Oldsmobile gets my vote. Who else remembers sitting on their parent’s front porch with eyes closed and being able to tell them what car just passed by simply by hearing the exhaust note? Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Chrysler all were distinct until 1977.
@@jondoes7836 Interestingly that same " flutter " was characteristic of later model Buicks. A neighbor passed recently and in his estate was his late father in law's 84 LeSabre with only 11, 000 miles on it. It had that same exhaust flutter.
I bought a 1970 Pontiac Catalina in Polar White in June of 1972 as a 19 year old because I thought it was absolutely beautiful! I'm now 70 years old, and I still have it and still think it is absolutely beautiful! If a 1970 Pontiac is an "acquired taste" as you claim, I guess I acquired it - and so did the dozens of strangers who always give me a thumbs up whenever I take it for a drive!
I had a 1970 Olds 98 that was specially ordered by its original owner to have a "W Machine" engine and a super heavy duty transmission. It could boil the tires through 1st and 2nd, and easily bury the speedo. I loved that car. Only got beat by 427 Vettes.
The 1970 Buick 455 Stage 1 gets my vote. I worked for Buick many years. I drag raced them (stock class) for years. Their horsepower was greatly under rated by Buick.
Regarding longevity, my experiences with the Buick 455's have been highly positive. My family and I drove our 1971 Centurion coupe 167,000 trouble-free miles over a 51-year period. The car was exceptionally reliable. I have had a number of friends who drove their early-1970's Buick 455's well-in-excess of 200,000 miles without engine work, and know of a man in the Portland, Oregon area who has driven his 1972 Electra 225 more than 500,000-miles; the car has its original 455, never rebuilt and highly reliable.
Fascinating. A decade ago, Hot Rod magazine spent $5500 on each a Ford, Chevy, Olds, Pontiac, and Buick 455 and used similar components in each. The Buick was the hands down winner, making about 550 hp net with simple mods and a good blueprinting. Great video!
I agree with the Buick engine they responded well to modifications back then buick had little to no speed parts available but now in today's automotive market there are plentiful aftermarket parts for most engines back then
I have the car craft 2001 issue that did a compared all 3 plus 454, 440, & 460. Even back then, I seem to remember the Buick winning in HP, did excellent in torque across the rpms too. The Pontiac had highest torque output and they wrote, they weren't sure where the torque peak on the Pontiac was because the dyno didn't read it below 3600 rpm, and from the tests they think it had a higher torque reading somewhere under 3600. Although I think I heard before the 510 ft/lbs of torque in Buick GSX (1970 ?) was the highest from the factory.
@@jennybaji421 The Stage 1 was quick stop light to stop light but after the quarter mile it ran out of steam . They were low revving torque monsters. Chrysler Hemi motors were not stop light racers they needed to rev and did not make power until around 4000 Rpm. Often times you'll see a Hemi bogg off line until it gets into its rpm range.
I remember driving my cousins 1970 Buick Rivera 455 on the highway. All it took was lightly tapping the accelerator and it was hard maintaining 55 mph. You were a Land Shark on the highway. You floated with ease. What a remarkable feeling.
I had a 70 Buick with the 455. Talk about a torque monster! Floor the pedal and man did that car take off. Not what you would expect in a car made for comfort. Very memorable.
I just bought a1970electra 455 2door hard top. It starts and runs, but it lacs compression on 2 pistons on the driver side. Cant wait to get the engine rebuilt and feel the torque :D
I took a good friend of mine for a ride in my dad's new 1967 Wildcat....my buddy was a foreign car snob...but when I floored the Wildcat, he shouted out...OMG...it's a huge Ferrari! That beast would lay down a good 20 yards of rubber when pushed. And that Wildcat held together very well, lasting over 320,000 miles, before some drunk rear-ended the car. My dad shed a few tears after that mighty beast went to the junkyard. GM cars hit some sort of peak, during those later years of that decade.
@curbozerboomer1773 Many years before GM became the junk trash it is currently. RIP GM, you should've went out of existence in 2009 instead of taking that Gov't bailout. 😢💀
In 1982 I bought a 1968 Olds 442 identical in appearance to the one at 2:55 in this video. It had a spun bearing and didn't run. I then found a 1974 455 out of a wrecked 88. The 455 only had about 10k miles on it. I used the 442 400ci heads/intake with the 455 short block and measured the compression at a true 9.8:1. I put a mild cam (a Crane cam IIRC) in it that was recommended to me as an excellent jet boat cam, but otherwise it was all GM. The result was an incredibly quick car that was quiet, idled smoothly, and was phenomenally reliable. I am more of a Mopar guy and eventually sold the car to buy a Dodge Charger I liked, but to this day it was one of the best cars I ever owned.
Hi Gavin: I rebuilt my 1967 Delta 88 back in 1988 using a 455 motor from a 1969. There was a magazine article "Build a 12 second Junk Yard Dog" which was my guide. I kept the stock camshaft due to the non adjustable valve train. By enlarging the oil galleries in the main bearing saddles and modifying the high volume oil pump; I have kept this motor running for the last 34 years only having to replace the water pump. The pressure per cylinder in 1988 was 148 psi. I measured the pressure a couple of years ago at 124 psi. How did you determine what your compression ratio was? The ratio is still a mystery to me although I estimate something similar to yours.
I cc'd the cylinder heads and the pistons set down 0.25" from TDC. I also measured the compression height at TDC. From that, and the stroke and the head gasket thickness it is straightforward to calculate compression ratio. IIRC I had the heads milled 0.025 to get to just under 10:1. I had an 11:1 motor previously and it would knock occasionally on premium pump gas, so I wanted somewhere between 9.5 and 10 for the Olds. I did a few other things like recurve the distributor and a little pocket-porting on the heads. Congratulations on keeping your car going for 34 years! That is fabulous, and I agree that with 148 psi per cylinder the compression ratio would have been over 9:1.
Back around that same time period, I helped a friend rebuild a 1967 high compression Olds Toronado 385hp 425 engine for his 1974 Olds 442 Cutlass that had a worn out 350. That car could smoke the tires for miles, it had massive torque.
@@gavinmclaren9416 Can you remember what the psi per cylinder was on your 455? Or is that going back too far? I found that by keeping a stock camshaft and modifying the oil supply; it was the key to engine longevity. 40 years ago in Alberta the only leaded fuel was 83 octane so high compression engines were out. I've had this car since I graduated in high school in1982 and I even took it with me to Australia. How many guys out there still have their first car?
@@corvettejohn4507 The 455 Olds just had the thuggish gentleman vibe, like Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders that just knew what it was about with no need to doubt. I built a 455 Olds to put in a 66 442 2dr Post with an M21 Muncie and 3.73 posi. It had that Miller/Mondello cam that topped at 5400 with monster duration and perfect overlap so it had that think twice attitude. It was so cool 😎 to let out the clutch and then punch it at 30 mph and shift, just redline it and bang them and that car was gone!
I have owned several 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 cars with 455 2 barrel engines they were very reliable and surprisingly got good gas mileage. I drove one to college 300 miles from home and they got in the high teens 17-19 on the highway Very trouble free
Having Hot Rodded the Buick 455, it was a very easy engine to increase horsepower. Some ignition, carburetor, and exhaust tweaks increased its breathing considerably, and emissions went down as well!
you are singing my tune my friend. Several years ago i ran into 1974 455 Buick Century GS that a guy was needing to sell to buy a property. He used to race Buicks, and it had been built to 1970 high compression specs, bored over, and high lift .490 cam all from Poston Buick back in about 2000. It has the high RPM lifters, aluminum intake, and headers. People who I give a ride just shake their heads and hang on......
I've owned both a 430 Buick Wildcat and a 455 Olds Toronado. They were both huge torque monsters... For some reason, the 1970s jet boats only used 460 Lincolns & 455 Olds - and according to my brother there was a camshaft problem with the Oldsmobile sucking water back in when you shut it down...
Both my parents and my mother's parents were faithful Buick buyers. Dad LOVED the Buick 455 because, according to him, it was easy on gas as long as you kept your foot out of it. Dad's '73 225 was built like a tank and floated down the highway. Grandpa loved his LeSabres, so much so that he ended up owning three of them, the last of which was the downsized '87 model year. His favorite one was a 1978 two door that he drove until it got totaled in a car accident in '87. Of all the Buicks my family has owned, I have to say that Dad's '73 was my personal favorite. If I could find one like the one he had, I'd buy it.
The Buick 455 was in my mind the top dog of the time out of the 455's. I liked the Buick gentleman's sports car sleeper the GS. It still turns heads and ears when you get the rare chance to see one.
I like the Buick 455s the best. They always seemed to be more of a 'hot rod' motor with good midrange power and just all-around drivability. I had one (not factory installed, it was a 1970 GS engine, though, with aftermarket aluminum heads that would let it run 93 unleaded reliably) in a 1970 Skylark with a Muncie M22 and 3.55:1 gears and a Detroit Truetrac. It was lively to say the least.
My friends have a "Drag Boat" that started out with a 455 out of a old Trans Am that, to me, ran great. Then he changed to a BB Chevy and liked it better. I did have a 70 Buick GS 455 4 speed and loved it. All the 455 were great but in different ways. Thanks for your time and work.....
That Olds 455 was one of the most robust mills ever made by GM, can't go wrong there. Great power and torque, and probably the best overall driving of the bunch.
Agreed, Olds had the best V8 engines in the business. The 350 was pretty much indestructible....never blew up an Oldsmobile V8. I have destroyed just about every other Pontiac, or Buick engine however....I should have been a test - abuser at GM proving grounds....hehe.
Agree 100%. Grew up on big block Olds motors, as my father AND mother liked them, cruisin' down Woodward Ave in Michigan!! My late father in law was an Olds freak and a mechanic, so watched him tuning a 4 barrel Quadrajet with a vacuum gauge and tweaking the linkage with a needle nose pliers, to get the 4 barrel to dump at the precise moment!!! Fun days!!
I can attest to the big block Oldsmobile engines and cars , I will always remember riding, driving , and helling around in them! Big powerful nice riding cars Can still hear them run.
I’ve got an olds 455 in a boat it’s freshly built and it is a beast of a motor. Won’t spin fast but it doesn’t need to. Sounds incredible with a cam and boat headers
Thank you soooo much for sharing your story!! Years ago, my late father in law picked up an 18 foot Slickcraft, with a frozen 4 cyl Chevy dirt cheat. Ended up putting an Olds 455 in it, with a Mercruiser Alpha One outlive, with only 9" pipes out the back!! Had to put 27 pitch prop on it, to keep from over revving. What a crazy, kinda dangerous boat to drive, but fun as hell!! AND I don't need to tell you how good it sounded!! Memories!!
I had a '70 Vista Cruiser that had a W34 Toronado 455 shoehorned in there. When it was finally dialed in, it was a challenge to keep it under 70mph on the freeway. I was able to do awesome burnouts with that thing.
Oldsmobile gets my vote. I remember several Buick’s having problems with lower end clunking when they were cold. Even John DeLorean talked about the problems with the Pontiac V8’s due to the tooling that was never maintained properly. The tooling was original to the 1955 V8 and it required a master to work it as the stuff was just worn out. In 1969 Mechanics Illustrated tested a Delta 88 Royale with a 390 horsepower 455 and it was a real screamer. The previous year they tested a police cruiser Delta with the same engine. It could keep up with any super car of the era. I worked at a Buick/Oldsmobile dealership and they talked about the police versions of the Delta’s that the town used. They were really hot cars.
