big block question

[79 blue monster]

so i have 3 questions.
>does a big block 454 camper special motor have a 4-bolt main or 2?

>what generation is a 1979 454?

>and.. anyone do a build on a 454..forged parts, aluminum heads, ect? let me know how its working for you and what you have.
pictures would be great

[wwj75c30]

i wanna know this too cause i have a 75 capmer specail with a 454 with cam and headman headers and its not enough lol i wanna build it crazy

[i8tokyo]

It is likely that it is a 2-bolt block in regards to both trucks. But seriously, if you're building a big-block in the 6,500 rpm 500hp range I'd have no problem using the 2-bolt variety. Big-blocks are different from their small block brothers in that 350 suffer from cap walk. That's the biggest advantage of having a 4-bolt main. Big blocks don't have that problem. I have never heard of a big-block/street engine blowing the caps out of the pan. Build away.

[rwhit57]

I believe that would be a Gen IV, and should be a 2-bolt main. Unless you plan on some wild high compression motor the bottom end will hold about anything you throw at it. Like the last guy said build away.

[79 blue monster]

Ok thanks alot guys! I plan on just doing a cam, aluminum heads, aluminum intake, carb, and all other parts will just be rebuilt. What would be a good quality less expensive head to go with?
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[rwhit57]

I could tell you a good combination I used and others here could tell you their's, but the cam, head, intake manufacturers/tech/ sales people have done thousands of combinations and have data to back up their claims. There is nothing like matched components to build HP. Get with the people you plan on buying from and use their expertise in making a decision that's right for what your needs are and your budget.

[thirdstreettito]

Check out the high performance section for great info

[79 blue monster]

Originally Posted by thirdstreettito

Check out the high performance section for great info

i cant find it, could you give me a link?

[thirdstreettito]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/f...splay.php?f=60

[79 blue monster]

does a supercharger fit under a 2in cowl hood? i'm not putting a bug catcher on it though just an air cleaner.

[79 blue monster]

also, will aluminum heads give me much hp? is their an cheeper way to get 500-600hp out of a 454? how much hp will i get from a aluminum intake, edelbrock carb, cam, and aluminum heads?

[cory d]

hard to say, depends on what part and how they all work as a whole

[74 stepside]

You dont need a supercharger to get 500-600 hp out of a big block. Key to making power out these big motors is fuel and air. Good set of heads and a matching intake with a 850 carb and you will be just fine. Also make sure you have a free flowing exhaust. Preferably hedders and 3" pipes. With these parts mentioned and a good cam, I prefer Comp Cams, you will make your hp.

[79 blue monster]

Originally Posted by 74 stepside

You dont need a supercharger to get 500-600 hp out of a big block. Key to making power out these big motors is fuel and air. Good set of heads and a matching intake with a 850 carb and you will be just fine. Also make sure you have a free flowing exhaust. Preferably hedders and 3" pipes. With these parts mentioned and a good cam, I prefer Comp Cams, you will make your hp.

ok, you really sound like you know what your talking about, so i have to ask a few more questions if thats alright. first off, what heads should i be looking for? 202's? aluminum? and what cam would you recomend for a streetable motor? i've been told a rv cam is good, but i dont know if it will be on a 500-600hp motor. i want to be able to hear it though.

[74 stepside]

If you stay with iron heads, the 336781 and 353049 heads work great. Both have 2.06 intake and 1.77 exhaust valves. If you have them machined to 2.19 and 1.88 they will really wake up that engine. You can also go with aluminum heads that usually have 2.25/1.88 size valves, but they can be pricey. Im building a .060 over 454 which makes it a 468 with aluminum heads myself. When choosing a cam you want to make sure your torque converter, carb,etc. are all in sync. I would recommend calling Comp Cams Technical support and ask them what they have to fit your exact application. I havent picked out a cam yet for myself because Im saving up my $, but Iam using a 3500 stall converter in a shortbed 1/2 ton. Yours being a 3/4 ton Iam not sure what to recommend. Also for when you are getting heads of blocks, etc, check out www.chevymania.com you can get alot of info on numbers.

[baclay9]

Originally Posted by 74 stepside

If you stay with iron heads, the 336781 and 353049 heads work great. Both have 2.06 intake and 1.77 exhaust valves. If you have them machined to 2.19 and 1.88 they will really wake up that engine. You can also go with aluminum heads that usually have 2.25/1.88 size valves, but they can be pricey. Im building a .060 over 454 which makes it a 468 with aluminum heads myself. When choosing a cam you want to make sure your torque converter, carb,etc. are all in sync. I would recommend calling Comp Cams Technical support and ask them what they have to fit your exact application. I havent picked out a cam yet for myself because Im saving up my $, but Iam using a 3500 stall converter in a shortbed 1/2 ton. Yours being a 3/4 ton Iam not sure what to recommend. Also for when you are getting heads of blocks, etc, check out www.chevymania.com you can get alot of info on numbers.

