The title may sound like an Oxymoron but here is what I have. A couple years back I wound up with a free 4.375" stroke forged Eagle Crank (long story). Last year I got a free, low hour 454 out of a boat with a broken block but good oval port open chamber heads (and rotating assembly, intake, sheet metal, etc). A couple of months ago I got a free 454 that had over 200,000 miles on it and has never been rebuilt. I also have a '72 Chevy K20 (bought for $100 from a neighboring rancher) with a worn out 350.
So right now I have $0 into all my parts. Obviously the cheapest route to get a running engine would be to bore the worn block .030" and build a mild 454. But, I kinda want to use the 4.375" crank (who wouldn't?) As you might be able to tell though, I am not a fan of laying out large sums of cash. To use the longer crank, the only extra money I would need to spend is for rods, pistons (might be extra, might not), and balancing.
This engine is going into a truck - not a race truck, just your average flatbed, cow feeding, pivot fixing, farm truck.
The engine will never need to rev above 5,000 RPM and might not even break 500 horsepower - therefore I think a set of I-beam rods will easily do the job. But which ones? From a clearance standpoint, should I use:
These Scat Rods?
Or these Eagle Rods?
So if I've got a 4.375" crank and 6.385" rods, what pistons do I need?
I would like to end up with the compression ratio right around 9:1 so I can burn the cheap 85 octane garbage they try to pass off as gas. Obviously cast pistons would suit my needs just fine, but are they available? And if not, what would be the cheapest forged pistons?
So right now I have $0 into all my parts. Obviously the cheapest route to get a running engine would be to bore the worn block .030" and build a mild 454. But, I kinda want to use the 4.375" crank (who wouldn't?) As you might be able to tell though, I am not a fan of laying out large sums of cash. To use the longer crank, the only extra money I would need to spend is for rods, pistons (might be extra, might not), and balancing.
This engine is going into a truck - not a race truck, just your average flatbed, cow feeding, pivot fixing, farm truck.
The engine will never need to rev above 5,000 RPM and might not even break 500 horsepower - therefore I think a set of I-beam rods will easily do the job. But which ones? From a clearance standpoint, should I use:
These Scat Rods?
Or these Eagle Rods?
So if I've got a 4.375" crank and 6.385" rods, what pistons do I need?
I would like to end up with the compression ratio right around 9:1 so I can burn the cheap 85 octane garbage they try to pass off as gas. Obviously cast pistons would suit my needs just fine, but are they available? And if not, what would be the cheapest forged pistons?