Back in '88 a buddy and I were driving home from a construction job in Cincinnati, on U.S. Rt 50, a two-lane highway.... We were leaving Hillsboro, and were behind a '70 Electra 455... I was driving my '70 Fairlane 351C and was gonna shoot around him when the light changed. I saw him eyeballing my Shaker Hood, in his rearview mirror, and he revved his engine. I laughed and told my buddy, watch me dust grandpa's ass! Well.... we took off and I pegged the Speedo, and then some, and was revving about 5400 RPM's, but didn't pass him... Not sure if I could have or not. That 351 would pull past 6000, but I sure wasn't gonna risk blowing my engine, to pass a rusty ol' 225 with a 455 blowing out puffs of brown smoke from its dual exhaust!!! Lol... I have yet to live that down... My buddy and most of his very large family are Buick/Olds fans, and love to crap on a Ford.
I have built a lot of engines in the last 35 years ,and will have to say the Olds motors from the muscle car era are some the best motors I have ever laid my hands on ! Love an Olds motor.,,,
Also Pontiac had the strongest connecting rods at GM. I've heard that certain Olds and Buick engine builders recommend Pontiac rods to their customers building high performance engines. (I don't know how this works, probably with modifications somewhere.) I love the Pontiac V8 engines and OHC6, all highly innovative engines. Overall Buick had the best engineering at GM (even borrowing from Pontiac), where theoretical and measured values come closest.
I don't know if Pontiac "invented" the 30 degree intake valve seat, but this was the key to how the Pontiac V8 runs and cam, rockers, valve spring design all key off this. Buick and AMC picked up on this. PMD also did a lot of work with electronic ignition in the 60's and participated in HEI development in the early 70's. There's a whole list of innovations in the OHC6, it goes on and on. Meanwhile at Chevrolet engineering... zzzzz...
@@jeffbranch8072 Not really. Chevy's Zora Duntov basically designed Rochester's Mechanical Fuel Injection for 1957. Chevy also brought out the first modern American performance 4 speed manual transmission, (Chevy design made by Borg Warner), the T-10 in 1957. The Chevy Duntov solid lifter mechanical camshaft revved circles around any other stock American V8 for years. Chevy had air bag suspension in '58. The Big Chevy got the T-10 4sp in '59 when Pontiac was still running 3sp transmissions until '63. The 1960 Corvair was full of innovations for an American car, rear engine, all aluminum air-cooled pancake flat 6 cyl. The '60 Corvair was the first American car with an all aluminum engine and the first American car with a turbocharger. Corvette had an aluminum head option in 1960 for the 315hp fuel injected 283. Then there was fully independent rear suspension in the Corvette for '63 and the only American car with 4 wheel disc brakes in '65. Chevy made a transistorized ignition system starting in 1964 for their solid lifter engines. It became pointless and capacitive discharge a year or two later. Then there was the porcupine semi-hemi headed big block Chevy for '65 that was the very best performance big displacement engine GM ever made. Aluminum headed 427 in '67, an all aluminum 427 in '69. The Camaro had a 4 wheel disc brake option starting in '68. The Chevy 302 was so dominant in the Trans Am series in '68 and '69 that Pontiac ran their Firebirds with 302 Chevys in them, although none were ever sold to the public that way. Pontiac's own '69 tunnel port Ram Air V 303 Trans Am engine turned out to be such a turd they never even bothered to sell or race any, but the same happened with Ford's tunnel port 302 the year before. Did you know that Chevy provided the Penske Trans Am team with a Telemetry Van for every race? Penske's '68 and '69 Camaro's had onboard accelerators attached to the car. They wirelessly delivered real time data to the Telemetry Truck in the parking lot where this information was recorded during the race. Chevy was busy winning NHRA, AHRA, Trans Am, Can Am, and drag boat racing and providing all those good guy parts to the independent racer on the street while Pontiac Engineering was zzzzzzz. John Delorean may have done some good stuff over at Pontiac, but all he did when he got to Chevy in '69 was try to kill the Corvette, De-proliferated all of Chevy's Performance engines for '70 and '71, and introduced the Vega. Good thing he was kicked to the curb in '72 or he would have finished off Chevrolet the same way he finished off the DMC company 10 years later. So other than that, Chevy Engineering didn't come up with anything at all.
Now, some 50 years on, the performance aftermarket support for the classic Pontiac engine is more than the support for the Buick and Oldsmobile engines combined.
The 1970 Buick 455s had relatively wild cams in them. Buick employed "high-tolerance" Rhoads style bleed down lifters to smooth the idle down some, and the full-size cars also still had the variable-pitch transmissions in them further smoothing out the idle. That trans allowed a slightly higher idle speed and didn't cause creep.
In the early '80's I had a 1972 Oldsmobile 98 with the 455. It was a lovely engine and the one I had was by no means low mileage but the engine ran beautifully and was most reliable. The only major work other than routine servicing it ever required was a water pump replacement (which was straightforward) and fitting new exhaust manifolds to address minor exhaust leaks. It was my first American car (I'm a Brit and was living in Britain in those days) and to this day I think was probably the best American car I have ever owned - even in light of the fact that for the past 20 years I've lived in the USA where the car choice is so much better.
When you wrote about replacing the water pump . . . there's something about vehicles, of most makes, that seem to be prone to water pump leakage before reaching 100K miles. Every vehicle I've owned, both new and used, all required water pump replacements before reaching 90K miles.
Going back to the early part of the video, the torque numbers for each variation from Olds tell a story. The under worked 2 barrel versions of the Olds 455 produced peak torque @ 2400 rpm - which means you can lumber around town in a stately manner and still have acceptable acceleration compared to most vehicles on the road today.
I bought a 1967 Olds Delmont 88 for fifty bucks back in the day, with 4 doors and a 425 with a two bbl carb. That may have been the fastest car I ever owned, it sure surprised a lot of hot rods at stop lights!
I was driving by 1966. Everyone had their favorite of these motors. The Olds showed up 2 years before the others and had the highest factory hp rating, 400 in a Toronado only ram air version. The Pontiac had the most aftermarket support, you could get anything from a crossram dual quad setup to forged aluminum con rods from vendors like Mickey Thompson. The Buick was nearly 50 lb lighter than the other two and made a big 5 ft lb more torque than either. This was enough that it was often the quickest in a stocker running street gears and full factory exhaust.
I know of a local gentleman with a '68 Firebird with a 455, and mixing/matching stock parts has a combination that will ran a **dead heat** with a Mopar 426 Hemi. I mean in sync lock.
@@jeffbranch8072 that's not unusual. it depends a lot on the length of race. the Pontiac 455 will lay waste to the hemi coming out of the hole especially in a heavier car. the hemi can really breathe on top and makes up the deficit at high speed. it makes for exciting racing.
Lots of hopped up Buick 455s out there today! Definitely the one engine that has a line of high performance aftermarket parts available to spice it up!
Got a 65’ 442 with a 400’ BB (destroked 425’). I put headers, edelbrock intake/carb. Accell wires/distributor, and 3” inch exhaust (with cutouts). What a rumble!! God save the Big Block!!!!!!!
Great 455 tutorial. I’m currently building a 455 Olds to maximize what it does best, build torque. It’ll be paired with a Muncie M20 and 3.08 gears. I also have a 403, which other than sitting on the engine stand gathering dust has no future.
The best thing I can tell you is let it breathe. From stock iron intake to edelbrock intake. Port matched and Cleaned up my C heads. Those big block Olds love to breathe
Would like to suggest a corresponding video on the phenomenal Cadillac 472/500 (enlarged later to 500 c.i.). I once flattened a parking meter that was anchored in solid concrete just backing into a parking space! It was the most powerful motor I ever stepped into. And of course, the Cad 472/500 combined with the Chevy 427/454 would make a good video, also.
What many people don’t talk about today is torque. Big engines made so much torque that they didn’t have to spin to 6-7 thousand rpm to make power. Oldsmobile 350’s & 455’s were such great engines and cruising was a dream because the motors had such powerful without a screaming sound.
The biggest problems with both the Oldsmobile and Buick 455s were their flawed oiling systems. The Buick's oiling system just can't deliver enough oil at high RPM. It will eat a rod bearing if you wind it past 5500RPM for more than a few seconds. The Oldsmobile oiling system delivers too MUCH oil to the top end of the engine, and the oil drain areas in the cylinder head don't allow the oil to drain back to the pan fast enough. It's possible to fill the valve covers with oil during sustained high RPM operation. This leaves the oil pan empty, which starves the rod and main bearings.
@@jimmy_olds exactly. These were designed to be torque monsters to move large cars smartly down the road. Never designed to run over 4500 rpm except occasionally. I just had a 470cu in Buick BB made and the builder told me it is solid to 6500 rpm except my cam will run out of oompfh about 5800. Seemed great to me, almost a built in rev limiter. :)
As Jim H mentioned, curing the oiling issue on an Olds is an easy fix although you do need to remove the crank to take care of the problem. I raced 455's Olds engines for years. They are extremely easy to work on and very reliable. Getting a 3700lb A-body into the low 12's/high 11's is incredibly easy and won't break your bank account. Olds heads don't flow very good though, even with 2.07 intakes, which is a pretty laughable valve size for that many cubic inches but beyond that limitation, fantastic engine for your average bracket racer.
@@remingtonwingmaster6929 I’m excited about the new Edelbrock heads, the intakes are 2.125” (I know, still small by BB standards) and flow enough to easily support 500+ hp out of the box
Since I have the 430 the Buick 455 was based upon in my '67 Riviera, thank you for the detailed info on the specific oil limitation. Guess it's time to install that tach! :-)
OLDSMOBILE WAS A EXPERIMENTAL ENGINE DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS . OLDS HIGH NICKEL BLOCKS ARE TOUGH AS NAILS . A LITTLE DR OLDS MAGIC GOS A LONG WAY . THE 1970 OLDS 442 W30 4 SPEED WITH THAT 328 DEG CAM IS MUSIC TO MY EARS . THE W25 OUTSIDE AIR INDUCTION HOODS IS ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING HOODS AMONG THE MUSCLE CARS OF THE TIME . THE BEST 455 IS OLDS HANDS DOWN IN MY OPINION . GREAT VIDEO.
Olds are my favorite GM V8s because they're so smooth. First car I drove had a post-rocket era 350 and Quadrajet. When all of those cars became seven to twelve year old rusty, dented, hoopties, and were running around without a muffler, I swear I could hear the smoothness of the Olds - or at least the absence of that smoothness when hearing a Buick or Pontiac, or a 454 for that matter. Looks like Jim Morrison on the Buick brochure - Come On Buick Light My Fire... Really looking forward to that 455 SD video. Good advice at the end.
Olds V8 engines all have a unique exhaust note. I never thought of it as smooth, but, yeah, that fits. I've got a 350 Olds ready to go into my 1978 El Camino soon.
After I bought my 68 Cougar from my father when I turned 16 in 1969 my father got a 1970 Olds 98 with the 455 engine. Drove it only a few times for obvious reasons but I can still recall the torque in that car from a dead start. Wow! What I wouldn't give to have that car today. Like you I like all cars but I truly enjoy driving the full size cars of the second half of the 60s to 71 where I draw my line.
