What about this? worth it?

[myresto68mustang]

I have a Pontiac Big block v8 455. My question is that is it worth restoring? Its been sitting in a building for about 20 years. It hasnt been rained on or anything. Just real greasy and a little rust but nothing like rusted out or anything. Got most of the pieces. All the pistons but the arm thing on them are frozen to the side. Like they dont move. All the pieces are off the block and they are by themselves. Sorry no pics i tried but the stupid computer wont let me said some security reason. Is it worth trying to make it run again?? If so what do i need to do to it? How much will it cost to do everything?

[beechkid]

Originally Posted by myresto68mustang

I have a Pontiac Big block v8 455. My question is that is it worth restoring? Its been sitting in a building for about 20 years. It hasnt been rained on or anything. Just real greasy and a little rust but nothing like rusted out or anything. Got most of the pieces. All the pistons but the arm thing on them are frozen to the side. Like they dont move. All the pieces are off the block and they are by themselves. Sorry no pics i tried but the stupid computer wont let me said some security reason. Is it worth trying to make it run again?? If so what do i need to do to it? How much will it cost to do everything?

The 455's were/are very powerfull engines! Modello (spelling) probably has one of the best performance books on them ever written.....big blocks in general are more expensive ingeneral to rebuild than small blocks, and pontiacs are even more expensive mostly due to their once popularity and the reduced number of aftermarket companies that support these engines specifically....but that's not to say this is not a good engine to rebuild......If we assume for sake of argument that everything needs to be re-machined & replaced (worst case scenario- new pistons, new valves, new cam/crank), you would be looking at $5k to $8k.

[Klutch]

To the question of could it be rebuilt, I would say, sure. To the question of should it be rebuilt, I would say, probably not.

The Pontiac 455 really wasn't a great engine for performance. Most Pontiac guys want a 400 or they REALLY want a 428. (Yes, Pontiac made a 428, but they put it into only a few cars like the Catalina.)

The vast majority of 455 engines were just luxury powerplants; big, but not necessarily fast. (There's something about them that Pontiac guys don't like. Perhaps they're not very durable?)

While you certainly could build a 455 Pontiac into a bruising, stump-pulling torque monster, I'm not sure it would be worth it. Older Pontiac 400s are pretty plentiful. And stroker kits are readily available for those engines.

If you have a Pontiac in which you want to install this particular engine, I think you'd be better off finding something else. Unless your 455 is an HO example that came out of a Trans Am, it's likely not worth a costly rebuild.

FYI, as I understand it, when it comes to older, Pontiac V8 engines, there is no "Big Block/Small Block". They're all the same block. But there are Big Journal and Little Journal examples.

[Zimbo]

four words... yes and stroker kit.

[Klutch]

Originally Posted by Zimbo

four words... yes and stroker kit.

The bottom end of a 455 isn't very stout. (Unless it's a Super Duty.) I would think stroking a 455 would be asking for trouble. I do know for sure a Pontiac stroker kit is pretty pricey. (A friend of mine has a '68 GTO.)

One nice thing about building a Pontiac is it will make building a Ford seem downright inexpensive.

[Mustmatt]

I own two 67 Pontiacs with 400's and yes, they are expensive to do anything with. You should check with the guys at "PY Forums."

[bartl]

The big questions are.... a) is it a SD? b) after the bores are cleaned up will it be .030 or less? c) what casting# are the heads that go with it?

By far, the best 455 of the bunch was the Buick version.

[jonfor]

455 is a stump puller. i agree that if the bores are clean and standard it's worth building or selling. unless SD or HO, the bottom end on 455 is kind of weak compared to similar cubes made by chevy, ford, or mopar. however, with stock rods and crank, it still has +450hp potential. forged BB chevy rods are a cheap upgrade with special pistons.

Pontiac power is all the heads and believe it or not, there are some excellent factory heads readily available and cheap. basically any screw-in rocker arm stud head is good and 98% of those came with big valves (2.11" intake).

good news is all pontiac (326-455) sheet metal, brackets, intakes, distributors, bell-housings, starters, and front accessories are 99% interchangeable. race parts get $$$$$, but it's not unheard of to make 400hp and huge torque using all factory parts except headers.