scored a big block

[pongo]

I did some trading around with a friend of mine, and got me a 1978 1 ton dump bed chevy truck with a good running 454. Looks like a good engine swap for my 78 Camino, it is even has the same date code as my factory 350. What I have read about these truck motors is that they have crappy heads on them, I read that they flow just a little more than a 350 head, and have less than 8 to 1 compression ratio. So what do I need to do to this motor to make it come alive on a budget? Don't want anything radical, just something that sounds good, can run all day on the interstate, and show up the local youth with there modern muscle.

[matty man]

Most likely it has the small peanut heads,, good for what you are doing,, I would bore it to clean up the cylinder walls,, the rods are a weak link but if you keep it down to a mild roar they are OK,, but I would put a good set of rods it may have a steel crank from the factory,, a fresh regrind,, the heads,, I would keep the peanut heads, I am not fimilar with the valve size but I would go with bigger valves and a lite port job,, good intake and ignition and you will need a new HD rear end,, 454 = torque monster!!!!!! Matty man

[Keyser Sose]

X2 on what Matty said.

but then, what's the odds that someone could make an ol' wore out truck motor run good?

[jlcustomz]

On a budget ,a mild cam along with new timing chain,etc ,aluminum intake (keep the quadrajet) would be first up along with decent headers. If you think you have the skillset to do just a mild porting job on the heads, this would be my next budget reccomendation, a shop could disassemble & clean them for you to do your part, then do a 3 angle valve job & reassemble them . On a poor flowing set of large heads, it wouldn't be too hard to make an improvement.

With a high torque motor & a fairly small for it cam, you can make plenty of street power without reving it to much & needing expensive internals.

[pongo]

ya'll make my small block build sound better already. Will probably just fix front brakes on the truck and sell it.

[DONE DEAL DONNY]

Those Rv/Truck big blocks don't like the RPMs, but man if you push one you'll never go back!!!
(Click da pic)

Donny

[jlcustomz]

Don't wimp out yet, Ever watch any of DDD's video's with the yeller big block he just sold?

EDIT,Donny typed faster than me, there you go.

[steelybill]

One thing you may have to address is the drive train.....trans and rear end. Even a wimpy 454 has torque.

[30Weight]

I'm sure someone here knows more about it than I do,but was told years back that the bigger truck engines were quite a bit different than the passenger car/light truck engines.Was looking into a BBC swap into a Jaguar XJS many,many years back and the kit supplier specifically warned against the truck engines.I remember something about the block being significantly taller,or wider (?) and wouldn't fit.Passenger car/light truck big blocks would.Might have been the 427s,can't remember.I could be wrong,wouldn't be the 1st or last time.Might want to check the dimensions before you get to far into it.

[1983SS454]

The biggest problem with he truck motors is the low compression and the small cam. The peanut port heads make great street torque, they are what I run on my engine at this moment with a port job and larger valves. Bump the compression up from 8 to 1 to 9.5/10 to 1, get the stock rods shot peened and some arp studs and that's how I would go about it. Mine was a complete overhaul from top to bottom because I wanted it capable of running a 100-200 N20 shot......
The transmission if running behind a decent small black should last for some time as long as your not too abusive and the rear will be ok with an automatic trans and no sticky tires for a long time. Manual trans and sticky tires and those 7.5 rears won't last long behind a big block


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[steelybill]

The 427 truck engine is a tall block. Not sure about the 454.

[boogsawaste]

I agree with steely on the 427's in trucks being a tall deck. Haven't heard of the 454's being that way but I can definitely be wrong. If it were me I would google it and see what comes up.

[pongo]

I know the torque of the BB is awsome, but I love to hear a small block wind up. What kind of max rpm's will the stock bottom end handle? I have always been a small block guy, and with out sounding like I am bragging, have wooped up on a bunch of big blocks, maybe thats just because I know what it takes to make a small block go. But the looks and sound of a big block does sound very good to me. I know about the trans and rear end issues, and will have that covered either way I go. What I am looking for out of my Elky is a high 12 to low 13 secound car, like my Nova's I had in my younger years ran. That is good for fun, and reliable enough for daily driving. Maybe a mild BB will get me there.
I have a 300 hp 327 on my engine stand right now that I am tinkering with, may have to put it on hold, and do some research on thid BB project.

[1983SS454]

427's have 2 different styles, tall deck and short deck, a 454 tall deck is basically what the 502 ends up being...... I run my engine with the stock forged crank and shot peened rods with arp studs to 6000k, not all the time time but I'll run her up there. I'm chipped on my ignition for a little over that with the rev limiter


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[jkk]

Man rebuild it put it in and start looking for rear tires that are on sale!!