[Firebirdjones]

That kind of HP is easy with a 454 but when you set a budget things get pretty difficult.

When I built my 454, it had to be pump gas. So I ended up with $3200 AFR heads, a custom ground roller cam, 10.2:1 compression, a modified air gap intake and modified spacer, 950hp carb, all forged goodies in the bottom end. I made 638 hp and 612 tq. It likes RPM so can't be afraid to spin it. It would have made slightly more HP with a Victor Jr. intake but suffered on torque production below 3500 rpm. Being more of a street car I put slightly more emphasis on low rpm torque production and sacrificed a little HP.

I have it in a 4100 lbs. chevelle, it likes 2" primary headers, 4:10 gears, and a converter that flashes to 3600-ish rpm. It's capable of breaking stuff so the rest of the drivetrain has to be scienced out. It's still very streetable however, I drive it everywhere.

I've enjoyed this engine for years, cost WAY more than $5k to build, but it's not an engine I would enjoy in a 5,000 lbs + truck shaped like a brick.

The original 454 I built for my 79 pick up truck I went the other direction. Kept compression at 8.5:1 with heavy loads in mind (it's what I use it for, it's a truck after all) so I can run pump gas, get somewhat aggressive with timing without fear of detonation. I run a simple flat tappet 218 @ .050 cam with .460 lift and 112 LSA. Cam degreed in 4 degrees advance. Heads are original peanut port with pocket port work, paying most attention in the bowls, mild gasket match, good valve job etc... I run the original 79 intake with quite a bit of port work under the carb along with a modified spacer I like to use that has shown to make gains on the dyno. Original Q-jet dialed in, and distributor reworked. 1 3/4" headers. This isn't a big HP build but I had torque in mind, especially off idle. I didn't run this one on the dyno but if I had to guess in might make 350-360ish HP but the torque is closer to 500 ft lbs. easily. There is no need to spin it past 5500 rpm and makes a nice flat power curve up to that rpm, pulling strong, just what I wanted. It squirts this 5300 lbs. 1 ton pickup around very well, lays rubber and is a ball to drive. Put this engine in a little 3400 lbs car and you'd have a very fun little street car that is docile enough to drive daily. Matter of fact my wife drives this truck daily and it knocks down 14 mpg, with a 400 turbo and 3.73 gears.

I'm in the process now of building a 502, same AFR heads used on the chevelle, custom solid roller, pump gas, that should easily top the 700 hp mark. Street car build, but it's going to be a bit rambunctious. None of this stuff is cheap to do. Best of luck.