finally got a 454

[fisherman56]

Hello all! I finally got a 454 for my 67. It is out of a 83 motor home with only 30,000 miles. It runs great, but it is crusty and needs cleaned up and smog stuff taken off. I plan to degrease, clean and change all the gaskets that I can just because it's not in my truck yet and it makes great sense. Any way what headers will work with out hitting anything when I put this motor in, as I am doing away with the smog exhaust manifolds. I wanted a 327 or a Jegs 350 crate motor, but I couldn't find a decent 327 and I didn't want to wait till I had enuff $ for a Jegs. Are you folks who put in a mild 454 like this pleased? I got this at a good deal, so I couldn't pass it up. Thanks for any and all info.

[trac209]

Those engines although were pretty low on compression ratio were still strong torquey engines. My friend has a 81 gmc crew with one in stock high mile form and it still pulls his 8000plus pound equipment trailer. The weak link on those smog type big blocks was the intake manifold and exhaust manifolds. With a mild cam, intake and headers and you'll have a real strong pulling engine. If you're leaving it stock internally headers will still be an improvement.

[1972RedNeck]

I would swap cams while you have the valve covers and intake off.

[bbcmudtruck]

Lime mentioned above, intake, headers, cam, lifter and spring swap. Youll have a burly motor that will turn the tires into smoke on demand!

[C. M. Wolf]

Hummm... a 454 huh? ok.. but ya might wanna make sure it has hardened seats, stellite valves, and 'flex-fuel' hoses & gaskets throughout so that you can supplement alcohol for gasoline from the "warren still" you'll have to build in your backyard to make your own fuel just to keep it on the road after the prices of gasoline skyrocket beyond this next election.

Oh yeah, and don't forget the excellent set of ear muffs to go with it.. the "whirlpool noise" coming from the gas tank will be a bit deafening. (454 and similar engines are 1 of the reasons that they generally built gas stations less than 1/4 mile away from each other.. imho).



Michael

[fisherman56]

Yep, gas is expensive for a 454, but like a beautiful woman, she sure will be worth it! LOL.

[imjeff]

Originally Posted by fisherman56

Yep, gas is expensive for a 454, but like a beautiful woman, she sure will be worth it! LOL.

Well said! By around 73 (starting in 71, I believe) all GM motors had hardened seats, so don't worry. If you have doubt just put some lead substitute in every now and then. If you're not running it hard you shouldn't have issues. The ethanol thing is way over blown. The biggest problems with ethanol are that it's a solvent and absorbs water. The best defense against both is driving it!

Jeff

[fisherman56]

Yep, I am not worried bout gas prices. There is no replacement for displacement! The looks and sound of a BBC under the hood is worth any cost. Remember you only live once!

[bbcmudtruck]

Gas? If gas prices or consumption were even a concern, he would have bought a prius! BBC or GTFO! hahah

[BMERDOC]

There are several headers that work well. Several companies make them specifically for 67-72 c10 big blocks. Lots of guys use Chevelle headers. Look for some that don't hang the exhaust below the frame. You'll have to trim the driver's mount stand to clear unless you use aftermarket tubular stands. You'll also have to trim the frame because its wider on top. Lots of good threads on the forum for this stuff.

[2 Far Gone]

Big Blocks aren't measured in miles per gallon........

Its Smiles per mile......

You'll be grinning forever

[WIDESIDE72]

FYI you are going to need big block engine stands. Personally I would go with 72 stands and clams, or if the price of those is too steep for you, 73+ stands are adaptable.

[hugger6933]

It would be well worth the time and effort to change out the cam like said above but remember this 454 is only a shell of its former self. With peanut port heads and 7:8 to1cr it will still make stupid more power than one would expect a watered down version could but keep those limitations in mind when choosing a cam. I would suggest a Comp Cams 268H. They have never let me down on my expectations small or big block make good power every time and find the sound the the muscle of that type of motor should have. I hope that you have not been discouraged by some of my statements about the later 454 but know this I have two of them that I 'm using in my 70 projects one is in a 86 motor home with 36 thousand miles. I have other to choose from in my shop I have a 6.0 with the 4l80 E trans[ and have done those swaps before]some 5.3 and 4.8 stuff with their trans out of various trucks I've junked and also vortec headed small blocks with serp set ups. I have choices but the bigs is where I'm going too. Jim

[CST10]

My 454 has about 7.8/8.0 : 1 compression. Stock 349 gm heads. Had a comp cam roller upgrade cam installed. It's the marine cam XM270HR along with a edlebrock rpm air gap and new holley 750 carb. Dyno tested at the rear wheel resulted in 345HP/376TQ. Smokes the tires all day long. Torque curve is almost flat from 2000-5200 RPM's.

