Would have liked to see the engine ran with headers and a 2.5" exhaust system. Stock manifolds held this back a little.

Nothing lucas oil stabile cant remedy

Oiling problems possible only above 4000 rpm

TA Buick Performance.

Don't do it, too expensive for such lil gains unless u want a numbers matching block

The 430 wasn't made to rev. If you'd ever owned one you'd change your mind about it being a "weak engine".

Say What, I've Seen, Heard, and Smelled a 67 Rivi GS Rip a Posi for nearly 2 NYC Blocks...

I saw a funny car with a 430 in it well north of 1000 hp

I'm a devout Ford man and I beg to differ. I won many bets on my high school friend's 69 Wildcat with a 430 engine. I've seen him spank many 454 Chevelles and 429 Fords, that ole Buick would pull the left front wheel off the ground on launch out of the hole, he didn't spin the tires at all just jumped like a huge frog and usually won too.

In some ways you are right. They are just an under-bored 455, so all of the problems with the 455 apply to the 430. The oiling is a legitimate problem, but can be overcome if you know what to do (a lot of porting and drilling of oil passages and watching oil pump clearances). They didn't like to rev because they were tuned to be torque monsters with a very tame cam. The heads can typically be ported to flow 270/190 with larger valves. With the right modifications, they can easily be spun to 6000, and someone with a lot of know-how can turn them higher. The reason you never see many hopped up 430's is that the 455 came out, and everyone would rather have the extra cubes to start with. The bigger bore also takes better advantage of the large stage 1 valve sizes. Another weak point is the valve train. It's not really that stable, so the newer fast-ramp cam designs that make more power can lead to issues where the engine just won't rpm due to instability. If you use the right spring combination it can be overcome, but then you are always at risk of wiping a lobe with the higher pressures. The roller cams are big money. The other issue is the block itself, which will require a girdle installed as you get nearer to 600hp so the block doesn't break. The fact is that you can build a really nice and fairly reliable 400-700hp engine out of a 430 with ease, depending on what you want to spend. They excel in a mid-400hp street torque build and are really cost effective at that level. You can use stock rods with ARP bolts, stock heads with some port work and bigger valves, add headers, a medium-sized cam, and tune the carb and timing, and you're there. The biggest issue building them is availability of good pistons.