Roadmaster75 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 For your entertainment or, If you're having a little issue with your old Buick, read on and look at the pics!You may not feel so bad afterwards......I have been busy lately finding good re-buildable Cadillac and Buick engines. I went on a "pick" in Iowa on Tuesday to buy a Buick 455 "cheap, but re-buildable" ... Opened it up yesterday ..... The attached pics will illustrate the result of winding up a motor with no oil pressure. It appears the young lad just kept his foot in it after pressure dropped to ZERO. If you look closely in the first few pics you'll see exactly what I did when I lifted the valley cover off....!! Lifter bores completely exploded on number 6, along with exploded pieces of lifters everywhere. (I thought it was strange when I removed the valve covers and found the exhaust valve pushrods for 5 & 6 gone....) The rod and main bearings were paper thin with holes in them and burned down to the bronze.Crank turns but is destroyed.The cam is in 4 pieces. The forward piece jammed so hard on the distributor bore in the timing cover that it split it!! However, the timing gears and chain were in perfect condition ....The biggest source of amazement is the twisted connecting rod with the wrist pin still attached. It was wedged hard up against the pickup tube and side of the block. The piston disintegrated from the oil ring down. The top popped out of the bore intact! The rod cap was literally straightened out by the torque at the moment of failure. The pics of the oil pan are undisturbed as I lowered it down from the block ... A pile of shrapnel ... and, the "S" shaped pushrods as they tried to wind themselves around the crank.Where is the good news in all this carnage you ask???Well, upon removing the heads, I casually looked at the casting numbers and the valves and said ...."Hmmm, these look different from the other 455 I built"It turns out these are 1972 GS Stage 1 heads and are undamaged. (They are the real deal with the 2 1/8 inch intakes!) So, my worthless cheap picker motor heads now pay for my next motor!! I'll clean these up and sell them along with the 7 blade Stage 1 fan and assorted bracketry and pulleys. A lucky day after all! And, I kinda had a perverse pleasure in doing a CSI like investigation!mikeMobileMe Gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackofalltrades70 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Holy hello!!!!! Really were jammin' and crammin' with zero oil! That's amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhambulldog Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 :(I imagine the noise it made as it broke was sickening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Absolutely wonderful !!Thanks for sharing the photos. That engine must have been doing about 5000rpm when it lost the plot.I love the curving con rod poking out the bottom of the bore with the gudgeon pin still installed. It may be tricky to straighten and true that one...Adam.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadmaster75 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 UPDATE -I decoded the engine number on the front of the (destroyed) block.It indicates that this engine was in a Riviera. 42H903085.I wonder if it was actually IN the Riv when it blew up ... it still had the A/C bracketry and P/S stuff attached .....In researching other sites and this one it appears that a 72 "GS" Rivieracame with the Stage 1 heads, but Buick never really formally used the "Stage 1" name in Rivieras.Do I have this right?It also came with the GS 7 Blade fan, which I have salvaged, too.The valves in the big heads have inner and outer valve springs and have the"GM" logo stamped in the valve faces, so I hope they are original.Maybe I'll keep these heads and build up a real 72 Stage 1 engine with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 The idiot that destroyed this engine should be forced to eat every broken part.:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhambulldog Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 UPDATE -I decoded the engine number on the front of the (destroyed) block.It indicates that this engine was in a Riviera. 42H903085.I wonder if it was actually IN the Riv when it blew up ... it still had the A/C bracketry and P/S stuff attached .....In researching other sites and this one it appears that a 72 "GS" Rivieracame with the Stage 1 heads, but Buick never really formally used the "Stage 1" name in Rivieras.Do I have this right?It also came with the GS 7 Blade fan, which I have salvaged, too.The valves in the big heads have inner and outer valve springs and have the"GM" logo stamped in the valve faces, so I hope they are original.Maybe I'll keep these heads and build up a real 72 Stage 1 engine with them.My best friend had a '73 Riviera GS. the Stage one heads , That's the way I remember it . Also I remember eating Riviera dust in my Olds 88 455 . That Buick would outrun out turn out brake my Olds 88 455 of the same vintage....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now