It's a good set up and compromise between drivability and power. Gets about 12 mpg in the city with a turbo 350 tranny and 3.08 gears.

I'm really happy with it.

[fisherman56]

I want to stay with the gas tank behind the seat. Do they make a one line fuel pump for the 454? I haven't done a lot of research, but all I have seen are 2 line ones.

[RustyBucket]

Originally Posted by fisherman56

I want to stay with the gas tank behind the seat. Do they make a one line fuel pump for the 454? I haven't done a lot of research, but all I have seen are 2 line ones.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/acf-40727

Delco pump about $28 from Summit

[2 Far Gone]

Originally Posted by CST10

My 454 has about 7.8/8.0 : 1 compression. Stock 349 gm heads. Had a comp cam roller upgrade cam installed. It's the marine cam XM270HR along with a edlebrock rpm air gap and new holley 750 carb. Dyno tested at the rear wheel resulted in 345HP/376TQ. Smokes the tires all day long. Torque curve is almost flat from 2000-5200 RPM's.

It's a good set up and compromise between drivability and power. Gets about 12 mpg in the city with a turbo 350 tranny and 3.08 gears.

I'm really happy with it.

How did you hook up the kick-down cable?

Sorry for the hijack.

[CST10]

That's the fuel pump on mine.

[Tx Firefighter]

About ten years ago I did the exact same swap. A member on here was selling a low mile motorhome 454 that I bought and swapped into my 70 model stepside.

It was a very epic story. The thread about 10 years ago is here if you want to search it out. The guy yanked the entire front end off the motorhome with a chain and his pickup truck. Just chained it through the windshield opening, dropped his truck in drive and floored it. Ripped it right off. Then we set the shag carpeting inside the motorhome on fire and wound up putting it out by pouring Mountain Dew on it.

What a long day that was.





Damn I was limber back then.



A younger Tx Firefighter cleaning the engine up before installation. No grey hair in sight.



Dropped in.

[fisherman56]

Looks real nice! What kind of performance did you get out of it?

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by fisherman56

Looks real nice! What kind of performance did you get out of it?

The engine was bone stock low mileage GM original that I put an Edelbrock Performer intake and 750 carb on it. Exhaust manifolds to 2.5 inch dual exhaust with turbo mufflers.

It just drove differently than a small block. Plenty of easy burnouts. At 60 miles per hour and hitting passing gear, a small block would be pretty much right there with it.

[hugger6933]

Kevin That motor home could be my twin, well the twin to my motor home. Did you get the tilt out of it too? They look amazingly close to the factory tilt for our trucks. I have a couple of them, I think they look close. Jim

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

Kevin That motor home could be my twin, well the twin to my motor home. Did you get the tilt out of it too? They look amazingly close to the factory tilt for our trucks. I have a couple of them, I think they look close. Jim

Jim,

I did. The motorhome column was a bolt into the truck.

[engineer_gregh]

I have the original BB 402 in my truck, rebuilt with the Comp 268H cam. Idle has been a problem and as I suspected it was fuel pressure that was causing the issue. I'm running an Edelbrock 750. I just installed an Edelbrock fuel pump and plumbed it with all Edelbrock branded line and filter. Immediate improvement is idle and acceleration. Here is the parts list from Jegs.

350-8124 FUEL LINE BRAID SS BBC $47.95 1 $47.95
350-8131 FUEL LINE W/FILT TS/PS P $39.97 1 $39.97
350-1722 FUEL PUMP STREET BB-CHEVY $117.57 1 $117.57
350-9265 HEAT INSULATOR GASKT OPEN $15.97 1 $15.97

[CST10]

I just used a kick down cable setup from summit.