Had a 72 Buick LeSabre. 455 with a giant 4bl carb. You could hear it sucking air when you floored it. You could also almost watch the gas gauge recede. 😂
I had a '71 Boattail Riviera with 4bbl. 455. Pretty fast, but if you kept your foot out of the carburetor it actually returned decent mileage for a big block. Gold colored without a vinyl top, which made it look really clean. Wish I still had it.
Back in the 70's my buddy had a 1970 GS with a 455 Stage 1, 4 speed and 4.56 posi. It was a plain jane bench seat car with body color 15 X 7 steel wheels and poverty caps. What a sleeper!
As usual, you are a credit to disseminating unbiased knowledge of engineering descriptions of these engines. When you have the time, I would like to see a full discussion on the 4 GM 350ci small block engines. Please discuss each engines positive and negative qualities and which engine you think from an engineering standpoint is better or if they are equally comparable engines.
My parents bought a '71 Pontiac Grand Ville with the 455; my best friend's parents bought an Electra with the 455. Typical teenaged boys, we raced them. You are so right about the Buick being better up high. I later owned a '72 GS Skylark convertible and that engine still had some power.
Wow, this is great vid. In the early 90s I bought a 70 delta 88 with a 455 two barrel, 190 8000 miles on it. The timing chain top sprocket was aluminum with nylon teeth, I changed it with a steel double roller, also a four barrel, and HE I, do exhaust, that thing ripped, until a limousine pulled in front of me and I smashed him good. Then rebuilt that engine with some Mondello influence and parts. Dropped it into a 75 cutlass shell. The car tore up the streets back then. When rebuilding the engine all of the nylon teeth were stuffing the oil pump pick up, but it’s still ran.
My dad had a 72 Buick with a 455. He put it to rest with almost 500,000 miles on the motor. The thing was a tank and he loved burning the tire taking off to impress us kids.
I recently scored one for $50.00 out of a rotted out Catalina...it was reputed to be the terror of the town in it's day...getting it ready for my 66 goat..I found it has 4 bolt mains!..
My grandfather was a big fan of the 455 Olds, both for the low end torque and solid reliability. But he liked to put them in 1/2 ton Chevy pickups. The first one he had was '73 and the second one was a '69. He'd just acquire a pickup body and then buy a late 60's/early 70s Olds 455. I started learning to drive on the '73 when I was 13(lots of back roads, no cops). When that one finally died and he built the '69, I drove it as much as he did. Since he was in it for the low end, any potential high RPM deficiencies never came up. They were rock solid and just got the intended job done.
I have a 1973 Riviera. With a simple build, 9.9:1 comp, Cam, Intake, 850 carb, built TH400 with a small stall, Posi rear. Heads were mostly stock, stainless valves and the bowls cleaned up. Car went 12:90 all day long and i done to the track with the AC and Cruise control.
Oldsmobile did employ the 455 in the A-body chassis before other GM divisions when it produced the limited production Hurst/Olds in 1968 and 1969. This probably helped to get these other 7.4 litre engines released to the other A-body’s as there was more Hurst/Olds demand than supply. Oldsmobile cylinder heads would flow less than Pontiac and Buick heads, but we’re adequate for their intended purpose. Thanks for the overview with your seat of the pants impression. BTW, TH-cam recommended videos from your old channel. Your new channel is much improved Cheers.
The 365 horsepower 455 was standard in Olds 98's beginning in '68 and in lesser forms of tune with a two barrel in Delta 88's with the more powerful ones as options. They applied the same principle used in the Turnpike Cruiser option in 1967 on Cutlass coupes and convertibles, a large engine designed for maximum low speed torque driving through a very high speed 2.56 axle that gave both relaxed 75 MPH cruising while returning reasonable mileage for the size and power of the engines.
@@jazzvictrola7104 Just hearing the words Turnpike Cruiser evokes an emotion and picture in my mind like nothing else in current times. I absolutely favor a car with gobs of torque and an axel ratio that lets the engine idle at 75mph. Thats why with proper maintenance, those engines are still running today. Ill be gone but I'd guess that the engines produced today will require much more than these old lumps do to keep them running 60+ years from now.
@@giggiddy In the 80's, when small engines began to proliferate, Castrol had an hilarious series of commercials explaining how the small displacement engines run so much hotter than the big V-8's and don't have the surface to dissipate the heat--then they'd show a cutaway of a four cylinder engine with the cherry red heat coming from its frantic pistons, then the thing would start knocking and seize up. You can see some of those on YT.
One "advantage" of our 1966 Olds Toronado's 425 was that the distributor was located at the rear of the engine. That allowed large pools of gas to collect at the front of the engine (from its leaky Quadrajet) without being set aflame immediately by a nearby ignition spark. 🙂
When 3 different divisions of the same company can produce 3 different engines of the same size at the same time using different parts... life is good.
They had the torque to pull a house and a boat needs that. All of them should be kept in the 5200-5600 range with the 4.25 stroke. I have seen jackasses try to run them like a SBC. You can’t. Get the trans shifts in that range and let that torque do the job. They can be built to rev, but why? 550 ft lbs dropping to 500 at the shift back to 550 shift again and that stripe comes up quickly. Trying to push them to 7000 is an expensive destructive waste of time. A 455 Oldsmobile cutlass with a TH 400 3.64 gears and put it in drive and let the torque do the talking. Many years of joy!
@@kgdies That is true. But all three BOP engines had/have 4 bolt main caps that can be installed, most with splayed outer bolts that work well and girdles that can allow 5200 rpms for as long as you want to keep them there. The FE with a stroker kit, 4.125 bore X 4.25 stroke with Pro- Gram cross bolt mains with a 70’s soniced 390 truck block should have been built by Ford. They would be of the same utility and even more revs if you need it. It is as light as the Buick 455. I never understood why they never did it. A good strong 5000-6000 rpm engine that could run that speed all day!
HEY DYMMY THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'GENERAL MOTORS 455' ONLY 2 GM DIVISIONS HAD A 455 BIG BLOCK. AND PONTIAC WAS NOT ONE OF THEM BECAUSE PONTIAC NEVER MADE A BIG BLOCK!!!
When I was a kid in high school I tuned up a 455 in an Olds Vista Cruiser. The distributor is on the back of the motor. So, to get to it, I just climbed into the engine compartment and sat on top of the engine. That's how big the car and engine were.
The 1970 Buick 455 Stage1 was absolutely under rated at 360 horse power because it was tied or could beat a 1970 454/ 450 horse power or a 1966-1971 426 hemi 425 horse power.
Yes, two barrel 455's were standard in '68 Delta 88's, with the 98's more powerful four barrel engine optional. The carburetion isn't so important when you have huge displacement as that is what provides the low speed torque of those engines.
@@jazzvictrola7104 Back in the late seventies the was stock car racing in my area that had a 2barrel class. All the GM guys were looking for 2bl carbs off 425 and 455 Olds.
The Pontiac used a plastic tooth- die cast aluminum timing chain sprocket on the camshaft up until 1970. The '71 and onwards got a steel sprocket. The plastic sprocket would shed its teeth if you really got into it. I know, I changed a lot of them.
Of these three, for a stock or mildly build motor, my favorite is the Buick. It's a newer design than the other two, and has a much lighter engine block.
There is a downside to that however, in that very high hp builds of the buick 455 such as for drag racing can sometimes result in broken engine blocks. Great for stock and mild builds but too light weight for serious high performance use.
@@howebrad4601 for drag racing maybe, but if you're trying something like autocross it's basically just big block power and torque for small block weight.
@@howebrad4601 Sadly the Buick 455 was just too thin for the power it could make. I like the big bore short stroke and good heads in Stg1, and the engine was made for the Qjet it had. 800 cfm with pull over enrichment on the primary side, I ran one on my 390 FE. I drilled the secondaries feeds like the one for the 429 CJ. I used a B hanger AX secondary rods. I think the primary rods were the stock Stg1 and I used the damper pot for the secondaries for the Stg 1. The only problem I had was getting fuel into it without nozzle drip. I believe it was .130 needle and seat with a clicker electric pump I turned on if I was getting on it. I could hit the throttle at 3000 wind to 6800-7000, shift wind to 6800-7000 and shift and at 4800 it would cough, and I’d let out. My son timed me WOT and I had 12 seconds of fuel with -06 line. But the little FE loved it! I have a 750 3310 VS with a rear metering block fitted with jets on all 4 corners and It has a Holley Blue and Regulator. So there’s no real comparison. The Holley is much faster and the fuel system is much more agreeable to the carb. But I have to say that a factory Qjet is really well suited to a 5500 rpm GS 455 with an automatic and 3.64s it should be a high 12 second car. But like I said that block will not be long for this world at 6800-7000 rpm. It is well matched with the car! I would just love it like you should a 5500 redline and you have wonderful car.
I remember the big Olds 98s, Buick Electras and Pontiac Grand Villes, when I first started driving in the late 70s and one would come up behind me id slow down so that they would pass, and after they started passing i would floor my 6 cyl Dodge Dart so they would have to open up that quadrajet! Loved hearing them big GMs open up, they usually didnt even notice I sped up, they just eased on around like I was not even there lol! As soon as I could I bought one! I ended up owning about 10 big Grand Villes, Bonneville Broughams and Grand Prixs! All with the 400 4bbl or 455 4bbl!
My older brother worked for GM and got my mother a '67 Riviera, '68 Riviera (430 4brl), and a '70 Electra 225 (455 4brl). I didn't get a drivers license until the '70 Electra so missed out on the nicer ones. The '67 in gunmetal gray was the coolest. The 4-door Electra would burn rubber and suck gas but was a great party-mobile for a high-schooler.
Im an Oldsmobile man at heart and theyre probably my favorite GM division (although i love my Buicks, Pontiacs, and GMCs for trucks too) but ive been outspoken on the 455 Olds. It was average in automotive applications, definitely not unreliable but not the most powerful or outstanding of any of the Big Three's Big Blocks. However they were horrible in Marine applications whereas Chevy 454 and Mopar 440s and Hemis really excelled in these boat applications. Its not that they wereent powerful, but the Olds engines had a big issue with oiling in that when under hard acceleration, the nose of the boat obviously raises and makes the engine run on a diagonal surface. All the oil would go to the back of the pan and become oil starved and blow up. With modification this issue was remedied, but those other engines i mentioned never had an issue with that and were perefectly reliable out of the box in marine applications.
Mopar got in my blood somehow and never left, despite tinny bodies, wind noise and something leaked, usually power steering. But I had a ginormous 76 Olds 88 Royale 4 door hardtop. Cinnamon red metallic, white top, gorgeous car, rode SO nice, smoothed out even the roughest roads with aplomb. 1st year of square headlights looked modern, last year of Olds only V8. It had the luscious 455, low compression, I knew not to expect the same as a 70 era big block. The car got handed down to 4 different family folk, ran to quarter million miles and basically parked only due to tired of driving it and it did rust after many salty winters. Nothing leaked, did not use oil, always started. I’m still impressed. I shall forever miss that ride. Vehicles are too stiff now days for faster cornering, so I feel more beat up. If do over, before the Olds, I test drove a 69 Grand Prix. You could feel the higher quality door shut, wind seal, the power steering and brakes were so much better in feel and use, curved sporty dash, console, buckets. A masculine car. Just a ridiculously long hood, requiring about a 10” deep fan shroud. Those needed a nose reduction, would be my only critique, a full foot cropped. Shove some friends in and would’ve been good cruisin memories made in a 69 GP. Console and buckets not as handy fun as 3 wide bench at a drive-in. Young folk, “What’s a drive-in?” Giant outdoor movie theater with a wired heavy metal speaker box to clip on door glass to hear the audio in basic unimpressive mono. Drive-ins were fun. Some teens tried sneaking more in via hid in the trunk for free. Would be pretty handy natural social distancing in a pandemic!!
