Help me INSTALL a big block...Bought a 468!

[454Sub]

Gen 6 is the way to go as far as block and heads. Roller cam, decent oval port head design, all around decent. I really like mine, and all I did was buy a high rise dual plane carb intake, bought a plate for the TBI, ported the TBI, headers, milled the heads, ported them, roller rockers and its a pretty stout motor. Runs well, spins my 40x18s effortlessly no prob.

 

[NorCal69]

I imagine I need to talk to Kert about my motor mounts too, right? I've got his crossmember in it now, but would guess that I need to change something about it???

AJ and I both ran into the same problems with the headers+BB+1st gen+Kerts crossmember.


Everything works great, but you run into a lot of clearance issues on the drivers side, due to the big hooker headers that work in our rigs. Kert made the engine mounts just a bit taller (1/4" ? ) for us and it worked out great. He probably still has all of the measurements, if not, it may be in my thread or in some PM's.


Remember that serp set up that I put on mine......Ugly.. Eric ended up with it for free.. They just don't look right in a 1st gen.

Old thread that helped me

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145512&highlight=serpentine+belts




By the way...this is cool and you're going to end up fat from all of the cookies that you eat on the darkside. Muahahahahah

 

[Z71paramedic]

AJ and I both ran into the same problems with the headers+BB+1st gen+Kerts crossmember.


Everything works great, but you run into a lot of clearance issues on the drivers side, due to the big hooker headers that work in our rigs. Kert made the engine mounts just a bit taller (1/4" ? ) for us and it worked out great. He probably still has all of the measurements, if not, it may be in my thread or in some PM's.


Remember that serp set up that I put on mine......Ugly.. Eric ended up with it for free.. They just don't look right in a 1st gen.

Old thread that helped me

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145512&highlight=serpentine+belts




By the way...this is cool and you're going to end up fat from all of the cookies that you eat on the darkside. Muahahahahah

You guys are killing me with all of your bad/awesome ideas...

I really like a serp belt though. V belts just suck. Plus, most people can't see over my grille anyways

 

[80' 427]

Idk, I would at least go with a name brand head. If I did it, it would be GM or AFR. GM because you should be able to find someone getting rid of a set of recs off a 502 or 454 for cheap. Rec aren' great for torque but will be fine. Otherwise I would look at AFRs.

 

[thatK30guy]

By the way...this is cool and you're going to end up fat from all of the cookies that you eat on the darkside. Muahahahahah

Been a fat bastard for years now with no complaints.

 

[Z71paramedic]

BTW, Mike, what hooker headers are you talking about? How much were they? I was hoping to be able to get some less crazy-spensive headers...

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Big Block threads make Mikey happy...

 

[NorCal69]

BTW, Mike, what hooker headers are you talking about? How much were they? I was hoping to be able to get some less crazy-spensive headers...

2010.08.14 - UPDATE! - IN THE GARAGE HAVING FUN WITH HOOKERS...

Hmmm...looks like I have everyone's attention.

Yes, the new Hooker Headers arrived (P/N: 2455HKR) and it was time to get them bolted up. These new replacements are a 2" primary with a ~34" primary length and a 3.5" collector. This is exactly what the GM Performance manual for the 502 calls for, so I won't be leaving any power on the table.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-2455hkr

 

[Z71paramedic]

That's glorious news! Happy again!!!

 

[AJs72K5]

Sean - As Mike pointed out those hookers are by no means bolt ons. They're well made and inexpensive, but plan to spend a lot of time reworking Kert's motor mounts and crossmember, or moving tubes on the headers.

FWIW, I'm running March pulleys and brackets to run serpentine belts. Not cheap, but they look nice and seem to function well.

Camquest says mine specs out at 515 HP and 580 TQ. Mind you....I've yet to turn the damn motor over yet.

 

[Z71paramedic]

See that part has me worried a bit. I'm obviously alright with some work going into making things fit, but I don't want the truck to be down for a long time for this swap. I'm still not totally convinced a strongly built smallblock isn't the way to go... All I'd need to do is buy some parts and bolt them together and can still pull around 500 ft/lbs with less weight. I'm seriously torn still.

 

[NorCal69]

See that part has me worried a bit. I'm obviously alright with some work going into making things fit, but I don't want the truck to be down for a long time for this swap. I'm still not totally convinced a strongly built smallblock isn't the way to go... All I'd need to do is buy some parts and bolt them together and can still pull around 500 ft/lbs with less weight. I'm seriously torn still.

Eh.... You know that you don't want to go backwards.. You even say it here..

From 04-09-2012

I love cookies...and I'm easily peer pressured... Dammit, I'm gonna end up with a big block

And here is the only thing that you need to do. Post 202-215

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225250&page=21


And here is the PM from Kert.

