81z28phil

I have a 1980 Z28 with a 350 and a friend of mine gave me a 454 originaly off a 1970 chevelle that I was told was thrown on a boat and then the block with forged bottom end was given to me. My question is what would be the best top end setup(heads, cam, intake, carb) to go with the bbc there are so many brands out there and im new to the building engines thing so im pretty much lost when it comes to what to buy. Since this is just to give me an idea dont worry about prices.

angel71rs

A lot depends on the intended use. All out track car or street car that runs strong at the track? And what is the rest of the combination you'd want to use, auto/stall, manual, rear gear ratio? If street/strip, look at something like the Edelbrock RPM 454-O package and choose the rest of the combination in line with it. Heads are listed as oval ports, but are actually in between rectangular and oval, excellent flow with good velocity at lower rpms so torque is killer. You'd need to find out what pistons were used; if domed, need to check to see if they will clear the semi-open chambers of the -O. If you want more of a high rpm engine, move up to something like the 454-R.

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...t_bb_rpm.shtml

81z28phil

I wanted to be able to use it on the street too something that wont rape my wallet too much at the gas pump and that would park anyone who got next to it at the light. bbc werent really made for high rpms so 6k is fine for me. the tranny is a th350 and i was thinking the 3.42s that came on the origianl rear of the car so i can get some top end as well but im not to sure about that whole area as well help me out here lol...

angel71rs

The RPM 454 -O heads would work great for you as long as your pistons don't have a big dome on them. If gas mileage is important, don't get too crazy on the cam, something around 224* @.050. This would be a good match with your 3.42s and a reasonable converter, maybe even a 6 lug Corvette converter.

My nephew ran a 454 in a Chevelle with these heads and a 218 cam. He bought the shortblock for cheap, only problem was it had flat top pistons, so even with the 110 cc heads, compression was under 9-1, so he had to go small on the cam. But the engine made big torque, and ran fine on regular gas, spun the 275 BFG drag radials at will. It ran a best of 13.5 at our local 4,100 ft altitude track, equivalent to high 12s at sea level. He went with a B&M Holeshot converter 1st, but it was too slippy in street driving and the shifts were really mushy. I told him to swap in a 6 lug converter, ~ 50 bucks rebuilt from trans supply house. Car felt much better driving around town, and the rpms dropped ~ 500 thru the lights.

You could go with a big cam, big converter, etc, and push it to the 11s at sea level, but your gas mileage would tank. After running his Chevelle for ~ a year with that engine, my nephew wanted more HP (shock, surprise) so I suggested we pull the engine, put in ~ 11-1 pistons, a solid cam around 240*, etc, so it would get into the mid 12s locally, but he ended up going to the dark side... he's a 5.0 guy now.

Rice Killer87

How someone could go from a BBC to a 5.0 is beyond me LOL,talk about getting off a crotch rocket onto a bicycle,geez.

To the thread starter....you really need to figure out how much $$$ you wanna spend on this sucker.

I had a 468 w/ stock 781 casting oval ports and went 11.0's all day long on 93 octane and a 244 @ .050 .550 lift magnum hydraulic (not solid) camshaft and drove it on the street all the time. That was w/ 10.0-10.5 compression. To make an EASY 500 HP,you really need to get the compression about there and it will be gravy making power after that. But its gonna take a little coin to get it there if its not there already. What type of heads are on the motor?? Pull the valve covers off and run the casting numbers here at www.mortec.com . If you have 781 or 049 oval port heads I would use those,or even a good set of rectangle ports.

81z28phil

well thanks for the help but after calculating the cost for all of this setup for the bbc im thinking 383 sbc or something like that so quick question what would be better for a daily driver like my heavy camaro a 454 or a small block chevy stroker?

jerminator96

If you already have the bottom end of the 454 I don't see how it could be more expensive. Look for some used stuff, don't worry about the combo. The odds are you're going to make more power than the 383 anyway, unless you spend a lot of money on the 383.

byrons1502

i just pulled the 454 out of my 69chevelle(3800lbs)had the stock large oval port heads(2.06,1.72valves). stock low 8.4 compression,performer intake,quadrajet,stock fuel pump,decent ignition.headers,3.55 rear gears th350 with 1800 stall. ran 12.9's all day at 103-104mph. got 18mpg on highway.
you need to pick the correct cam for the motor. i would use a comp 268extreme with valve spring and get a good swap meet intake and kick some serious asphalt.
most 383's are going to cost 2k to build and still not meet the same power.
if you wanted a bad motor put kieth black pistons and 10.1 compression,merlin heads,performer rpm,comp 270-280 extreme cam. 2500 rpm stall. easy 11 sec ride on pump gas

Rice Killer87

Driveability would be better w/ a tame 454 than a wild 383,while have twice the torque. Fuel mileage should be better on the tamer 454 w/ a well tuned 650 carb.

Just my opinion.