I got a 454 block...what's the best setup?
 

I've got a basic 454 out of a truck, I want to know what would be the best setup for a mean street motor, and somewhat affordable, at the moment, its got all of the internals from the truck, and is running, but its not quite at the power level I'm hoping for. From what I gather, a better cam, and new head will wake up the BB a whole lot...what do you guys think?

?? What do you want to do with it?

if u want it streetable keep ur compression down to make it run on pump gas well, call comp cams(or any company for that matter) and tell them exactly what u want to do with it and they can either recommend a cam for u or grind one for you. far as heads if ur looking for something to just "wake it up" if they are rectangle port heads just a little machine work could help you breath alot better, throw in new intake to feed that and headers to exhaust it...past that like previous post...what do u want the car to do? ride a wheelie? be a daily driver? tow a boat?

We'll put it this way, I'm shootin for a streetable mid 12 second car...hopefully sans-Forced Induction

then u might consider a new cam...i'd recommend comp cam stick with a solid lift for maintance and get some machine work done on your heads and upgrade ur intake and a bigger carb....looking for forced induction then u need to look into lower compression, o ringing block...copper gaskets...12 second u can do naturally aspirated...

hell, you don't need to do too much to a 454 in a rather light car to be doing 12's. Decent factory heads, good exhaust and a mild cam will do that.

K

To get it into the 12's also has a lot to do with what you are putting it in. The 70 SS's ran in the high end 13's from the factory. With different carburation, intake, cam, and headers in a lighter car you can see the 12's pretty easy. But remeber also that you are talking adding some performance goodies to a used motor. To do it really right the engine should be totally rebuilt and a big block is considerably more money to build than a small block. Keep us informed as to how it turns out.

Kevin

i put the comp cams 280 h magnum in mine with all matching parts.
roller tip rockers, springs,locks and retainers.
i also have 1967 closed chamber heads on it and 8.5 to 1 compression pistons.
it now has around 9.5 to 10 to 1 compression
and a duel plain intake with a 750 bubble pumper carb.
and it makes my trans am fly.
its always best to match your parts.
and a good duel plane intake is better for the streets.
a solid lifter cam is not a very good choice for the streets.
my next rebuild im going with a hydroulic roller cam and roller lifters.
now thats the way to go if you can afford it.

Just built a 454 for my chevelle. I put in a comp cams 268h with flatop forged pistons +.040. I spent some money on machining the block. Pistons were .020" in the hole, so I had the block decked accordingly. also shaved the heads to increase compression a few more points. Kept the 781 oval port heads. did some port work, mostly on the exhaust side. concentrated on the bowls and short side radius. I have yet to track test it, but it is fun so far...

I'm building a 454 and while it's my first motor, I've done alot of reading on the subject.

The rectangular port heads are not what you want for the street. They don't flow well at the lower RPM's, but they do open up in the high RPM's...so in other words, bad for the street.

The oval port heads are what you want, not to be confused with the "peanut port" heads found on some trucks. There is a grouping of oval port castings that are desireable...I only remember my castings which are 353049. 110 CC heads...some list them as 113 CC heads. Throw bigger valves in them (requires some machine work), clean them up a little and you've got some nice heads for the street.

ALTHOUGH, I'd really have to question whether it might be a better investment to spend the money on the lower end world castings. My heads cost me about $750 to be reworked.
-cleaned/magnufluxed
-New guides
-New seats & Cut
-New valves
-Pocket porting
=================
$Cha Ching

I see some places you can get the low-end world castings for about $400 each bare...maybe less if you shop around. Of course you're still going to have to put some money into them, but I'm sure they are much improved over old-chevy castings.

Here's a good article to give you a rough idea of the costs involved with building this thing...542 horsepower:
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0109_big/

hth

You can count on about $5,000 to do it right.
pistons
machining
cam
bearings
oil pump... valve train...intake..etc etc.

Here is a pic of my 454 in my impala 65 wagon.

It came from a small yellow chevy shoolbus :mwink:

461cui with new pistons,bearings,holley 750dp, headers, edelbrock intake, some other heads (dont know what kind).
but i would need anoter cam to get som more horses!

im new...so this is my first post! hope u like the picture.

Yeah best way to pick that 454 up. Is get a cherry picker, pick it up and sell it:-)
Sorry I'm too anti-big block.
Big block means big dollars and that is all.
It's far too sad to see guys that spend 10's of thousands of dollars just to make thier big blocks keep up with small blocks.

One of the big issues with BB's is thier heads, the heads on them are just crap. Don't know how many of them I've seen goto crap.
Every thing you do with a BB is twice as much as SB's. And you have a lot more mass to get moving.
So you can take the big block, spend 12-14 grand get a good going 500hp machine. Or you can take a small block, spend 4-5 grand and get a good going 600-700hp machine. Take your pick:-)

:rolleyes:

Are you sure? Give me 12 grand and I'll show ya "500horsepower.

I do agree it does cost more to build a Big Block, but after you reach a certain power level, cubic inches is the way to go, either big inch small blocks or big blocks.

Also, with that kind of power, the more cubic inches will be milder and more street friendly.

There is a reason the fastest street cars run big blocks.

YOU KNOW NOTHING, I HAVE A 400HP SMALLBLOCK, AND IM INTO IT FOR 5000 DOLLARS.....

big blocks are the way to go! big cubes is where its at, alot less revs and work for the block compared to a smallblock..