Dennis Manner, one of the engineers who worked on the Buick 455 project at Buick is quoted as saying this engine actually "made 372-376hp on the dyno and that it was tuned for that power and torque where it would do the most good; on the street..." As always when dealing with information from that time, take it with a grain of salt. The 455 Buick is noted for its huge torque band, not peak HP numbers. Also, it weighed a fair bit less then others of its day, being one of the first "thinwall" castings. The Buick 455 weighs 616lbs, the Pontiac 455 is 636lbs, Olds 455 at 655lbs, Ford Boss 429 at 680lbs, Chevy 454 comes in at 720lbs, the Mopar 426 Hemi at a whopping 765 pounds. I've heard the small block Chevy of that era was 575lbs, not sure how accurate that is. Put an aluminum intake on and your Buick 455 weighs the same as the small block Chevy yet produces all kinds of usable power and huge torque without being obnoxious and temperamental.
Another 500 Horsepower buildup (two pages)
Several new items have hit the shelves since these
articles were printed. TA now has the TA 1559 backgrooved bearings which have two
oiling holes for better lube and come teflon coated if desired. TA also makes a new "no
trim" rear main seal that does not require trimming to fit like the Fel Pro
BS40012 seal. Wiseco makes forged aluminum pistons in .038 over, both dished for
10 to1 and flat top for 12 to 1 compression, allowing use of mopar 440 (0.030) low tension rings The most interesting item though, is the aluminum Stage 1 heads
that look totally stock outside but have some great internal modifications to really
wake up the flow. They will flow like the best ported heads right out of the box,
and save some 60 pounds right off the front end where you need it the most. This
allows a budget buildup which still makes great power.....Fed Mogul (inexpensive
and heavy) forged pistons, deck the block to .010, stock bottom end and a mild TA
288-94H camshaft (great smooth idle and 17" vacuum, can run stock rockers and
springs) with the aluminum heads made over 500HP on a dyno with unported cast
iron exhaust manifolds!
Aluminum and cast iron blocks are in the works for the Buick 455 as well, along with
supercharging kits and F.I. Interesting that there are more speed parts for these
engines than there have ever been, even though it has been out of production since
1976!
HAVE FUN!!!