[MalibuMike]

I stubbled upon a great steal for my '81 Malibu coupe on craigslist recently...a 454 BIG BLOCK/400 turbo trans for $500 The motor seems to be in great shape,very clean,all cylinders moving,etc etc but when I ran the casting numbers( 361959) on the internet & looked em up in MSA-1.com the only thing that comes bac for the motor is that its a 454 4bolt main motor out of a truck from yrs '70sumn-'84. Now my question is,is there a way to tell what kinda of heads & pistons where used in the configuration of this motor without tearing it apart?

[DoubleVision]

Remove the valve cover and look up the head casting numbers. Afterwards run a compression check to get a ball park idea of the compression ratio. Unless it's been gone through before and during the build someone added some pieces to kick up compression and head breathing potential then you'll likely find it's a smog engine with a 8:1 compression ratio and peanut port heads. Also if the engine is stock you can get the suffix code and it'll tell you what it came out of and the power level.

[MalibuMike]

Okay I was with yu until yu said "smog engine" & "peanut port" lol now are these good features or badd? I'm hoping to pull the heads & discover rectangle ports..

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by MalibuMike

Okay I was with yu until yu said "smog engine" & "peanut port" lol now are these good features or badd? I'm hoping to pull the heads & discover rectangle ports..

Not likely you will find them......These truck engines were built for low RPM pulling power (towing)...The heads have small ports and valves to give that low end power......Still, at $500 for engine and trans, its a pretty good deal. Find some better heads and you have a good start

[MalibuMike]

Any suggestions where I might be able 2 find sum under $1,000(Jegs)?