In the mid-2000s (when I had way more project cars than one guy should have), I bought a 1970 3/4-ton GMC truck with no drivetrain at a car show swap meet. It sat around for a year before I decided to stick an Olds 455 in it after hearing about the GMC motorhomes from the 70s that used Olds engines. After getting it together, I often wondered why they didn't offer them in GMC trucks. Besides being a great engine for a truck, it could have been a good way to differentiate GMC from Chevy, rather than just the grille and badging.
My brother in law and I put a 455 Olds in an early 4 wheel drive Blazer, for off reading and hunting. The low end torque made it a real pleasure out on the old 2 tracks through the woods!!
Back in 1980, I was only 18 yrs old when I horse traded to get a '71 Buick Riviera. The car was in near showroom condition. Still had the factory options sticker inside the glovebox door. It had posi-traction & duel exhaust. I can't remember what else the sticker said, but all the men in my family swore it had to have Stage 1 heads, because it was insanely powerful, and would easily outrun the other big blocks owned by family & friends. ( The new owner of IHRA who is a total Buick fanatic, recently told me that in 1971, you could still order a Riviera with the Stage 1 heads on the 455, so perhaps the men in my family were right. ) You could leave the shifter in "Drive", and even at 15 mph, jab the throttle suddenly to about 2/3rd's, and roast both tires off. NO "power-braking" needed. You could feather the throttle back to coax the transmission to up-shift into every gear, still roasting the tires. ( Ya gotta remember, I was just a kid at the time, and all the men in my family loved racing & building/workin on, or even hot rodding some engines. I could service my engines, changing distributors, points, condenser, plugs, wires, oil change, but then I would have my father or uncles set the timing & tune the carb. ) Of course the car was too heavy to launch from a standing start, it would just spin. But I finally coaxed this other kid into racing me from a 40 mph roll off. He had a '68 Firebird with 400/4 speed ( in immaculate condition ). I gapped him so bad, he didn't even meet up with us at the agree'd upon location after the race. And from a standing start, we used to watch him outrun just about everyone else. ( He never made fun of my "pimp mobile" again, lol. ) I kept that Riviera properly serviced for a year or so, it never used a drop of oil between oil changes. Traded it to an uncle who owned it for at least 10 yrs or so. He loved & babied the car.
You must have had Riviera GS ? Ya a good strong stock Buick 455 is a force of nature. Getting someone to go from a roll is the way to go, I have a 74 Century Grand Sport 455 that is built to high compression specs, headers, and intake - and it is pretty hard to beat from a roll unless you are a fast Vette , Built Mustang or a purpose built drag car. I have had quite a few import sport sedans try to pass me on my little country drives and I always play coy and wait for them to pass me at like 60 MPH , and as soon as they start to come around me I hit it and in 7 or 8 seconds I am usually more than 6 car lengths ahead and pulling away hard. They usually give up.
@@gt-37guy6 I honestly can't remember if it was a GS. I wish I had pictures of it to refer to. Believe it or not, your description of gapping guys who are trying to pass you is exactly how it looked when I raced that Firebird 400/4 sp. When we both took off evenly at about 40 mph, I immediately started pulling away hard. It was at night, and I was keeping my eye on him in my driver's side-view mirror ( 4 lane state highway, he was in the left lane, me on the right. ) Once I got at least 6 car lengths ahead of him, I thought he was stroking it & playing with me, so I let off. Just then, I saw his head lights jump & realized he just banged 4th gear......and because I had let off, he was gaining FAST. Of course I floored it again, with him gaining, to the point he was right at my rear, but that's when I started pulling away from him again.......and literally left him. Even if he had passed me, it was obvious that I would've easily caught & passed him anyway. Oh, by the way, I had a passenger, he was by himself. It was hilarious how he never showed up in a certain parking lot in town, where we agreed to meet up, and it's too bad we didn't have cell phones back then, lol. I always wanted to try racing the big block Mopar's from a roll off, but Cullman Alabama was a small town, and I really didn't know of anyone who owned one at the time.
@@fenatic7484 The fella I'm talking about does live podcasts with Uncle Tony's Garage about every week. Darn, I can't recall his name. But they've done several videos where the fella explained an awful lot about the Buick engines, their history, and especially the differences in the cylinder heads, and what to look for. Probably is the same guy. He has an old Chevy or GM Suburban with a 455 Buick he put in it. Maybe that will ring a bell with ya. ????? ( But he did officially re-establish the IHRA about a year ago. As you probably already know, the IHRA was around long before the NHRA. I'm not clear on why the NHRA took over, as the IHRA faded away. I'm sure it had a lot to do with money & politics. )
I agree that all these engines are great and each has their pros and cons. If I were going to build one I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the Buick. Buick speed parts are expensive but a rebuildable 455 Buick engine costs less than a bare set of HP Pontiac or Olds heads. The Buick has a huge cost advantage because all Big Block Buick heads are nearly identical. Years ago one of the major car mags did a bolt on comparison between all the big V8s and Buick made the most power.
The start carts used to spin up the J-58 engines in SR-71 aircraft had two Buick 455 Wildcat engines that were supplied to Lockeed by a hot rod shop near the Burbank facility.
The 455-4 was the only engine available in the 1970 Buick Estate Wagon, a B-body wagon with the Wildcat Grille and Deuce-and-a Quarter front fender trim. Somehow my Mom managed to snag one of the dozen or so that left the factory with the three-on-the-tree. This quiet late-forties little lady bookkeeper....
The Olds 455 was the top choice for a jet boat mill, I never owned a jet boat but back in the 80s and 90s all the jet boats had Olds 455s and Berkely pumps. Now I see why )
I had a friend who put a Pontiac 455 in an 87 Cutlass. That was the strongest motor I've ever seen. He gave that motor hell, and it took everything he put at it.
The only two I have experience with is the 455 Oldsmobile and Pontiac. I'm a BOP / Mopar / Hooptie person in general. I love the land yachts. The more I let my 455 Olds breathe in my 68 Toronado the happier it seems. I got to ride in a 69 Lemans swapped with a 455 Pontiac. Oldsmobile wins for me just because of that instant low end torque.
I had a 1973 Olds Toronado. The engine was bulletproof. With the stock dual exhaust and resonators top speed was limited to 105 mph. I replaced the stock mufflers with Walker glasspacks and eliminated the resonators. Top speed immediately improved and it would peg the 125 mph speedometer. Once the glasspacks got blown out it sounded so good. A new fuel pump and FRAM high-flow air filter made a noticable improvement in sustained full throttle accelleration and plenum sound. The only real issue I had with it was that the carb would boil dry in the summer from engine heat after a long drive and being parked for a few hours. For a land yacht, that car was amazingly fast and got off the line really well. Didn't turn or stop well, though.
The thing about the Buick 455 was that it was light by those standards I was in auto class in the 80s and my mom had the estate wagon I put a timing chain in it and tuned it on the Sun machine it had so much torque it would push you back in the seat, plus the 455 was only 100 pounds heavier than a small block Chevy What an engine I wonder what it would have done in a GM g body
Camshaft lift and duration and timing events is what slowed the 455 engines down in the 70's. The emmision controls like EGR and air injection hurt too. Actually, all engines from this time suffered from detuning by the factories. One thing about the Pontiac intake manifold, the D shaped secondaies didn't hurt performance one bit. Airflow restriction on those pieces was just a myth that has long been debunked.
Olds 455’s were available in A-body’s. Had to order a Hurst/Olds in ‘68 & ‘69 to get around GM’s 400ci limit in A-body’s until that was lifted in 1970.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Oldsmobile gets my vote. Who else remembers sitting on their parent’s front porch with eyes closed and being able to tell them what car just passed by simply by hearing the exhaust note? Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Chrysler all were distinct until 1977.
Olds made adding oil easy with the filler tube in front of the motor.
Yup. Each had it's distinct sound characteristics. To my recollection the Buicks were the easiest to " spot ".
Oldsmobile engines had that distinctive “flutter” sound in the exhaust.
@@jondoes7836 Interestingly that same " flutter " was characteristic of later model Buicks. A neighbor passed recently and in his estate was his late father in law's 84 LeSabre with only 11, 000 miles on it.
It had that same exhaust flutter.
@@ellisonhamilton3322 I believes that came with a oldsmobile 307 from the factory.
I bought a 1970 Pontiac Catalina in Polar White in June of 1972 as a 19 year old because I thought it was absolutely beautiful! I'm now 70 years old, and I still have it and still think it is absolutely beautiful! If a 1970 Pontiac is an "acquired taste" as you claim, I guess I acquired it - and so did the dozens of strangers who always give me a thumbs up whenever I take it for a drive!
I still have my 1970 Pontiac Bonneville 2 dr htp. I'm sure that you would look good behind the wheel !
Seen it in a movie and looked it up.
I have a gold and black 72 Grand Prix Model SJ. I get the same response EVERY time I drive it.
Welll- don't be stingy- post a video & let us see it! 👀
@@smoothoperator7023 I guess I (an old guy) will have to figure out how to do that. The last video I posted was from a VHS camcorder LOL
I had a 1970 Olds 98 that was specially ordered by its original owner to have a "W Machine" engine and a super heavy duty transmission. It could boil the tires through 1st and 2nd, and easily bury the speedo. I loved that car. Only got beat by 427 Vettes.
The 1970 Buick 455 Stage 1 gets my vote. I worked for Buick many years. I drag raced them (stock class) for years. Their horsepower was greatly under rated by Buick.
Torque monsters . 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
I have a 1970 Wildcat. How can I tell if it is a stage 1 or not?
@@kamaulipscomb64 - Think Stage 1 and 2 only came in Special...
Regarding longevity, my experiences with the Buick 455's have been highly positive. My family and I drove our 1971 Centurion coupe 167,000 trouble-free miles over a 51-year period. The car was exceptionally reliable. I have had a number of friends who drove their early-1970's Buick 455's well-in-excess of 200,000 miles without engine work, and know of a man in the Portland, Oregon area who has driven his 1972 Electra 225 more than 500,000-miles; the car has its original 455, never rebuilt and highly reliable.
Fascinating.
A decade ago, Hot Rod magazine spent $5500 on each a Ford, Chevy, Olds, Pontiac, and Buick 455 and used similar components in each. The Buick was the hands down winner, making about 550 hp net with simple mods and a good blueprinting.
Great video!
I agree with the Buick engine they responded well to modifications back then buick had little to no speed parts available but now in today's automotive market there are plentiful aftermarket parts for most engines back then
I have the car craft 2001 issue that did a compared all 3 plus 454, 440, & 460. Even back then, I seem to remember the Buick winning in HP, did excellent in torque across the rpms too. The Pontiac had highest torque output and they wrote, they weren't sure where the torque peak on the Pontiac was because the dyno didn't read it below 3600 rpm, and from the tests they think it had a higher torque reading somewhere under 3600. Although I think I heard before the 510 ft/lbs of torque in Buick GSX (1970 ?) was the highest from the factory.
@@Sheisthedevilyouknowwho-ft9weYep the 70 GSX had the highest torque of factory production street engines.
