Hey guys, first time poster here. I have primarily been a Pontiac guy, but have always loved the the Buick GS, but unfortunately don't know them to well.
An opportunity has presented itself and I could buy one of my all time favorite Muscle Cars, a 1970 GS 455 Stage 1. I spent a couple hours looking it over
today with the current owner who is a super nice guy that also left me alone to do my research and check it all out. I have GM of Canada Docs showing its a
Stage 1 car, and it has all the tell tale signs that I read to check for, which all check out except for the engine block. The current owner has had it for 25
years, (storage the whole time). He knew the car for many years prior to that. He believes 100% the car has the original motor, but I have my doubts, and thus
the reason for this post.
It is a 70,000 mile survivor car that has had very little done to it, and appears to be extremely original. From what I can tell the motor has not been out, but yet I can't verify it is the original engine. I can't find the tail end of the VIN between the #1 & #3, or the "SS" between the #5 & #7. I have cleaned the areas as best as I can but #1 to #3 just looks blank with no digits that I can see anywhere in there, and between #5 and #7 it appears to have a "420" stamp in the middle, and a "Z" stamp way down on the lower left, and an "A" stamp way over on the lower right.
Thinking maybe its a 71 or newer engine I checked for numbers under the PS Pump , but it too is blank. I also put it up on stands and climbed under it but can't see any other numbers. As the car is an early 70 model so I assume those numbers should be there where I am looking, on top of the block between the spark plugs. Also it is a "BB" Turbo 400 so I think the chances of somebody grenading the original motor would not be that great on a 70,000 car, but possible.
So there you have it, I am hoping somebody with much more experience can shed some light on this for me and tell how to proceed with figuring out what this motor is. Is there even a 455 cast into the block, or a date code??? None of my limited info tells me this stuff. Could it be a service replacment block?
Thanks for your time.
It is a 70,000 mile survivor car that has had very little done to it, and appears to be extremely original. From what I can tell the motor has not been out, but yet I can't verify it is the original engine. I can't find the tail end of the VIN between the #1 & #3, or the "SS" between the #5 & #7. I have cleaned the areas as best as I can but #1 to #3 just looks blank with no digits that I can see anywhere in there, and between #5 and #7 it appears to have a "420" stamp in the middle, and a "Z" stamp way down on the lower left, and an "A" stamp way over on the lower right.
Thinking maybe its a 71 or newer engine I checked for numbers under the PS Pump , but it too is blank. I also put it up on stands and climbed under it but can't see any other numbers. As the car is an early 70 model so I assume those numbers should be there where I am looking, on top of the block between the spark plugs. Also it is a "BB" Turbo 400 so I think the chances of somebody grenading the original motor would not be that great on a 70,000 car, but possible.
So there you have it, I am hoping somebody with much more experience can shed some light on this for me and tell how to proceed with figuring out what this motor is. Is there even a 455 cast into the block, or a date code??? None of my limited info tells me this stuff. Could it be a service replacment block?
Thanks for your time.
