455 and 403 question???

[Guest]

Does the OLds 455 use the same mounting pad as the 403 and will it fit nicely in a 1979 Buick Lesabre???And by anychance does anyone know the hp and torque for the 78 455 with a 4 barrel carb?Thx

[Guest]

use the 403 mounts...455 is about 3 inches wider...check clearence on vaccume boosterand heater...should bolt up.

[Sgt Art]

I don't think there were any 455 engines made in 78, the last year was 76. The HP figures I've seen are 190 to 210 I think. Gobs of torque. I replaced a 307 Olds in a 1985, Buick LeSabre a few years back. It spun a couple bearings and I went to the 455 Olds (76 casting I think). It dropped right in. I did replace the iron intake with an Edlebrock Performer and use one their carbs as well. When I built the engine, I used a steetable Crane Cam (don't have the specs in front of me) Cloyes double roller timing chain and sprockets, new lifters and push rods. All bearings and rings were changed. The pistons are 30 over. It'll rip the tires off if that's what you want to do. I did it a couple times for the thrill. As I type this, all bearings in the rear end are being replaced, they're just old. As far as fitting it goes, the only problem is the A/C compressor. The car comes with the new smaller type whereas the 455 brackets were for the old long type. The engine being wider and higher made the small block brackets out of alignment. Some day I'll get a machinist/fabricator to make a new bracket to work with that. The Edelbrock manifold is a bit high, but I was able to mount the carb and an open element type air filter. The weight savings on the intake manifold is considerable.

[1frontdriveman]

<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*] i bet that the distributer will hit the firewall...??? not enough clearence i don't believe.... check it out first...

[Sgt Art]

I can't speak for his 1979 LeSabre, I'm not sure of the firewall clearence. However, I had no problem with my 1985 model. The block bolted right up to the TH350 that replaced a very tired 200 Metric. The only things that weren't a drop in alignment was the exhaust pipes due to the 455 being wider. I had a set of custom duals on my 403, the wider 455 would not line the exhaust manifolds up to the pipes. Had to go to the muffler shop for that. The only other problem was trying to use the small block accessory brackets with the power steering pump (I had to use some spacers to shim it true and the a/c compressor. As I mentioned, I still haven't resolved that one. Otherwise, no problems.