Yes that’s why
BUICK 1970
455 Stage 1
Gran Sport is the FASTEST MUSCLE CAR of ALL muscle cars of the era !
Inc Chrysler & Ford!
@@jennybaji421 The Stage 1 was quick stop light to stop light but after the quarter mile it ran out of steam . They were low revving torque monsters. Chrysler Hemi motors were not stop light racers they needed to rev and did not make power until around 4000 Rpm. Often times you'll see a Hemi bogg off line until it gets into its rpm range.
I remember driving my cousins 1970 Buick Rivera 455 on the highway. All it took was lightly tapping the accelerator and it was hard maintaining 55 mph. You were a Land Shark on the highway. You floated with ease. What a remarkable feeling.
I had a 70 Buick with the 455. Talk about a torque monster! Floor the pedal and man did that car take off. Not what you would expect in a car made for comfort. Very memorable.
I had a '70 Riviera GS, buckets/console etc., so I understand the feeling. That was a great car and pretty good handler for a big one.
I just bought a1970electra 455 2door hard top. It starts and runs, but it lacs compression on 2 pistons on the driver side. Cant wait to get the engine rebuilt and feel the torque :D
I just bought a 70' w/ a 455... getting used to the power, Jesus. There's a LOT!!!
I took a good friend of mine for a ride in my dad's new 1967 Wildcat....my buddy was a foreign car snob...but when I floored the Wildcat, he shouted out...OMG...it's a huge Ferrari! That beast would lay down a good 20 yards of rubber when pushed. And that Wildcat held together very well, lasting over 320,000 miles, before some drunk rear-ended the car. My dad shed a few tears after that mighty beast went to the junkyard. GM cars hit some sort of peak, during those later years of that decade.
@curbozerboomer1773 Many years before GM became the junk trash it is currently. RIP GM, you should've went out of existence in 2009 instead of taking that Gov't bailout. 😢💀
In 1982 I bought a 1968 Olds 442 identical in appearance to the one at 2:55 in this video. It had a spun bearing and didn't run. I then found a 1974 455 out of a wrecked 88. The 455 only had about 10k miles on it. I used the 442 400ci heads/intake with the 455 short block and measured the compression at a true 9.8:1. I put a mild cam (a Crane cam IIRC) in it that was recommended to me as an excellent jet boat cam, but otherwise it was all GM. The result was an incredibly quick car that was quiet, idled smoothly, and was phenomenally reliable. I am more of a Mopar guy and eventually sold the car to buy a Dodge Charger I liked, but to this day it was one of the best cars I ever owned.
Hi Gavin: I rebuilt my 1967 Delta 88 back in 1988 using a 455 motor from a 1969. There was a magazine article "Build a 12 second Junk Yard Dog" which was my guide. I kept the stock camshaft due to the non adjustable valve train. By enlarging the oil galleries in the main bearing saddles and modifying the high volume oil pump; I have kept this motor running for the last 34 years only having to replace the water pump. The pressure per cylinder in 1988 was 148 psi. I measured the pressure a couple of years ago at 124 psi. How did you determine what your compression ratio was? The ratio is still a mystery to me although I estimate something similar to yours.
I cc'd the cylinder heads and the pistons set down 0.25" from TDC. I also measured the compression height at TDC. From that, and the stroke and the head gasket thickness it is straightforward to calculate compression ratio. IIRC I had the heads milled 0.025 to get to just under 10:1. I had an 11:1 motor previously and it would knock occasionally on premium pump gas, so I wanted somewhere between 9.5 and 10 for the Olds. I did a few other things like recurve the distributor and a little pocket-porting on the heads. Congratulations on keeping your car going for 34 years! That is fabulous, and I agree that with 148 psi per cylinder the compression ratio would have been over 9:1.
Back around that same time period, I helped a friend rebuild a 1967 high compression Olds Toronado 385hp 425 engine for his 1974 Olds 442 Cutlass that had a worn out 350. That car could smoke the tires for miles, it had massive torque.
@@gavinmclaren9416 Can you remember what the psi per cylinder was on your 455? Or is that going back too far? I found that by keeping a stock camshaft and modifying the oil supply; it was the key to engine longevity. 40 years ago in Alberta the only leaded fuel was 83 octane so high compression engines were out. I've had this car since I graduated in high school in1982 and I even took it with me to Australia. How many guys out there still have their first car?
@@corvettejohn4507 The 455 Olds just had the thuggish gentleman vibe, like Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders that just knew what it was about with no need to doubt. I built a 455 Olds to put in a 66 442 2dr Post with an M21 Muncie and 3.73 posi. It had that Miller/Mondello cam that topped at 5400 with monster duration and perfect overlap so it had that think twice attitude. It was so cool 😎 to let out the clutch and then punch it at 30 mph and shift, just redline it and bang them and that car was gone!
I have owned several 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 cars with 455 2 barrel engines they were very reliable and surprisingly got good gas mileage. I drove one to college 300 miles from home and they got in the high teens 17-19 on the highway
Very trouble free
Having Hot Rodded the Buick 455, it was a very easy engine to increase horsepower. Some ignition, carburetor, and exhaust tweaks increased its breathing considerably, and emissions went down as well!
you are singing my tune my friend. Several years ago i ran into 1974 455 Buick Century GS that a guy was needing to sell to buy a property. He used to race Buicks, and it had been built to 1970 high compression specs, bored over, and high lift .490 cam all from Poston Buick back in about 2000. It has the high RPM lifters, aluminum intake, and headers. People who I give a ride just shake their heads and hang on......
I've owned both a 430 Buick Wildcat and a 455 Olds Toronado. They were both huge torque monsters... For some reason, the 1970s jet boats only used 460 Lincolns & 455 Olds - and according to my brother there was a camshaft problem with the Oldsmobile sucking water back in when you shut it down...
"Just get one of each." Good advice!
Both my parents and my mother's parents were faithful Buick buyers. Dad LOVED the Buick 455 because, according to him, it was easy on gas as long as you kept your foot out of it. Dad's '73 225 was built like a tank and floated down the highway. Grandpa loved his LeSabres, so much so that he ended up owning three of them, the last of which was the downsized '87 model year. His favorite one was a 1978 two door that he drove until it got totaled in a car accident in '87. Of all the Buicks my family has owned, I have to say that Dad's '73 was my personal favorite. If I could find one like the one he had, I'd buy it.
The Buick 455 was in my mind the top dog of the time out of the 455's. I liked the Buick gentleman's sports car sleeper the GS. It still turns heads and ears when you get the rare chance to see one.
...my 70 GS stage 1 with some Kenne Bell parts did low 13's all day long! Could have hit a 12 if I dumped the TA's...great car of the day
I like the Buick 455s the best. They always seemed to be more of a 'hot rod' motor with good midrange power and just all-around drivability. I had one (not factory installed, it was a 1970 GS engine, though, with aftermarket aluminum heads that would let it run 93 unleaded reliably) in a 1970 Skylark with a Muncie M22 and 3.55:1 gears and a Detroit Truetrac. It was lively to say the least.
My friends have a "Drag Boat" that started out with a 455 out of a old Trans Am that, to me, ran great. Then he changed to a BB Chevy and liked it better. I did have a 70 Buick GS 455 4 speed and loved it. All the 455 were great but in different ways. Thanks for your time and work.....
That Olds 455 was one of the most robust mills ever made by GM, can't go wrong there. Great power and torque, and probably the best overall driving of the bunch.
Agreed, Olds had the best V8 engines in the business. The 350 was pretty much indestructible....never blew up an Oldsmobile V8. I have destroyed just about every other Pontiac, or Buick engine however....I should have been a test - abuser at GM proving grounds....hehe.
Agree 100%. Grew up on big block Olds motors, as my father AND mother liked them, cruisin' down Woodward Ave in Michigan!! My late father in law was an Olds freak and a mechanic, so watched him tuning a 4 barrel Quadrajet with a vacuum gauge and tweaking the linkage with a needle nose pliers, to get the 4 barrel to dump at the precise moment!!! Fun days!!
I can attest to the big block Oldsmobile engines and cars , I will always remember riding, driving , and helling around in them! Big powerful nice riding cars Can still hear them run.
I’ve got an olds 455 in a boat it’s freshly built and it is a beast of a motor. Won’t spin fast but it doesn’t need to. Sounds incredible with a cam and boat headers
Thank you soooo much for sharing your story!! Years ago, my late father in law picked up an 18 foot Slickcraft, with a frozen 4 cyl Chevy dirt cheat. Ended up putting an Olds 455 in it, with a Mercruiser Alpha One outlive, with only 9" pipes out the back!! Had to put 27 pitch prop on it, to keep from over revving. What a crazy, kinda dangerous boat to drive, but fun as hell!! AND I don't need to tell you how good it sounded!! Memories!!
I had a '70 Vista Cruiser that had a W34 Toronado 455 shoehorned in there. When it was finally dialed in, it was a challenge to keep it under 70mph on the freeway. I was able to do awesome burnouts with that thing.
Oldsmobile gets my vote. I remember several Buick’s having problems with lower end clunking when they were cold. Even John DeLorean talked about the problems with the Pontiac V8’s due to the tooling that was never maintained properly. The tooling was original to the 1955 V8 and it required a master to work it as the stuff was just worn out. In 1969 Mechanics Illustrated tested a Delta 88 Royale with a 390 horsepower 455 and it was a real screamer. The previous year they tested a police cruiser Delta with the same engine. It could keep up with any super car of the era. I worked at a Buick/Oldsmobile dealership and they talked about the police versions of the Delta’s that the town used. They were really hot cars.
Could it just be down to the projected quality of the brand at the time was reflected In the tooling that the brand used?
@@zippityzbrake
I think that it’s more, how can we cheapen this and hopefully nobody will notice.
Bingo!
You cant beat the 421 and 455 sd pontiacs
...clunking was all carb issues...the Buick did have some oiling issues
Back in '88 a buddy and I were driving home from a construction job in Cincinnati, on U.S. Rt 50, a two-lane highway....
We were leaving Hillsboro, and were behind a '70 Electra 455...
I was driving my '70 Fairlane 351C and was gonna shoot around him when the light changed. I saw him eyeballing my Shaker Hood, in his rearview mirror, and he revved his engine. I laughed and told my buddy, watch me dust grandpa's ass!
Well.... we took off and I pegged the Speedo, and then some, and was revving about 5400 RPM's, but didn't pass him... Not sure if I could have or not. That 351 would pull past 6000, but I sure wasn't gonna risk blowing my engine, to pass a rusty ol' 225 with a 455 blowing out puffs of brown smoke from its dual exhaust!!! Lol...
I have yet to live that down... My buddy and most of his very large family are Buick/Olds fans, and love to crap on a Ford.
I have built a lot of engines in the last 35 years ,and will have to say the Olds motors from the muscle car era are some the best motors I have ever laid my hands on ! Love an Olds motor.,,,
Pontiac had the only 4 bolt main 455. That included some big car engines. The HO had an aluminum intake, and the HO and SD had round port heads.
He saved the best for last!!!
Also Pontiac had the strongest connecting rods at GM. I've heard that certain Olds and Buick engine builders recommend Pontiac rods to their customers building high performance engines. (I don't know how this works, probably with modifications somewhere.) I love the Pontiac V8 engines and OHC6, all highly innovative engines. Overall Buick had the best engineering at GM (even borrowing from Pontiac), where theoretical and measured values come closest.
@@jeffbranch8072 Pontiac invented the familiar ball stud rocker system. Chevy actually was allowed to use that system.
