I recently obtained a Gen VI 454 at work that I plan on building this winter and putting in the camaro. I have read most of the posts and have just a couple questions before I jump into this. The block will be 30 over with forged pistons and I will be using the "marine" rods and crank. It is already a hydraulic roller and plan on keeping it that way. I believe the iron ovalport heads are warped but they will be going to the machine shop to get checked out first. I will be using a carb as fuel injection is not feasable for me right now. But anyway, here are a few questions:

What steering setup will I have to use? I plan on using the Hooker headers that fit close. Will I have to fab up a steering linkage?

Which oilpan would be best to use with the PA Racing Kmember and Hooker headers?

Can the stock guages be used with a carb setup?

Finally, there was mention about tall deck and short deck big blocks. What is the difference?

Thanks!

 

Well, the easy one first. BBC's have two different deck heights available. Your 454 should be a short deck block, with a 9.800" deck height. There are also tall deck blocks with a 10.200" deck height. The extra deck height allows a longer stroke. I would think the extra 0.400" of height would make an already tight fit in a 4th gen even more problematic. I think some sort of a cowl hood will be needed anyway.

I haven't done any test fitting, so I can't tell you how the steering or the headers are going to work out. Ditto for the oil pan.

As far as the instruments go, the everything but the tach should be straightforward. The tach signal from the PCM depends on the PCM recieving input from the Opti. Haven't figured that out yet.

What tranny are you planning to use, just curious? Also, those iron heads along with the BB are going to be add a lot of weight up front, aren't they? I am using aluminum heads, even though they are more $$$.

Rich

 

There are no factory tall deck 454 engines so you don't have to worry about that. Tall deck blocks are 6.0 and 7.0L (366T and 427T). They're found in the bigger GM trucks such as 5 tons. The extra deck height of .400" is because they use a longer piston with an extra compression ring. You're still going to need a cowl hood if you want any sort of performance intake manifold.

Does anyone even make a BBC header to fit into a fourth gen? If not then a header kit will be required. I have Hooker SuperComps in my third gen and it's a tight fit. They're also the cheapest swap headers and if I had more money, I'd buy better headers. Something from Lemons Headers would be nice.

If there are swap headers available, they'll be designed to work around any factory steering components. On the third gen swap headers, one of the tubes has an intentional dent in it to clear the steering shaft.

Stick with a standard BBC oil pan. Usually just refered to as a Chevelle oil pan at least on older BBC. The Gen VI uses a different style. The factory pan will fit everything unless it was in a larger pickup truck (1 ton etc). You then need to buy a smaller Gen VI pan. I use a 7qt deep pan that doesn't use the side kick out style. That's the only way the headers will fit because they come so close to the oil pan. My headers also can't be installed with the engine in. They probably could if I had a normal 5qt pan but it's easier to pull the engine, install the headers into the engine compartment then drop the engine back in.

A Gen VI is a good start. 4 bolt mains, steel crank, aluminum timing cover, one piece seal, roller, etc.

 

Supposedly the Hooker 2455 headers are "nearly a perfect fit" according to Brady 96Z. Hopefully the steering linkage will fit nicely with them as well as this will make things a little easier.

As far as heads go I am undecided right now. I know of some people making loads of power with worked iron heads. I would guess there is a 75 lb weight difference between the iron and the aluminum heads but I have never lifted a aluminum bbc head so I can't say for sure. So long as the iron heads can make the power I would like to see they should work fine, as long as they are not junk. If the heads are bad I will prolly look into some aluminum heads especially if there is extra power to be made.

I plan on using an off the shelf TH400 from Art Carr, Coan, Hughes, or someone similar. I think for my goals I won't be needing a trans brake either.

Rich, what do you plan on using for heads/intake, etc?

 

My engine, see above sig, uses unported, oval port Merlin heads with 2.19/1.88 valves and a solid flat tappet camshaft.

My new engine will have huge rectangular port aluminum heads with big valves and a roller cam. I'm expecting to run in the 9's at altitude next spring. The 2 aluminum heads weigh about the same or a little less than one iron head.

 

Thing is, you have more choices in aluminum. In cast iron you can have OEM, Merlin II or Pro Action.... maybe there's another that I'm leaving out. That's like walking into a Baskin Robbins and only being able to choose chocolate or vanilla.

-Mindgame

 

You are right, there is not much out there for aftermarket iron heads, and for the cost difference it would make sense to spend another $500 or so on aluminum. Now here is my question, there are like a million bbc aluminum heads out there from brodix, dart, afr, world, etc. What do I want to look for when selecting a head? I would like to make around 500-600 hp with a .30 over 454 bottom end, is this achievable? It will have to be streetable and able to run on 91 octane. Any advice would be great as big blocks are all new territory for me

 

I am currently thinking Dart if I have to buy new, but I am looking for a good set of used heads and will take what I can find if the right set comes along.

Rich

 

I got your email, sorry I didn't have a chance to reply yet.


I think you need the moroso 20413 pan.

The hooker 2455 headers will work, but will have to be "hammered" a bit for steering clearance unless you modify the steering by adding another universal joint and a brace to the frame rail (this would be the best fix). Keep in mind these headers weren't designed to fit this chassis, so fitment isn't absolutely perfect, but they will work- and for $150 vs $1100 Lemons, it's something we could deal with.

I don't know if you have a heater box, but the headers may interfere with it, I know it's damn close to the body right below the heater box, we moved that area back an inch or so for plenty of clearance.

any other questions, let me know- I'm done working til Tuesday!

 

BMR makes a tubular K-member for this swap. I'm sure this would be a major help in the overall picture especially in the oil pan fitment area. Might even help with headers a bit depending on how quickly the front tubes come down.
After test fitting a few high rise single plane intakes on a local car I can see where a good BBC intake will have some issues with the cowl and possibly the wiper ties. Nothing a little creativity can't solve...
Steve...

 

Try and find one of the few "Opti-Eliminator" chips that Electromotive made. Check with JC Hyde at Delteq, since he is the originator of that piece of hardware. While the system falls down on true cam position synch, it will produce a signal that satisifies the stock PCM's need for the high and low res pulse signal.

Atlernatively, you should be able to interface the stock tach with a coil, if that's what you are using, or with the tach output of an aftermarket ECU, possibly using one of the Dakota Digital signal convertors.

If all else fails......

 

Are you looking for a set of used dart heads or oval ports? I still have my cast iron oval ports.

 

Brady, thanks for the help and answering those questions. I am sure many more will come up. Right now i am just working on getting the bottom end back together. Hopefully by late winter have a running engine, then start working on getting it in the car.

On another note, what intake manifolds are a popular choice for the bbc crew? I know many sbc use the vic jr. and I am considering the bbc version for this build.

 

Depends on your goals. The Victor Jr is a popular manifold for all types of engines but don't forget it's also an open plane manifold. If you do a lot of street driving, something like a Performer RPM might be a better choice. The Air Gap manifolds are also good.

 

Thanks!

Rich