i have a 1973 firebird, and i was thinking about putting a 455 in it...
i have found a 4bbl 455 from a 1976 buick... are there any similarities in this
and the pontiac engines? or just the displacement?

like is the bolt pattern the same for the transmission? is the
crank pistons, and heads interchangeable?


thanks

 

completely different design motors. You can interchange transmissions fairly easily but that's it.

 

The Pontiac is heavier than the Buick. There are probably more performance Pontiac parts than Buick however both will be very expensive compared to a BBC.

There is nothing interchangable between these engines. You might as well be asking if there's anything on a 400 Ford that will fit a 400 Chev.

Buick, Olds, Pontiac and Caddys all share the same bellhousing pattern.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Get the Buick and sell it to a Buick enthusiast. They are considerably rarer than the Pontiac 455. My experience has been that the Pontiac 455 is actually more expensive to build than a SBC but a bit cheaper than a BBC. The Poncho will bolt right in and everything is available for them today, even EFI. Of course, if you really want to be different drop a Caddy 501 in there. They are about as light as the Bufford 455 and make outragious torque. Car Craft did a test of all the big cube motors of the '60's and did a price vs performance comparison. The Olds was cheapest and weakest, the Buick was most expensive and most powerful. See below.

Price vs Performance

The Poncho folks were a little upset when Car Craft stated this in the mag "but the truth is we just don’t know where this engine’s true torque peak lies because Westech’s SuperFlow dyno couldn’t hold the motor below 3,600 rpm, and at that point the engine’s torque curve was already on the downslope." They felt the Poncho was being underrated and it probably was.

 

A guy that lives down the road from me decided to go that route.He put a buick 455 into his pontiac.It ended up costing him ALOT more than it would have to buy a more expensive(initial cost) 454 or find a pontiac 455 and drop it in.he also did not change the rear end or tranny from stock.He is onto his 3rd or 4th tranny in a span of 6 months.Thats just a few of the problems he has with the car constantly.I dont know all of what goes wrong with his car,but i know there are other re-occuring problems

 

In short... your tranny will bolt up just fine!
(and nothing else will)

 

"There is nothing interchangable between these engines. You might as well be asking if there's anything on a 400 Ford that will fit a 400 Chev"

I believe the dist cap and rotor, along with the carb, interchange between the motors

 

While you're at it, you might as well say the radiator hoses interchange.

 

If you need detailed info on this try http://forums.performanceyears.com/6/ubb.x Lots of pontiac info there.

By the way... stay Pontiac... there are big numbers being put down with the new IA2 blocks, and making HP on a budget isn't that hard anymore. Try www.butlerperformance.com lots of 400 blocks to be had out there and the main webbing is thicker than the 455 block. There are good kits to stroke them to 455 inches and make great street motors or race engines.

 

I'm a huge Buick fan and would normally steer you in that direction. But, since it's a Firebird, I'd say match it up with a Pontiac motor.

 

Stage 3 Buick 455
Aluminum tall-port heads
2 1/8" headers
THM-400 tranny with 4000 TCI Stall converter
12-bolt rear with 3.90 gears
Best 1/4 mile to date: 10.77 @ 126 mph

This was with a stock bottom end and cast dish type pistons. Paid 300.00 for the block. All the money was in the heads and cam.