I don't know if Pontiac "invented" the 30 degree intake valve seat, but this was the key to how the Pontiac V8 runs and cam, rockers, valve spring design all key off this. Buick and AMC picked up on this. PMD also did a lot of work with electronic ignition in the 60's and participated in HEI development in the early 70's. There's a whole list of innovations in the OHC6, it goes on and on. Meanwhile at Chevrolet engineering... zzzzz...
@@jeffbranch8072 Not really. Chevy's Zora Duntov basically designed Rochester's Mechanical Fuel Injection for 1957. Chevy also brought out the first modern American performance 4 speed manual transmission, (Chevy design made by Borg Warner), the T-10 in 1957. The Chevy Duntov solid lifter mechanical camshaft revved circles around any other stock American V8 for years. Chevy had air bag suspension in '58. The Big Chevy got the T-10 4sp in '59 when Pontiac was still running 3sp transmissions until '63.
The 1960 Corvair was full of innovations for an American car, rear engine, all aluminum air-cooled pancake flat 6 cyl. The '60 Corvair was the first American car with an all aluminum engine and the first American car with a turbocharger. Corvette had an aluminum head option in 1960 for the 315hp fuel injected 283. Then there was fully independent rear suspension in the Corvette for '63 and the only American car with 4 wheel disc brakes in '65. Chevy made a transistorized ignition system starting in 1964 for their solid lifter engines. It became pointless and capacitive discharge a year or two later.
Then there was the porcupine semi-hemi headed big block Chevy for '65 that was the very best performance big displacement engine GM ever made. Aluminum headed 427 in '67, an all aluminum 427 in '69. The Camaro had a 4 wheel disc brake option starting in '68. The Chevy 302 was so dominant in the Trans Am series in '68 and '69 that Pontiac ran their Firebirds with 302 Chevys in them, although none were ever sold to the public that way. Pontiac's own '69 tunnel port Ram Air V 303 Trans Am engine turned out to be such a turd they never even bothered to sell or race any, but the same happened with Ford's tunnel port 302 the year before. Did you know that Chevy provided the Penske Trans Am team with a Telemetry Van for every race? Penske's '68 and '69 Camaro's had onboard accelerators attached to the car. They wirelessly delivered real time data to the Telemetry Truck in the parking lot where this information was recorded during the race.
Chevy was busy winning NHRA, AHRA, Trans Am, Can Am, and drag boat racing and providing all those good guy parts to the independent racer on the street while Pontiac Engineering was zzzzzzz. John Delorean may have done some good stuff over at Pontiac, but all he did when he got to Chevy in '69 was try to kill the Corvette, De-proliferated all of Chevy's Performance engines for '70 and '71, and introduced the Vega. Good thing he was kicked to the curb in '72 or he would have finished off Chevrolet the same way he finished off the DMC company 10 years later.
So other than that, Chevy Engineering didn't come up with anything at all.
Now, some 50 years on, the performance aftermarket support for the classic Pontiac engine is more than the support for the Buick and Oldsmobile engines combined.
The 1970 Buick 455s had relatively wild cams in them. Buick employed "high-tolerance" Rhoads style bleed down lifters to smooth the idle down some, and the full-size cars also still had the variable-pitch transmissions in them further smoothing out the idle. That trans allowed a slightly higher idle speed and didn't cause creep.
I cut the exhaust off my 70 riv and it chops like it has a cam
My neighbor had a jet boat with the Olds 455 in it. I used to love listening to it and riding in it.
Those 455's sure were used alot on jet boats !
In the early '80's I had a 1972 Oldsmobile 98 with the 455. It was a lovely engine and the one I had was by no means low mileage but the engine ran beautifully and was most reliable. The only major work other than routine servicing it ever required was a water pump replacement (which was straightforward) and fitting new exhaust manifolds to address minor exhaust leaks. It was my first American car (I'm a Brit and was living in Britain in those days) and to this day I think was probably the best American car I have ever owned - even in light of the fact that for the past 20 years I've lived in the USA where the car choice is so much better.
When you wrote about replacing the water pump . . . there's something about vehicles, of most makes, that seem to be prone to water pump leakage before reaching 100K miles. Every vehicle I've owned, both new and used, all required water pump replacements before reaching 90K miles.
@bloqk16 Yeah, that just seems like a pet peeve of any ICE engine since the start of ICE engines millenia ago.
Growing up in Milwaukee in the 70's, these kinds of cars were everywhere.
Miss those days.
To this day Indiana is full of 'em.
A benefit with the Buick engines and especially the 455, the distributor is in the front, and the spark plugs are very easy to get to!
All ford’s have it up front except the Y block
I always thought of the Buick 455 as GM's Mopar big block. I mean that in a good way as a died-in-the-wool Mopar guy.
Yeah, setting the points, on the Olds 455, was a bit of a reach!!
Going back to the early part of the video, the torque numbers for each variation from Olds tell a story. The under worked 2 barrel versions of the Olds 455 produced peak torque @ 2400 rpm - which means you can lumber around town in a stately manner and still have acceptable acceleration compared to most vehicles on the road today.
Oldsmobile 330,350,400,455 the only V8 capable of burnouts beyond belief while the tach sat 3500! All others 5grand etc!
I bought a 1967 Olds Delmont 88 for fifty bucks back in the day, with 4 doors and a 425 with a two bbl carb. That may have been the fastest car I ever owned, it sure surprised a lot of hot rods at stop lights!
The GM crash barrier lab used to be powered by Olds 455 engines. A buddy's dad worked at GM Research at the Tech Center, and only drove Oldsmobiles.
I was driving by 1966. Everyone had their favorite of these motors. The Olds showed up 2 years before the others and had the highest factory hp rating, 400 in a Toronado only ram air version. The Pontiac had the most aftermarket support, you could get anything from a crossram dual quad setup to forged aluminum con rods from vendors like Mickey Thompson. The Buick was nearly 50 lb lighter than the other two and made a big 5 ft lb more torque than either. This was enough that it was often the quickest in a stocker running street gears and full factory exhaust.
Got a 455 Pontiac. Great solid engine. My favorite by far
I know of a local gentleman with a '68 Firebird with a 455, and mixing/matching stock parts has a combination that will ran a **dead heat** with a Mopar 426 Hemi. I mean in sync lock.
@@jeffbranch8072 that's not unusual. it depends a lot on the length of race. the Pontiac 455 will lay waste to the hemi coming out of the hole especially in a heavier car. the hemi can really breathe on top and makes up the deficit at high speed. it makes for exciting racing.
Lots of hopped up Buick 455s out there today! Definitely the one engine that has a line of high performance aftermarket parts available to spice it up!
Got a 65’ 442 with a 400’ BB (destroked 425’). I put headers, edelbrock intake/carb. Accell wires/distributor, and 3” inch exhaust (with cutouts). What a rumble!! God save the Big Block!!!!!!!
Great 455 tutorial. I’m currently building a 455 Olds to maximize what it does best, build torque. It’ll be paired with a Muncie M20 and 3.08 gears. I also have a 403, which other than sitting on the engine stand gathering dust has no future.
It would if you lived close to me. 🙃
@@kevinj2412 where do you live?
The best thing I can tell you is let it breathe. From stock iron intake to edelbrock intake. Port matched and Cleaned up my C heads. Those big block Olds love to breathe
That 403 makes a great swap into any 80s 307 equipped car. Really wakes them up.
@@keepyourbilsteins yep, I built an 86 4 door Cutlass sleeper a few years ago with a heavily modded 403. Wish I hadn’t sold it lol
Would like to suggest a corresponding video on the phenomenal Cadillac 472/500 (enlarged later to 500 c.i.). I once flattened a parking meter that was anchored in solid concrete just backing into a parking space! It was the most powerful motor I ever stepped into. And of course, the Cad 472/500 combined with the Chevy 427/454 would make a good video, also.
The Cadillac 500ci would decimate in torque !
Well that would have been the weight of that monster, not the engine. That massive beast would have done the same thing with a four-cylinder engine.
What many people don’t talk about today is torque. Big engines made so much torque that they didn’t have to spin to 6-7 thousand rpm to make power. Oldsmobile 350’s & 455’s were such great engines and cruising was a dream because the motors had such powerful without a screaming sound.
The biggest problems with both the Oldsmobile and Buick 455s were their flawed oiling systems. The Buick's oiling system just can't deliver enough oil at high RPM. It will eat a rod bearing if you wind it past 5500RPM for more than a few seconds. The Oldsmobile oiling system delivers too MUCH oil to the top end of the engine, and the oil drain areas in the cylinder head don't allow the oil to drain back to the pan fast enough. It's possible to fill the valve covers with oil during sustained high RPM operation. This leaves the oil pan empty, which starves the rod and main bearings.
Yeah, but the oiling system is fine for their design performance envelope and it’s an easy fix you’re building a performance motor
@@jimmy_olds exactly. These were designed to be torque monsters to move large cars smartly down the road. Never designed to run over 4500 rpm except occasionally.
I just had a 470cu in Buick BB made and the builder told me it is solid to 6500 rpm except my cam will run out of oompfh about 5800. Seemed great to me, almost a built in rev limiter. :)
As Jim H mentioned, curing the oiling issue on an Olds is an easy fix although you do need to remove the crank to take care of the problem. I raced 455's Olds engines for years. They are extremely easy to work on and very reliable. Getting a 3700lb A-body into the low 12's/high 11's is incredibly easy and won't break your bank account. Olds heads don't flow very good though, even with 2.07 intakes, which is a pretty laughable valve size for that many cubic inches but beyond that limitation, fantastic engine for your average bracket racer.
@@remingtonwingmaster6929 I’m excited about the new Edelbrock heads, the intakes are 2.125” (I know, still small by BB standards) and flow enough to easily support 500+ hp out of the box
Since I have the 430 the Buick 455 was based upon in my '67 Riviera, thank you for the detailed info on the specific oil limitation. Guess it's time to install that tach! :-)
OLDSMOBILE WAS A EXPERIMENTAL ENGINE DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS . OLDS HIGH NICKEL BLOCKS ARE TOUGH AS NAILS . A LITTLE DR OLDS MAGIC GOS A LONG WAY . THE 1970 OLDS 442 W30 4 SPEED WITH THAT 328 DEG CAM IS MUSIC TO MY EARS . THE W25 OUTSIDE AIR INDUCTION HOODS IS ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING HOODS AMONG THE MUSCLE CARS OF THE TIME . THE BEST 455 IS OLDS HANDS DOWN IN MY OPINION . GREAT VIDEO.
Olds are my favorite GM V8s because they're so smooth. First car I drove had a post-rocket era 350 and Quadrajet. When all of those cars became seven to twelve year old rusty, dented, hoopties, and were running around without a muffler, I swear I could hear the smoothness of the Olds - or at least the absence of that smoothness when hearing a Buick or Pontiac, or a 454 for that matter.
Looks like Jim Morrison on the Buick brochure - Come On Buick Light My Fire...
Really looking forward to that 455 SD video.
Good advice at the end.
Olds V8 engines all have a unique exhaust note. I never thought of it as smooth, but, yeah, that fits. I've got a 350 Olds ready to go into my 1978 El Camino soon.
After I bought my 68 Cougar from my father when I turned 16 in 1969 my father got a 1970 Olds 98 with the 455 engine. Drove it only a few times for obvious reasons but I can still recall the torque in that car from a dead start. Wow! What I wouldn't give to have that car today. Like you I like all cars but I truly enjoy driving the full size cars of the second half of the 60s to 71 where I draw my line.
