454 sleeved??

[Patriot]

I just bought a 454 from my brother who bought it from the boneyard. It came from a 1989 Chevy 3500 4WD. I took it apart and found it had a broken crank and number 2 cylinder has 2 deep gouges. So how far can a 454 be bored out and is there a way to sleeve the cylinder. I had this done to a 400 smallblock years ago and it worked great for many years after. Any help would be great fellas. Thanks in advance.


Patriot

[baclay9]

I think .060 over is as big as you can go. Not sure about sleeving.

[mongoose]

i know you can go 70 over might be able to go even more than that...

if it's in too bad of shape.. best to look for a new block? sleeving isn't exactly cheap... and a newer block would be the better option imo.

[Psycho71]

I've seen an 1/8" over (.125") bored 454 run before. But it was in a drag car, alcohol and a lot of N20.

[royo]

Yes they can be sleeved. right back to what ever size piston you are using in the other holes. But i would shop around and find a shop that does it regularly.

[andyh1956]

i have engines sleeved all the time. around here it costs about $100 a hole or better. i had all eight holes on a 7.3 powerstroke sleeved & it cost a smooth $1000.
andy

[Dru]

Originally Posted by Psycho71

I've seen an 1/8" over (.125") bored 454 run before. But it was in a drag car, alcohol and a lot of N20.

+1 on the up to .125, but normally I wouldnt push it past .100 myself. Should be sleeveable, dont imagine it would be much past .030, or .040 yet, if that.

[BigBlocksRule]

Have the block sonic checked so you can see how far you can go. ALL 454's will take .060 over, most will go to .100 over stock. If all the rest will clean up at .030 or .060, I'd have it sleeved and go to that dimension. As long as your shop knows what they're doing, a sleeved cylinder is no weaker than a stock one and the sleeve won't move a bit after installation.
Sounds like a piston pin managed to get loose and cut some grooves in the cylinder wall, I see it quite often.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Have the block sonic checked so you can see how far you can go. ALL 454's will take .060 over, most will go to .100 over stock. If all the rest will clean up at .030 or .060, I'd have it sleeved and go to that dimension. As long as your shop knows what they're doing, a sleeved cylinder is no weaker than a stock one and the sleeve won't move a bit after installation.
Sounds like a piston pin managed to get loose and cut some grooves in the cylinder wall, I see it quite often.

Thats exactly what happened. It was already .020 overbored. It seems to be one of the newer blocks. Its says 7.4 on the sides.

Thanks for your response.

[BigBlocksRule]

Have your shop check to see if they think it will hone out at .030. If it has any ridge at the top of the bore, it probably won't. At any rate, I think I'd find out what the rest of the bores will clean up at and go there, there's not really any good reason to go all the way to .060 if you don't need to, thicker cylinder walls = better cooling and probably a better ring seal.
If those pin grooves don't go all the way to water, you sure won't have anything to worry about, just look at a sleeve as a way to resurface the bore, it won't be in contact with water.