Tell me more about this 455 HO block I picked up
 

1972 485428 455 HO block, YB code, J041 date code. The block appears to have a relatively fresh .030" bore and 4 bolt main caps. How rare is this block and what is it worth?

More pictures

I would not take less than $1500 if it were mine. It all depends on how badly a person needs it. If you can find the car that matches the VIN #.......$2500 to $3500. Being for an auto trans cuts the value.

The block itself is not that rare.

I have had 3 of them and seen a total of like 8.
With that year 455 block with that casting number they are all drilled and tapped for four bolt caps but only the 4 bbl motors got the 4 bolt caps.

YB used a Unitized Distributor. This is for a Formula or TA.

I paid $500 for the one I just built.FWIW,Tom

The main difference with any Pontiac engine with 4 bolt caps is the cap material itself.

As this chart shows on the right side all the caps used on block fitted with these main caps where of the better Nodular iron material, not the plain gray cast iron of the 2 bolt main caps.

I sold one for $1500 10 years ago, but lowered the price to $900 when i noticed that a rod had hit the bottom of a cylinder and chipped it. Strike year at GM not many of those around anymore.

I have seen that same block with the 485 prefix used in some very late production 1971 motors .
So it was not just strictly used in 72 production.

Interesting turn of events with this old block... So, the woman who sold me the block said it belonged to her late husband, and that they just sold their '72 Lucerne blue T/A on BAT. I found the situation interesting so I looked up the BAT sale.

After looking at the beautiful car, I noticed that the numbers on the block and the VIN on the auction car match. Is it safe to assume that I've found the actual car that this block belongs to? I have informed the seller and the guy who handled the BAT auction to see if they are willing to reach out to the new owner and give them my contact info...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...rd-trans-am-9/

All I can say is WOW.

Very cool that you were able to likely find it's original home.

Unreal. I think the value of your block just went up. Lol

Ditto

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...5&d=1760886961

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...rd-trans-am-9/

Scroll down in the question section to oct 8, Rocky Rotella mentions the previous owner and the original block

Yes, I saw that. This is pretty crazy if you read all the auction comments. . I sent the link for this thread to Rocky (my old friend) as well, as he was involved in commenting on the auction.

Nice!

Nice job! Some of you may recall that I reunited a 69 RAIV block, heads, and intake that I had with the original Warwick blue, 4.33 gear, auto trans 69 Judge, five states away.

Very cool!

please let us know if the new owner of that car buys the block!

I had guesstimated that the block in the car was about 15,000 units too low.
It is actually about 10,000 units too low.

151876 vs 161266

Some known examples :
VIN – N514784 – EUN 0151345 – Body 11B
VIN – N515007 – EUN 0151974 – Body 11B
VIN – N520245 – EUN 0166926 – Body 12B

This car would be:
VIN - N521873 - EUN - 0161226 - Body 12B