Had a 72 Buick LeSabre. 455 with a giant 4bl carb. You could hear it sucking air when you floored it. You could also almost watch the gas gauge recede. 😂
I had a '71 Boattail Riviera with 4bbl. 455. Pretty fast, but if you kept your foot out of the carburetor it actually returned decent mileage for a big block. Gold colored without a vinyl top, which made it look really clean. Wish I still had it.
I used to daily-drive a 71 98 LS coupe, and still have a 72 Buick Estate Wagon. Love these 455s! So awesome!
Currently dailying a 71 98 ls sedan. Great car.
Owned many Buicks and Oldsmobiles of the 70’s power house years. Put an 71 Olds 455 in my 83 Chevy truck. That was pure power to go.
Back in the 70's my buddy had a 1970 GS with a 455 Stage 1, 4 speed and 4.56 posi. It was a plain jane bench seat car with body color 15 X 7 steel wheels and poverty caps. What a sleeper!
As usual, you are a credit to disseminating unbiased knowledge of engineering descriptions of these engines. When you have the time, I would like to see a full discussion on the 4 GM 350ci small block engines. Please discuss each engines positive and negative qualities and which engine you think from an engineering standpoint is better or if they are equally comparable engines.
My parents bought a '71 Pontiac Grand Ville with the 455; my best friend's parents bought an Electra with the 455. Typical teenaged boys, we raced them. You are so right about the Buick being better up high. I later owned a '72 GS Skylark convertible and that engine still had some power.
We had a 1973 Buick park ave with the 455, that car was Huge and was pretty quick for the size, the most comfortable car I've ever driven.
Wow, this is great vid.
In the early 90s I bought a 70 delta 88 with a 455 two barrel, 190 8000 miles on it.
The timing chain top sprocket was aluminum with nylon teeth, I changed it with a steel double roller, also a four barrel, and HE I, do exhaust, that thing ripped, until a limousine pulled in front of me and I smashed him good.
Then rebuilt that engine with some Mondello influence and parts. Dropped it into a 75 cutlass shell. The car tore up the streets back then.
When rebuilding the engine all of the nylon teeth were stuffing the oil pump pick up, but it’s still ran.
My dad had a 72 Buick with a 455. He put it to rest with almost 500,000 miles on the motor. The thing was a tank and he loved burning the tire taking off to impress us kids.
Great video. It should be mentioned the 70 Pontiac 455HO is different from the 71-72 455HO engines.
I recently scored one for $50.00 out of a rotted out Catalina...it was reputed to be the terror of the town in it's day...getting it ready for my 66 goat..I found it has 4 bolt mains!..
I think the Olds has the easiest spark plug change. I could have all new plugs installed in about 10 minutes, with my eyes closed.
Agreed. I have changed mine on “smoke break” at work a couple times haha.
My grandfather was a big fan of the 455 Olds, both for the low end torque and solid reliability. But he liked to put them in 1/2 ton Chevy pickups. The first one he had was '73 and the second one was a '69. He'd just acquire a pickup body and then buy a late 60's/early 70s Olds 455. I started learning to drive on the '73 when I was 13(lots of back roads, no cops). When that one finally died and he built the '69, I drove it as much as he did. Since he was in it for the low end, any potential high RPM deficiencies never came up. They were rock solid and just got the intended job done.
I have a 1973 Riviera. With a simple build, 9.9:1 comp, Cam, Intake, 850 carb, built TH400 with a small stall, Posi rear. Heads were mostly stock, stainless valves and the bowls cleaned up. Car went 12:90 all day long and i done to the track with the AC and Cruise control.
My dad had a red 74 SD455. He sold it for 500 in the 80s. He still regrets selling it to this date.
Oldsmobile did employ the 455 in the A-body chassis before other GM divisions when it produced the limited production Hurst/Olds in 1968 and 1969. This probably helped to get these other 7.4 litre engines released to the other A-body’s as there was more Hurst/Olds demand than supply. Oldsmobile cylinder heads would flow less than Pontiac and Buick heads, but we’re adequate for their intended purpose.
Thanks for the overview with your seat of the pants impression. BTW, TH-cam recommended videos from your old channel. Your new channel is much improved
Cheers.
The 365 horsepower 455 was standard in Olds 98's beginning in '68 and in lesser forms of tune with a two barrel in Delta 88's with the more powerful ones as options. They applied the same principle used in the Turnpike Cruiser option in 1967 on Cutlass coupes and convertibles, a large engine designed for maximum low speed torque driving through a very high speed 2.56 axle that gave both relaxed 75 MPH cruising while returning reasonable mileage for the size and power of the engines.
@@jazzvictrola7104 Just hearing the words Turnpike Cruiser evokes an emotion and picture in my mind like nothing else in current times. I absolutely favor a car with gobs of torque and an axel ratio that lets the engine idle at 75mph. Thats why with proper maintenance, those engines are still running today. Ill be gone but I'd guess that the engines produced today will require much more than these old lumps do to keep them running 60+ years from now.
455 Cubic Inches = 7.5 liters
454 = 7.4 liters.
@@giggiddy In the 80's, when small engines began to proliferate, Castrol had an hilarious series of commercials explaining how the small displacement engines run so much hotter than the big V-8's and don't have the surface to dissipate the heat--then they'd show a cutaway of a four cylinder engine with the cherry red heat coming from its frantic pistons, then the thing would start knocking and seize up. You can see some of those on YT.
Wait. What's his old channel name?
I owned one of these. That motor is a beast! Tough as nails. Runs amazing. Has remarkable torque. Unforgettable.
One "advantage" of our 1966 Olds Toronado's 425 was that the distributor was located at the rear of the engine. That allowed large pools of gas to collect at the front of the engine (from its leaky Quadrajet) without being set aflame immediately by a nearby ignition spark. 🙂
Pontiac had the distributor in the rear as well!!
I like that, " One of each".
When 3 different divisions of the same company can produce 3 different engines of the same size at the same time using different parts... life is good.
My grandfather had a 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88 , with the Rocket 455, what a machine.
Hey Adam, yes, the General Motors 455 V8 engines were absolutely bulletproof workhorses!!! Thanks for sharing this informative video!!! 👍👍
So true they were also a engine used in many jet drive boats.
They had the torque to pull a house and a boat needs that. All of them should be kept in the 5200-5600 range with the 4.25 stroke. I have seen jackasses try to run them like a SBC. You can’t. Get the trans shifts in that range and let that torque do the job. They can be built to rev, but why? 550 ft lbs dropping to 500 at the shift back to 550 shift again and that stripe comes up quickly. Trying to push them to 7000 is an expensive destructive waste of time. A 455 Oldsmobile cutlass with a TH 400 3.64 gears and put it in drive and let the torque do the talking. Many years of joy!
2 bolt mains they like to spin bearings, I know I did it with 2 blocks in my 70 442.
@@kgdies That is true. But all three BOP engines had/have 4 bolt main caps that can be installed, most with splayed outer bolts that work well and girdles that can allow 5200 rpms for as long as you want to keep them there. The FE with a stroker kit, 4.125 bore X 4.25 stroke with Pro- Gram cross bolt mains with a 70’s soniced 390 truck block should have been built by Ford. They would be of the same utility and even more revs if you need it. It is as light as the Buick 455. I never understood why they never did it. A good strong 5000-6000 rpm engine that could run that speed all day!
HEY DYMMY
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'GENERAL MOTORS 455'
ONLY 2 GM DIVISIONS HAD A 455 BIG BLOCK.
AND PONTIAC WAS NOT ONE OF THEM BECAUSE PONTIAC NEVER MADE A BIG BLOCK!!!
When I was a kid in high school I tuned up a 455 in an Olds Vista Cruiser. The distributor is on the back of the motor. So, to get to it, I just climbed into the engine compartment and sat on top of the engine. That's how big the car and engine were.
There's just something so glorious about the look of big block v8s
The 1970 Buick 455 Stage1 was absolutely under rated at 360 horse power because it was tied or could beat a 1970 454/ 450 horse power or a 1966-1971 426 hemi 425 horse power.
Man I absolutely LOVE your videos. I always learn something, too. A TWO barrel 455? WOW, I had absolutely no idea...
Yes, two barrel 455's were standard in '68 Delta 88's, with the 98's more powerful four barrel engine optional. The carburetion isn't so important when you have huge displacement as that is what provides the low speed torque of those engines.
Yes. They work shockingly well. Ford also had a 429 2bbl engine
Take the air cleaner off, the carb looks like an outhouse in the desert...
@@jazzvictrola7104 Back in the late seventies the was stock car racing in my area that had a 2barrel class. All the GM guys were looking for 2bl carbs off 425 and 455 Olds.
When I was growing up we had a 1969 Olds Delta 88 with the 2bbl 455 engine and four wheel drum brakes. Stopping was not that barge's strong point.
The Pontiac used a plastic tooth- die cast aluminum timing chain sprocket on the camshaft up until 1970. The '71 and onwards got a steel sprocket. The plastic sprocket would shed its teeth if you really got into it. I know, I changed a lot of them.
Of these three, for a stock or mildly build motor, my favorite is the Buick. It's a newer design than the other two, and has a much lighter engine block.
There is a downside to that however, in that very high hp builds of the buick 455 such as for drag racing can sometimes result in broken engine blocks. Great for stock and mild builds but too light weight for serious high performance use.
@@howebrad4601 for drag racing maybe, but if you're trying something like autocross it's basically just big block power and torque for small block weight.
@@howebrad4601 Sadly the Buick 455 was just too thin for the power it could make. I like the big bore short stroke and good heads in Stg1, and the engine was made for the Qjet it had. 800 cfm with pull over enrichment on the primary side, I ran one on my 390 FE. I drilled the secondaries feeds like the one for the 429 CJ. I used a B hanger AX secondary rods. I think the primary rods were the stock Stg1 and I used the damper pot for the secondaries for the Stg 1. The only problem I had was getting fuel into it without nozzle drip. I believe it was .130 needle and seat with a clicker electric pump I turned on if I was getting on it. I could hit the throttle at 3000 wind to 6800-7000, shift wind to 6800-7000 and shift and at 4800 it would cough, and I’d let out. My son timed me WOT and I had 12 seconds of fuel with -06 line. But the little FE loved it! I have a 750 3310 VS with a rear metering block fitted with jets on all 4 corners and It has a Holley Blue and Regulator. So there’s no real comparison. The Holley is much faster and the fuel system is much more agreeable to the carb. But I have to say that a factory Qjet is really well suited to a 5500 rpm GS 455 with an automatic and 3.64s it should be a high 12 second car. But like I said that block will not be long for this world at 6800-7000 rpm. It is well matched with the car! I would just love it like you should a 5500 redline and you have wonderful car.
My first car was a 1971 Buick lesabre with a 455. Drove it until it rusted in half in 2006 with 345000 miles.
Dream of having: "one of each"
I remember the big Olds 98s, Buick Electras and Pontiac Grand Villes, when I first started driving in the late 70s and one would come up behind me id slow down so that they would pass, and after they started passing i would floor my 6 cyl Dodge Dart so they would have to open up that quadrajet! Loved hearing them big GMs open up, they usually didnt even notice I sped up, they just eased on around like I was not even there lol! As soon as I could I bought one! I ended up owning about 10 big Grand Villes, Bonneville Broughams and Grand Prixs! All with the 400 4bbl or 455 4bbl!
