Some engines are just destined to be overshadowed it seems. The 430ci Buick is one of those engines. Introduced at the same time as the 400ci engine in 1967, it was essentially a bored out version of that engine. In 1970 the 455 would show up and essentially send the 430 packing into the annals of Buick history as a good mill but it never got or gets the love that the big 455 continues to get today. Like all Buick engines, the 430 was all about torque carrying a rating of 475 ft/lbs at just 3,200 rpm while also making 360 peak hp in the same package. That was a recipe for a couple of things but one of them was burnouts for days. The engine moved cars like the big Wildcat on with great alarm and certainly didn’t allow its owner to be embarrassed easily.
Mechanically, we’re talking about a cast nodular iron crank, forged steel connecting rods, cast aluminum pistons, a hydraulic lifter cam, and a four bbl on top. The compression was 10.25:1 and things were good for the 430 from 1967 through 1969. Admittedly, the 455 was a more thunderous package offering 370hp and an astonishing 510 ft/lbs of torque at just 2,800 rpm. Remember that whole no replacement for displacement thing? Well, they were right.
In the videos below we’ll see a 430ci Buick engine equipped with some Stage 2 parts. We are not sure if those were the pieces offered through the dealer network back in the 1970s or some from a current aftermarket supplier but we do know that you’ll love the power this low revving beast makes. The second video shows a 430 powered Buick just destroying rear tires at will and that’s the way we’ll celebrate this neat but short lived piece of Buick history today!
Here’s a worked up Stage 2 430 on the dyno –
Here’s a 430ci powered Wildcat ripping a massive burnout –
Put a 67 430 into my 69 Skylark. Had so much fun with that combo. It was even better after installing a 70 370 hp 455. You guy need to cover all the other great engines that don’t have calendar days. 454s, 455s, 460, and don’t forget the 195 Pontiacs!
Good to see some love for Buicks! My Skylark is a 350, and since it’s matching numbers it’s gonna stay that way. But I can dream of a torque monster big block in there.
Another person with good taste in cars. I have a ’69 Skylark here in Australia. Nothing but positive comments about it. And I’m old enough to remember Rat Patrol too.
4-30 right. Buicks a good 430, in the early 60s the Ford MEL 430 was cool, in the late 60s it was the all-aluminum, big bore, 430 BBC Can-Am monster