Ok, I'm kind of new to the building of performance engines, I'm 20, a full time student, and green behind the gills on performance builds. I have a 94 Camaro now, and was thingking og taking on the project with a few buddies of swapping in a 454.

First off, will it even fit in the engine bay. Second I don't want a prostock car, I just want something to be mean as hell on the street and basically a weekend driver. Third, on average, with a good portion of the motor being high quality stuff, and abou half of the work done by us, what type of price range am I facing.

Remember, we are kind of new to this, and I would appreciate any bit of information of areas tat will cause the greatest difficulties, and suggestion on exactly how to go about getting the ball rolling on this project. Thanks, Jason

 

Will it fit? Yes. There have been a few big-block swaps in 4th-gens. It just takes some massaging, some fabrication, and some custom headers.

What will it cost? I dunno. Anywhere from say $5000 to $20,000+.

 

Yeah it fits, just saw a 94 last Thursday w/ a 502 in it; which brings up a good point. Why go 454 when you can go 502? They cost roughly the same. Even the GM replacement motor for the factory early 90s 454 silverados is a 502. The motor in the 94 used a motor plate across the front instead of conventional motor mounts. Between that and the k-frame being sub'd out for a tubular one, the builder managed to find a set of headers originally desinged for another car that would fit the task. I believe the builder was American Motorsports here in Orlando FL. Honestly though, I'd consider other options before going to the weight of a big block unless you've just gotta have that novelty. If I went to a big block it'd definitely have to be an aluminum one. Oh, you will have to go w/ some sort of cowl hood to use any sort of decent intake manifold w/ a goodsized air filter. You may also have to (but the car I spoke of earlier didn't) trim the plastic area where the cowl extends from the bottom of the windshield a little. I'd recommend looking into the RamJet 502 intake, if not the whole motor, which I believe goes for about $8K ready to bolt in and start. Also plan on utilizing a Vintage Air A/C system for its componentry. This system gets rid of the big blower box on the passenger-side of the firewall and places it in the cab. Though the factory blower box reportedly can be modified to accomodate a big-block it would take extreme heat off the headers there and almost certainly require removal to acces the plugs back there. Don't forget you'll need a big radiator for that big block. I belive BE COOL makes one for about 520 clams.

 

I just saw a 454 in a 1997 Z28 this past Saturday night at Steak and Shake in Altomonte Springs (10 mile north of Orlando). This guy put in a 454, with a Holly that stuck through the hood, custom headers, had to do work on the water pump, cut the valve cover to get the alternator to fit. Custom Motor mounts; etc, etc.
He post on this board but I cannot remember his name, nice guy though answered all my questions.
Just create a post and look for 1997 Z28 w/454.

 

OK cool, a 454 and a 502 BBC will fit.

What about other BOP engines, such as Pontiacs? I know almost all Poncho motors used the same block size, but will it fit as well?

I was toying with the idea of a 455 in my 4th gen Firebird

 

There's a black guy in orlando with a black SS i think w'/ a 454. He had the front engine plate mount. I saw him at the track run mid 12's.


Unless you're just dead set on the cool factor, i'd avoid this swap. Your 350 can go plenty fast.

 

well If I were to do a big block swap I would use the Buick 455, this thing has a great bore stroke ratio, produced more torque than any other engine at a lower rpm except Cadilac 500, and weights around the same as a conventional small block. They used nickel in the manufacturing process instead of pure iron, which is more costly but makes for a thinner lighter block but still very strong to a point. The distributor is in the front of the engine, so no worry about the rear cowl area. The engine is a true big block. I bought two of them out of the paper with hi po parts for 800 bucks, not bad considering after I put it into my chevelle it ran mid 12s no traction, easily would have been quicker if needed, and all I did was drop it in no need to tear into the engine, it was ready to go except for a carb and alternator. http://www.taperformance.com/ sells aluminum cylinder heads, and shorty headers, as well as fuel injection kits. These engines are very cheap to buy, and the price for parts are about the same for my LT1 which is sadly more expensive than other engine build-ups. A recent car craft shows its no wimp on power as it was ranked numer 1 http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/72278/index.html check out the article as it compares many different makes of engine big blocks

 

If you don't want to do a ton of fabrication for a BB, World Products has a small block (Motown) that will go to 454ci via 4.25" bore and 4.00" stroke. Should fit nicely in a 4th gen, but not sure about the distributer though.

 

Ditto, for about the same prices as a nice combination BB and putting out close to the same amount of power. Pick up the latest or last issue of Chevy High Performance, they have an article listing the various costs, combinations of big inch SBs.

 

http://www.theengineshop.com/newstuff8.shtml

The only benefit of a real big block is that they naturally have bigger heads.

 

...and you can generally use a lot more spray...