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Big or Small Block Chevy

T

troys87jimmy

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Trying to decide what direction to go. i personally have had trucks with both but have not had a big block 454 in a 4x4 and in a jimmy no less which sound interesting. so here is where i stand i have a good 350 4 bolt main block that needs rebuilt and a 454 out of a 87 motor home that also needs rebuilt. i can also get a 454 with 40,000 miles on it out of an 85 one ton for a $1000. i have some of the parts for the 350 like pistons and ring set, timing chain, intake distributor, carb, headers and water pump. if i dont use the small block i will stick it in my 86 chevy short bed that i hammer on for wood cutting and hunting that motor is getting old but still runs, but its a 305 :rolleyes:. the expense of rebuilding the 454 right now is a little steep for my budget so that one will probably get sold or dumped. down the road i can rebuild it. i had a 454 rebuilt and stuck it in a 74 chevy two wheel drive about 10 years ago, it dynoed at 435 hp and it was great in that old long bed but it ran me $4000 and i am sure is would still run me that much even with me assembling it. so here is the deal i have about $2000 to spend on my engine would it be better to rebuild the 350 and try to get as much as i can out of it power wise or buy the 454 and shop around for headers, intake and use the left over money to try and add some power. im going to use the jimmy for light trail riding and around town driving. And thanks in advance for any advice especially from some guys that are 4x4ing and not hot rodding.
 
for you stated purpose I would build the 350. If you mudding or running dunes a BBC is NICE to have, if not stay SBC.
If you have bigger plans for the future, start with the biggest engine you can afford right now and build it as $$$$ allows.
 
that's they way I'm leaning right now and was thinking of storing the big block until i have better budget to build it the way i want. Thanks for the reply. :waytogo:
 
Big blocks are nice for towing, bragging rights, and certain applications like mud trucks. Of course they come with their trade-offs, namely fuel efficiency, weight, and the fact that acquiring or building one is always going to be more expensive than an SBC.
 
You can build a nice big block for cheap with stock parts.

Martin
 
82355 said:
You can build a nice big block for cheap with stock parts.
Martin
Click to expand...

meatwagon83 said:
if you are looking for lowdown grunt, a big block is your only choice (other than a diesel)
Click to expand...

I agree with these fellows. Just put a mild 454 in there. They are not that expensive when built with stock parts. My 1975 BBC is basically stock, except for a mild RV cam (260 or 262 series from Comp Cams...can't recall). Gobs of torque. It was a HUGE change from the 350 I had previously. A set of headers are said to help a lot also, but I haven't gotten around to that yet though. I'd never go back. Best mod I made to my truck was the RV cammed BBC.

Some reading....
Car Craft had a $2500 454 build with the 268Hcam,
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ild/index.html

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ine/index.html

Nice thing too is that it was a one day swap to put into my 1985 with no complications.

I love the newer LS engines too, but there is more involved to transplant those in.
 
Yes I was thinking a good cam, set of headers, new intake manifold and my truck avenger carb and that should wake up the big block. Then I'm about the same amount of monies as the sbc. The hard part is I'm a BBC guy I luv them as long as u don'tput the high revs to them.
 
Cam, headers and intake manifold (RPM air gap is the best street intake) will wake a big block up big time, even if the rest is stock.

The 770 truck avenger carb sucks. Tried one and ran it for a couple years, will never run one again. They removed the high speed air bleeds so it would idle on a hill, but in doing so it throws the fuel curve off, so its lean down low and rich up high and you can't tune that out. You can make it better, but you will not tune it out. The only way you should run a truck avenger is if idling on a steep hill is more important to you than all the rest of the engine scenarios. I am normally a big holley guy, I like Holley's, but not the truck avenger.
 
Folkenheath is a regular street avenger any better or should i be looking at fuel injection. Oh and i am building a mall crawler that would have a little more capability to go mild trail running. I plan on installing flip shackles in the rear with front lift springs and a high steer kit. And thank you for the heads up on the carb.
 
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Yes it is for the fuel curve, has high speed air bleeds like Holley's were designed to have, so the fuel curve is proper. The street avenger doesn't have the performance of a double pumper or an HP carb, but definitely better than the TA series. However, if you can afford a good EFI setup it is better than either. You can have the throttle response and performance of a double pumper with better economy than a vacuum carb and better fuel control in rough or angled terrain than any carb.
 
with my 454 i bumped the compression to about 9-1 put in a comp 260 with a performer intake and a fresh quadrajet, i havent gotten to run it yet but should be a torque beast, and if you ask me there is no better off road carb than a quadrajet, damn near run upside down!!
 
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