Hello,

I'm going to buy a 455 block tomorrow, it's a 1969 according to the VIN pad. It's advertised as standard bore. I am bringing calipers with me.

My question is, are there other things i should look out for to have a good starting point? It's a couple hour drive so I asked him two times to make sure it was never bored over. I am also getting a manual cast iron crank since the block has an auto crank in it.

Thanks for the help! Really excited to start my first build and want to put my best foot forward.

 

I see you live in Canada? Check make sure it never froze and has a crack. Any time you buy a use block, you never know for sure if it is a 100 percent trouble free, till it is checked out. Whats the price? If real high, I would want hi to guarantee it some. What I use to do when I sold parts, I told the guy buying,I would not pay for it to be checked, but if it had problems, I would take it back,and .give his money back for the part.Only had one crank come back, in all the years I sold.

 

I think it's the car that's Canadian. IIRC @Pitbull2o08 lives in CA.

 

correct, i'm actually on east coast/midwest now travelling.

I worked outa deal for the short block, a manual crank, and a bellhousing for $500.

 

Main caps there and in order? Freeze plugs look original and none popped? Pistons in it? Look for letters stamped in the block deck near each cylinder and a corresponding letter on each piston. I'd say if you match just one cylinder and piston it's a safe bet of being a standard bore. Look on the bottom of the pistons if the pan is off for GM part numbers, another probable sign of not being bored.

 

that's good advice. the pan is on however. i figure i can take quick measurements of the calipers. standard bore is 4.126 according to Bill Trovato's book.

 

Form what i'm reading also, factor 68-70 pistons had either 1 or 2 notches in them, which could be rounded or V shaped indicating compression (Low or High). I will look for these on the pistons.

 

Look inside the cooling/water jackets for heavy rust.

 

I got the block. I’m pretty happy with it. It’s very much untouched.

I drove away with the crank as well and was looking up the number on it when I noticed the crank has a crack and is missing the “3” in the part number.

would this make the crank useless? Or would the balancing make this a non-issue?

 

Thats not a crack. Just casting flash. Very common for GM cranks to have some of the casting numbers chopped off like that.

 

thank you, that’s what a couple other people said too.

im going to have it magneflux’d to make sure but im sure its fine.