454 Swap???

[70C10Step]

Well my project has jumped into high gear. I have gone from building a 350 to picking up a complete 454 for $300.00 this coming weekend. Now I am going big block and I need direction on how to make this happen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[chevy72blu]

Try the search function, this one comes up a lot.

You are going to need a set of new towers. The 70-72 BBC ones are quite pricey, but 73-87 SBC do the trick, though you may have to drill new holes in your frame and front x member. I used them with a 73-87 front member on my 72 with a BBC - there are pics on my build thread (sig).

Not a hard swap - BBC's were available in these trucks from the factory.

Thats a damn good price, running or not. Gonna rebuild it?

[70C10Step]

Yes I am going to rebuild it. I will get some new heads also to reduce weight. I plan to build for some street performance... I plan to break it down next week and take the block in for the first stage of the build... I need to find out my options...

[webfoot]

New heads aren't goin to save you any weight unless you go with some aluminums. Patriot Performance is supposed to be releasing BBC heads this month for around $1300/set, complete.

If it is a truck motor, they are likely open chamber peanut port heads, so it probably won't be a rocket as is.

[70C10Step]

Aluminum heads are in the future for this build. Phase 1 is figuring out how to build this motor for a liittle bit of performance without getting crazy...

[496stroker1]

chevy hi performance did testing on those patriot heads in the nov issue. pretty good power but they look a lot like those procomp heads made in china.... made good power but check out this

http://www.boatstoreonline.com/procomp.html

[webfoot]

Patriot is pretty well known for their low buck/high quality SBC stuff, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see some "real world" results. (i.e., not from a car mag)

Just my .02, run that 454 as is, and start accumulating parts to build that thing up right, rather than spending money on stuff in the intermediate. (think 496!)

[danny6892002]

are the BF goodwrench 454(14015445) good for performance because i just bought one and i want to know if is worth fixing

[DieselEater]

Any BBC engine questions can be answered here......These guys are PRO'S!!!

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13



In your situation, I'd run it as is to see if you like it.......If it feels weak then just bolt on some closed chamber ovals like a 702 and you should be happy. If you still don't like the power, then it could get expensive!!!

A........

[stumpy]

Originally Posted by DieselEater

If it feels weak then just bolt on some closed chamber ovals like a 702 and you should be happy. If you still don't like the power, then it could get expensive!!!

A........

Why closed chambers? Don't the open chamber heads make more power? It seems like you can find 781's everywhere fairly cheap.

[webfoot]

Open chamber heads have low compression, but a built set of 781s or 049s with some dome pistons can make great power.

[stumpy]

I see, so even if marginal, it's a gain over say a peanut head. How much of a gain are we talking tho?

[496stroker1]

peanut ports are tiny, good for towing. 781's are good heads just need a dome to get compression outta them. do a search on ebay for bbc heads and you will see how much difference between peanut and large oval heads there is. also hotrod did a dyno test on a 496 chevy stroker few years ago (never could find it on the net but i got it in the mag) with the usual decent sized hyd cam, dual plane intake blah blah.... but used bone stock 702 or something heads with large oval ports, closed chambers, tiny valves (something like 2.06 1.70) made 490 hp almost 600 ft pounds:chevy. pretty good for old techmology

[496stroker1]

should also say those peanut port heads wicked for bottom end but the engine would fall flat on its face past 4000 rpm

[70C10Step]

Wow! I cannot wait to get this build going... I am going to take my time and do it right!

[chevy72blu]

Scat recently released a 1300 dollar (shipped) completely forged rotating assembly (steel crank), stroker kit. Great price, and with a 10.2:1 compression ratio and 496 cubes, those heads and a nice cam, you'll be verrrry happy.

If you are going to rebuild the motor from a bare block, why not go with a 4.250 crank?

[smoky02]

What size Carb would you need on a mildly built 454?

[webfoot]

I'd proably want at least an 850 on there.

[smoky02]

Cool...guess I should start buying all the pieces i need...LOL

[webfoot]

Yeah, let me know when you're finished... all I have is a bare block and a plan!

Just too many projects around here...

[stumpy]

Originally Posted by smoky02

Cool...guess I should start buying all the pieces i need...LOL

What's the rush? Doing that has never worked out perfectly for me. I tend to find out after the fact that this doesn't always fit with that in every configuration.

BTW, anyone ever hear of C.A.T? http://www.catpep.com/default1.htm I like to save money but I'd rather not buy Chinese.

[smoky02]

Well my truck is running and driving...so I'm gonna take my time...I don't even have a block yet...LOL

[496stroker1]

stumpy, probably stay away from CAT, check chevelles.com and search their forums for cat. there are alot of engine builders on that forum and they say quality is poor. scat is probly the best chinese stuff been around forever, used their crank and rods in 2 383 strokers and now a 496 been go so far.

[streetstar]

Originally Posted by smoky02

What size Carb would you need on a mildly built 454?

850 is pretty big, dude. A mild build would be served well by a 750 -- and even a 650 double pumper would suffice

[DieselEater]

My modified street pulling truck has 500HP and I use an 800 cfm Q-JET from JET industries......at 6500 RPM...

I'd slap a 750 Q-Jet on her and buy Cliff Ruggles book on them for tuning. BEST NON RACING CARB EVER BUILT!!!!!!!

As for your rotating assembly...unless you plan on spinning over 6500, you don't need anything else. Just put a good valve train, cam, intake and the jet and you could hit 400 HP easily.


A........