This is the setup I built. 468 C.I., 781 heads, edelbrock air gap intake, Comp cams XE274H cam, and all the goodies to go with them. I am running a 2500 rpm stall with this setup. Should make great power up to about 6000 rpm.

[tucsonjwt]

I'm not sure where you are going exactly with your engine but you should first make sure you have a solid block before you begin. I assume that you will be doing all of the work yourself, otherwise the cost will be astronomical. Also, you will need a decent transmission behind that engine - I would say a modern overdrive transmission but with mega horsepower I think a TH400 would be better - since fuel economy is obviously not a concern for you.
For me, a stock 454 with TH400 was plenty fast for me. Unless you are racing on a regular basis I don't know what you would do with more horses.

[Firebirdjones]

You can make alot of HP with a 454 but considering it's a heavy boxy truck I'd personally concentrate more on a flat usable torque curve...

Really depends on what you want to use the truck for.

I built one of my 454's (chevelle) with AFR aluminum heads, custom roller, ported intake, and some other tricks etc....and made 638 hp. Very streetable and runs/dyno'd on pump gas. But it's what I would consider a little high strung for a large heavy pickup truck. I run 4.10 gears and a custom coan 3800 converter. Easily driven on the street (as that's what I mostly do) but I wouldn't want to run it in a full size truck.

My 79 1 ton pickup with it's original 454, peanut port truck heads etc....Long block was completely stock 1979 issue. I had a performer camshaft in it, performer intake, 1 3/4 headers and 3" exhaust, original carb was tweaked etc...it made nice power for a truck I used primarily for towing. Lots of torque and it was all done by 5500 rpms. Didn't run bad for a low compression smog motor. Eventually spun a bearing so I installed an HT502 GM crate engine, makes tons of grunt, peanut port heads, small roller, perfect for a 5400 lbs. truck that I tow with.

2 completely different sides of the spectrum here. We could probably give you more direction with known goals in mind for your truck.

Some things to keep in mind. New Aluminum heads are more octane tollerant and have many advancements like modern combustion chambers that don't need as much ignition lead to make power. Something to consider on todays crappy pump gas. Although most brands are expensive, there are some affordable brands that make very good power for the money.

I have become a roller cam junky over the years, and now with degrading ZDDP in the oils (unless you like to buy the more expensive stuff) you have something else to worry about. A roller cam takes all that out of the equation and you gain easy power at the same time with more lift under the curve and less friction/heat, and you don't have any break in time, the scariest part of a brand new engine no longer needs to be done. But again, it's expensive.

To give you an idea when my truck engine expired without going into too much detail. I wanted to build a stroker 496 out of it (for towing, more torque under the curve).
I was looking at small oval port aluminum heads (small ports to build low speed torque and aluminum to be octane tollerant). A small roller cam (probably custom ground for my goals). Then use the same performer intake and stock Quadrajet carb on top, along with the same headers.
Machine work, rotating assembly and other parts totalled right at $5800 and I still had to assemble it, wait for machine work, hope the machine work was good quality etc.....
That's what made the GM crate 502 look so good, $6,000 delivered to my door and I had the truck running that weekend.

It's all about what you want out of it and what you have available to you.

[BigBlocksRule]

I'm with these guys.
Getting into a decent aluminum head for a reasonable price on a budget only gives you a couple of choices, both Chinese castings that will cost more to get set up right than buying a good head to start with.
Your operating range dictates which port to use.
A set of small port (peanuts) with a good valve job and a little bowl work will make tons of torque from just off idle to around 5500rpm's with headers only. Don't use a factory peanut port intake, the ports in the intake are more restrictive than the head - and that's in spots that you can't reach with a die grinder. Use an intake made for large ovals and open the head ports up to match it and continue that for about an inch into the port. Then you'll have the intake velocity that promotes good cylinder filling ang big torque.
If you want to turn it higher, find some 781's or 049's, stock valves with the same bowl/valve job and a good oval port intake. You'll lose a little bit of torque but she'll pull hard to well over 6K.
I'm a roller guy myself, haven't built a flat tappet engine in years. One flattened lobe will cost you a lot more than the conversion now. All the tiny metal particles will end up in your bearings, so they'll all have to be swapped out. Crank will need a polish, too. Plus your down time. You can use a Gen 6 cam and retainer since all big blocks have the boss on the front of the block, it'll just need to be drilled and tapped if it's not already.

If this engine is going back into the camper special, I'd stick with the small port heads.