My older brother worked for GM and got my mother a '67 Riviera, '68 Riviera (430 4brl), and a '70 Electra 225 (455 4brl). I didn't get a drivers license until the '70 Electra so missed out on the nicer ones. The '67 in gunmetal gray was the coolest. The 4-door Electra would burn rubber and suck gas but was a great party-mobile for a high-schooler.
Im an Oldsmobile man at heart and theyre probably my favorite GM division (although i love my Buicks, Pontiacs, and GMCs for trucks too) but ive been outspoken on the 455 Olds. It was average in automotive applications, definitely not unreliable but not the most powerful or outstanding of any of the Big Three's Big Blocks. However they were horrible in Marine applications whereas Chevy 454 and Mopar 440s and Hemis really excelled in these boat applications. Its not that they wereent powerful, but the Olds engines had a big issue with oiling in that when under hard acceleration, the nose of the boat obviously raises and makes the engine run on a diagonal surface. All the oil would go to the back of the pan and become oil starved and blow up. With modification this issue was remedied, but those other engines i mentioned never had an issue with that and were perefectly reliable out of the box in marine applications.
Mopar got in my blood somehow and never left, despite tinny bodies, wind noise and something leaked, usually power steering. But I had a ginormous 76 Olds 88 Royale 4 door hardtop. Cinnamon red metallic, white top, gorgeous car, rode SO nice, smoothed out even the roughest roads with aplomb. 1st year of square headlights looked modern, last year of Olds only V8. It had the luscious 455, low compression, I knew not to expect the same as a 70 era big block. The car got handed down to 4 different family folk, ran to quarter million miles and basically parked only due to tired of driving it and it did rust after many salty winters. Nothing leaked, did not use oil, always started. I’m still impressed. I shall forever miss that ride. Vehicles are too stiff now days for faster cornering, so I feel more beat up. If do over, before the Olds, I test drove a 69 Grand Prix. You could feel the higher quality door shut, wind seal, the power steering and brakes were so much better in feel and use, curved sporty dash, console, buckets. A masculine car. Just a ridiculously long hood, requiring about a 10” deep fan shroud. Those needed a nose reduction, would be my only critique, a full foot cropped. Shove some friends in and would’ve been good cruisin memories made in a 69 GP. Console and buckets not as handy fun as 3 wide bench at a drive-in. Young folk, “What’s a drive-in?” Giant outdoor movie theater with a wired heavy metal speaker box to clip on door glass to hear the audio in basic unimpressive mono. Drive-ins were fun. Some teens tried sneaking more in via hid in the trunk for free. Would be pretty handy natural social distancing in a pandemic!!
Had a 1970 Olds Delta 88 two-door with a 455 in it. Perfectly normal daily driver for a high school kid in the early 70's. 😱
In the mid-2000s (when I had way more project cars than one guy should have), I bought a 1970 3/4-ton GMC truck with no drivetrain at a car show swap meet. It sat around for a year before I decided to stick an Olds 455 in it after hearing about the GMC motorhomes from the 70s that used Olds engines. After getting it together, I often wondered why they didn't offer them in GMC trucks. Besides being a great engine for a truck, it could have been a good way to differentiate GMC from Chevy, rather than just the grille and badging.
My brother in law and I put a 455 Olds in an early 4 wheel drive Blazer, for off reading and hunting. The low end torque made it a real pleasure out on the old 2 tracks through the woods!!
One of each; oversquare for the younger crowd, undersquare for the silver foxes. As always, great review.
Back in 1980, I was only 18 yrs old when I horse traded to get a '71 Buick Riviera. The car was in near showroom condition. Still had the factory options sticker inside the glovebox door. It had posi-traction & duel exhaust. I can't remember what else the sticker said, but all the men in my family swore it had to have Stage 1 heads, because it was insanely powerful, and would easily outrun the other big blocks owned by family & friends. ( The new owner of IHRA who is a total Buick fanatic, recently told me that in 1971, you could still order a Riviera with the Stage 1 heads on the 455, so perhaps the men in my family were right. ) You could leave the shifter in "Drive", and even at 15 mph, jab the throttle suddenly to about 2/3rd's, and roast both tires off. NO "power-braking" needed. You could feather the throttle back to coax the transmission to up-shift into every gear, still roasting the tires. ( Ya gotta remember, I was just a kid at the time, and all the men in my family loved racing & building/workin on, or even hot rodding some engines. I could service my engines, changing distributors, points, condenser, plugs, wires, oil change, but then I would have my father or uncles set the timing & tune the carb. ) Of course the car was too heavy to launch from a standing start, it would just spin. But I finally coaxed this other kid into racing me from a 40 mph roll off. He had a '68 Firebird with 400/4 speed ( in immaculate condition ). I gapped him so bad, he didn't even meet up with us at the agree'd upon location after the race. And from a standing start, we used to watch him outrun just about everyone else. ( He never made fun of my "pimp mobile" again, lol. ) I kept that Riviera properly serviced for a year or so, it never used a drop of oil between oil changes. Traded it to an uncle who owned it for at least 10 yrs or so. He loved & babied the car.
You must have had Riviera GS ? Ya a good strong stock Buick 455 is a force of nature. Getting someone to go from a roll is the way to go, I have a 74 Century Grand Sport 455 that is built to high compression specs, headers, and intake - and it is pretty hard to beat from a roll unless you are a fast Vette , Built Mustang or a purpose built drag car. I have had quite a few import sport sedans try to pass me on my little country drives and I always play coy and wait for them to pass me at like 60 MPH , and as soon as they start to come around me I hit it and in 7 or 8 seconds I am usually more than 6 car lengths ahead and pulling away hard. They usually give up.
@@gt-37guy6 I honestly can't remember if it was a GS. I wish I had pictures of it to refer to. Believe it or not, your description of gapping guys who are trying to pass you is exactly how it looked when I raced that Firebird 400/4 sp. When we both took off evenly at about 40 mph, I immediately started pulling away hard. It was at night, and I was keeping my eye on him in my driver's side-view mirror ( 4 lane state highway, he was in the left lane, me on the right. ) Once I got at least 6 car lengths ahead of him, I thought he was stroking it & playing with me, so I let off. Just then, I saw his head lights jump & realized he just banged 4th gear......and because I had let off, he was gaining FAST. Of course I floored it again, with him gaining, to the point he was right at my rear, but that's when I started pulling away from him again.......and literally left him. Even if he had passed me, it was obvious that I would've easily caught & passed him anyway. Oh, by the way, I had a passenger, he was by himself. It was hilarious how he never showed up in a certain parking lot in town, where we agreed to meet up, and it's too bad we didn't have cell phones back then, lol. I always wanted to try racing the big block Mopar's from a roll off, but Cullman Alabama was a small town, and I really didn't know of anyone who owned one at the time.
If that was Dave McClellan he knows his Buicks!
@@fenatic7484 The fella I'm talking about does live podcasts with Uncle Tony's Garage about every week. Darn, I can't recall his name. But they've done several videos where the fella explained an awful lot about the Buick engines, their history, and especially the differences in the cylinder heads, and what to look for. Probably is the same guy. He has an old Chevy or GM Suburban with a 455 Buick he put in it. Maybe that will ring a bell with ya. ????? ( But he did officially re-establish the IHRA about a year ago. As you probably already know, the IHRA was around long before the NHRA. I'm not clear on why the NHRA took over, as the IHRA faded away. I'm sure it had a lot to do with money & politics. )
I agree that all these engines are great and each has their pros and cons. If I were going to build one I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the Buick. Buick speed parts are expensive but a rebuildable 455 Buick engine costs less than a bare set of HP Pontiac or Olds heads. The Buick has a huge cost advantage because all Big Block Buick heads are nearly identical. Years ago one of the major car mags did a bolt on comparison between all the big V8s and Buick made the most power.
Olds is my favorite. I remember as a boy when my folks would buy the luxurious Olds 98 Regency and then Toronados. Can’t be beat. 455
The start carts used to spin up the J-58 engines in SR-71 aircraft had two Buick 455 Wildcat engines that were supplied to Lockeed by a hot rod shop near the Burbank facility.
That black 442 towards the beginning is awesome. I'm a Ford man but always had a soft spot for the 442's just something unique about them.
The 455-4 was the only engine available in the 1970 Buick Estate Wagon, a B-body wagon with the Wildcat Grille and Deuce-and-a Quarter front fender trim.
Somehow my Mom managed to snag one of the dozen or so that left the factory with the three-on-the-tree. This quiet late-forties little lady bookkeeper....
My parents owned a '71 Pontiac Bonneville 455 2 barrel and it was very smooth on the highway.
The Olds 455 was the top choice for a jet boat mill, I never owned a jet boat but back in the 80s and 90s all the jet boats had Olds 455s and Berkely pumps. Now I see why )
I had a friend who put a Pontiac 455 in an 87 Cutlass. That was the strongest motor I've ever seen. He gave that motor hell, and it took everything he put at it.
I learned how to drive in a 75 Cadillac, with a 500. And a 73 Buick estate wagon, with a 455. Both had 850 carburetors.
i daily drive a -71 lesabre in sweden. it has a 455 under the hood and its a joy to drive!
The only two I have experience with is the 455 Oldsmobile and Pontiac. I'm a BOP / Mopar / Hooptie person in general. I love the land yachts. The more I let my 455 Olds breathe in my 68 Toronado the happier it seems. I got to ride in a 69 Lemans swapped with a 455 Pontiac. Oldsmobile wins for me just because of that instant low end torque.
I had a 1973 Olds Toronado. The engine was bulletproof. With the stock dual exhaust and resonators top speed was limited to 105 mph. I replaced the stock mufflers with Walker glasspacks and eliminated the resonators. Top speed immediately improved and it would peg the 125 mph speedometer. Once the glasspacks got blown out it sounded so good. A new fuel pump and FRAM high-flow air filter made a noticable improvement in sustained full throttle accelleration and plenum sound. The only real issue I had with it was that the carb would boil dry in the summer from engine heat after a long drive and being parked for a few hours. For a land yacht, that car was amazingly fast and got off the line really well. Didn't turn or stop well, though.
Our family car growing up was a Buick Estate Wagon. It had a 455 in it and for a wagon it was pretty good.
I Had a 79 trans am with the BIG 403 Oldsmobile mill in it. It was a runner.
The thing about the Buick 455 was that it was light by those standards I was in auto class in the 80s and my mom had the estate wagon I put a timing chain in it and tuned it on the Sun machine it had so much torque it would push you back in the seat, plus the 455 was only 100 pounds heavier than a small block Chevy What an engine I wonder what it would have done in a GM g body
Looking forward to the 455 Pontiac super duty documentary,the race block castings of the early 70s.👍
I always enjoy this channel. I'd like to see you do an in depth analysis of Chrysler's best engines.
Camshaft lift and duration and timing events is what slowed the 455 engines down in the 70's. The emmision controls like EGR and air injection hurt too. Actually, all engines from this time suffered from detuning by the factories. One thing about the Pontiac intake manifold, the D shaped secondaies didn't hurt performance one bit. Airflow restriction on those pieces was just a myth that has long been debunked.
Olds 455’s were available in A-body’s. Had to order a Hurst/Olds in ‘68 & ‘69 to get around GM’s 400ci limit in A-body’s until that was lifted in 1970.
One of each, spoken like a true collector/ motor head