on the spots..

What size is the clean bore now, in speck or not?

Yeah, I can see the welds. Thanks for posting Bruce Roe's adress and e-mail info. It's good to see that someone is still dedicated to keeping Switch-Pitch technology alive

That's a good explanation, assuming that younger guys have never even heard of this option. It's too bad that GM's bean counters had production of these stopped. They could instead have sold these better, through better advertisement, methinks. That Buick mill sounds great. That was a good idea of dropping one of those into there. The second reason for producing Switch Pitch converters was for better fuel economy

Do you have to have new valve seals?

That’s kind of scary… 😬