"yep, I can do that. Looks like we went up 9/16" for him. Not a problem. $25 is the going rate for those pieces. Fit in a medium flat rate.

Kert "


Now stop being a puss and get out the credit card.

 

[Z71paramedic]

Seriously, you're a bad influence...

I've got the green light on it, but I do want to budget as well as I can. Otherwise I'd just buy a turnkey 502...I just don't have 12g's laying around...

 

[nvrenuf]

Maybe I missed it but may I ask what the budget is? With all this talk of roller cam set up and aftermarket heads this could go big quick. I know I just spent $4500 on a carb'd 454 and already had the block, 781 heads and steel crank. Had I needed to go buy efi, a short block and aftermarket heads I might not have been far off from the cost of a $12k RJ502.

 

[Z71paramedic]

Maybe I missed it but may I ask what the budget is? With all this talk of roller cam set up and aftermarket heads this could go big quick. I know I just spent $4500 on a carb'd 454 and already had the block, 781 heads and steel crank. Had I needed to go buy efi, a short block and aftermarket heads I might not have been far off from the cost of a $12k RJ502.

II was hoping to have a total budget of around 7k. I have seen a few gen vi motors around here for around 500 - 600, and figure I can reuse the crank and rods at least, and hopefully pistons, oil pan, etc.

 

[AJs72K5]

Love it Mike.... I'm being quoted as a reference. I tried to document everything as much as I could

Post #247 in my build has the full details on the mods I made to Kert's xmember to make it work. But, seriously, the fact that you're even putting it out on the table....MIGHT AS WELL do it. DOOOO IT!

 

[max 02]

Subscribed!

 

[Greg72]

Sean,

If you are building for torque and low-RPM, you will save a ton of money on this build.

Aluminum heads are great for power, but I'd say they are a waste of money unless you want a big HP number on the top end. Spending $3000 for the weight savings seems foolish to me.... a set of 049 or 781 iron heads can be re-worked with larger valves and will give you PLENTY of torque for your application, and at a much more wallet-friendly price.

I don't think you need massive CFM numbers on your EFI system either. Again that is more of a peak-HP consideration, and I'll bet you could feed a BBC with 500CFM-600CFM pretty well if you weren't trying to spin it above 5500RPM anyway.

A lot of the really expensive parts are a result of wanting high RPM, or high HP (or both)... if you play the BBC game correctly you should be able to use much more common (and affordable parts) to get reasonable RPM capability and great bottom-end torque numbers. Using a milder cam will help your bottom-end, and will be more friendly for EFI tuning too.

This is one of those rare occasions where I'd say NOT to indulge the "Might As Wells"..... a hardcore, all-out BBC motor will cost you a ton of extra money but won't necessarily be better for your intended application. If you decide to start doing sand drags or whatever, then you can start worrying about aluminum heads, forged internals and all the other (really) expensive chit.

My vote is to get a solid, almost stock 454 short/longblock and make a few select upgrades (aluminum dualplane intake, for example).... throw your preferred EFI setup on it with a set of headers and peel the "f" out.

-G

 

[Z71paramedic]

Sean,

If you are building for torque and low-RPM, you will save a ton of money on this build.

Aluminum heads are great for power, but I'd say they are a waste of money unless you want a big HP number on the top end. Spending $3000 for the weight savings seems foolish to me.... a set of 049 or 781 iron heads can be re-worked with larger valves and will give you PLENTY of torque for your application, and at a much more wallet-friendly price.

I don't think you need massive CFM numbers on your EFI system either. Again that is more of a peak-HP consideration, and I'll bet you could feed a BBC with 500CFM-600CFM pretty well if you weren't trying to spin it above 5500RPM anyway.

A lot of the really expensive parts are a result of wanting high RPM, or high HP (or both)... if you play the BBC game correctly you should be able to use much more common (and affordable parts) to get reasonable RPM capability and great bottom-end torque numbers. Using a milder cam will help your bottom-end, and will be more friendly for EFI tuning too.

This is one of those rare occasions where I'd say NOT to indulge the "Might As Wells"..... a hardcore, all-out BBC motor will cost you a ton of extra money but won't necessarily be better for your intended application. If you decide to start doing sand drags or whatever, then you can start worrying about aluminum heads, forged internals and all the other (really) expensive chit.

My vote is to get a solid, almost stock 454 short/longblock and make a few select upgrades (aluminum dualplane intake, for example).... throw your preferred EFI setup on it with a set of headers and peel the "f" out.

-G

I'll see what I can come up with over the next few days here and report back. I do know I'm not concerned about high RPM or hp. I was under the impression that aluminum heads were more important than that for torque #s too.

 

[80' 427]

For torque even peanuts ports work good.