Evan91 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 My dad has a friend who is willing to sell me a 454 out of a late 70's or early 80's truck for $600. I know its a low compression engine with the junk peanut port heads. I would like to do a mild build/ rebuild and want to run some ideas by you guys to see if im on the right track. Parts that I have been thinking of... Intake manifold: Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap 7561 Heads: Bow tie 049 or 781 oval port smog heads like this Pistons: KB Pistons 201 or 203 that will put me around 8.4/1 to 9/1 201 link 203 link or Icon forged Cam shaft: not sure yet Let me know if im on the right track or what I should change up. I would like a plan before buying an engine. Thanks guys. -evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 The pistons that you list are hypereutectic. That is not bad, better than regular cast, but they are more fragile than forged. The thing to remember is to watch your fuel mixture, timing, and cooling. You want to avoid detonation. I would go with the 201s because of the narrower ring package. I would look for a set of heads with hardened exhaust seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 1974 heads "should" have hardened seats already on a 454 I would highly recommend stepping-up to forged pistons, 454's can be very hard on piston skirts with that 4" stroke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan91 Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Thanks for the input guys. I going to want hardened valve seat so the valve does not try to go through the head due to unleaded gas. Forged pistons so the skirts with the abuse of a 4" stroke. This is the heads I really like I have read alot of good things about them on chevells.com http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bro-2061004/overview/ and on the Brodix site http://www.brodix.com/heads/raceritebb.php For the pistons I have no idea if the block will need to be bored out so ill put up a few choices. I saw in Mike 57 post he is using SRP Pistons so I have been looking into them. Stock bore: Icon Forged may be on the edge of not being able to run pump gas but cam shaft choice can play a role in this also as well as head gasket. .030 over http://www.jepistons.com/Products/139506.aspx im looking at around 8.8/1 with the brodix heads. I know I still have a long way to go before I start buying parts im only 21 I have only rebuilt engines using stock parts so this stuff is new to me but im learning and thanks again fot the help -evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 those heads are a very nice heads, they would be my choice if I were to build another high hp engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Evan I think you need to state your overall intention for the motor you want to build. Living a lot in the Chevelle world I see a lot of guys do the 454 motors and they are really a blank canvas, you can take them in many directions. As far as the Hyper pistons go I see no problem using them in your build. They are the middle of the road between cast and forged pistons. Forged are nice but the highest price and can be a bit noisy because of the clearances they run. The Hyper's will give you more strength than the factory cast but also allow you to run the tight clearances for a quieter motor. why such a low compression? Do you want to be able to run it on 87, just wondering. As far as those heads, they are nice heads but maybe a bit of an overkill unless your goal is to make max horsepower with your combo, $2200 is a big investment. A lot of guys run those 049/781 heads, with a small amount of work they can support big numbers (a friend of mine is running 9.40's with a set of worked 781's). So getting back to the beginning, what is the intention for this car/motor combo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan91 Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 My goal currently is 13.9 but down the road my over all goal would to run a 11.9 but that's many years down the road. still need to do brake and suspension work to run that safely. Low compression: I want to be able to run pump gas 93. What would be the max compression I could run? I know there are a few factors that play into this. I was looking into the 049/781 heads the ones I see do not have hardened valve seats and I saw many people on chevelles.com saying when cutting for the seat they are hitting water and than the head is scrap. OR could I use lead additive and be safe ??? good info here... http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=393077 "With todays fuels we are forced to run a 10 to 1 compression ratio with cast iron heads and 11 to 1 with aluminum heads you can run more but you run the risk of detenation." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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