1986 454 emissions

[trimmy]

Im getting a 1986 chevy c20 with a 454 and all the emissions and egr stuff is old, rusty and in bad shape plus it takes up a lot of room. what all would I need to remove the emissions stuff? Also and HP/fuel mileage to gain from any of this?

[Redcap]

You will likely need a different belt once you delete the smog pump and pipe plugs for the holes in the exhaust manifolds, provided it has air injection tubes. You probably won't see a mileage gain and a HP gain will be minimal (1-3) at best. But I'd remove all that horrible crap just to clean up the engine compartment.

[bk2life]

and congrats on owning a 200hp 7.8:1 454 bbc !!

the single best thing you can do is remove the heads and throw them in the dumpster. then find some closed chamber heads to try to get you up to mid 8.5:1 compression, install a performer or stealth intake, 268 cam and up your self about 150 hp..

enjoy!

[trimmy]

Originally Posted by bk2life

and congrats on owning a 200hp 7.8:1 454 bbc !!

the single best thing you can do is remove the heads and throw them in the dumpster. then find some closed chamber heads to try to get you up to mid 8.5:1 compression, install a performer or stealth intake, 268 cam and up your self about 150 hp..

enjoy!

Not really worried about power thats what I own a dmax for. I traded a gun I have almost $500 in and the truck could easily be sold for $2000 here. What type of heads do you recommend?

[tucsonjwt]

Way out of my knowledge base here, but I think the 454 truck engines differ from the passenger car engines in several ways (i think the cam and heads are part of the difference.) I would just keep the truck engine stock if it is running ok. My 73 454 had the "soft cam" issue and chewed up pushrods but I had the stock style truck cam installed - was ok after that. My current 83 has a goodwrench rebuild and seems to be running fine as stock, with a slight over bore - just to accommodate normal wear.

[bk2life]

Closed chamber small valve heads are typically between 96 and 101 cc while the larger valve version are the 106 or 108 cc heads(larger valve are rectangular port performance heads). You could take a 96 cc head or a 100 cc head and flat mill it .050" and not have a gasket seal problem and get about another 3/4 point in compression. All the early heads are large oval port, and would be required if you have large oval ports now. If you have peanut port heads, and don’t have any interest in an aftermarket manifold, you can look for a set of heads from a 366 truck engine. They typically have the same size ports and valves as other peanut port heads but are also available in small chambers. You need to look for the right castings, but they are probably more available from local rebuilders then a set of early heads. The early heads are still very cheap, but you will be dealing with 45 year old castings with non hardened seats. Even a good stock rebuild with new budget valves/springs ect will set you back around $500.
Or can get a set of 100cc or 98cc heads from an early 396..