what parts for the 454

[freeflow]

starting to research what parts i wanna get for the 454.
Its a 84 454 in a book i got it says 210 hp and 340 torque, thats kinda wimpy lol.
and since my burban is gonna be heavy and not gonna be a daily driver i wanna get some good power out of it. Looking for like 450 torque and 450 hp.

I have seen the term peanut heads on here, so im guessing im not gonna be able 2 get the numbers i want out of those heads.

I want your suggestions on what parts 2 get cam, intake manifold, heads, pistons, should i keep the stock crank or get a performance one?

Looking for mostly low end grunt not gonna be racing the truck or setting any land speed records lol
some pics of the truck so far
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2170477
brad

 

[sweetk30]

get a set of 761 heads. thay are the last 3 # in the casting. very comon and large ovel port and large chamber heads. great for bottom end power. then get any thing other than stock cam. best would be a bottom end cam as big blocks dont like high rpm in stockish form. i have liked comp 4x4 cams. and dont forget valve springs. any time you change cam from stock in big block thay need changed. old wont work with bigger cams. thay bind and break.

good aftermarket intake duel plane will be fine. if you want to do it all. best would be about 9 to 1 comp. good street to power and good for octane friendly gas also.

you might want to check your heads for the casting # if you cant find any info post up and we will help . good luck.

 

[b454rat]

Buy this for $3000. For what it would cost to build a motor, you could have this.

 

[DEMON44]

get a set of 761 heads. thay are the last 3 # in the casting. very comon and large ovel port and large chamber heads. great for bottom end power. then get any thing other than stock cam. best would be a bottom end cam as big blocks dont like high rpm in stockish form. i have liked comp 4x4 cams. and dont forget valve springs. any time you change cam from stock in big block thay need changed. old wont work with bigger cams. thay bind and break.

good aftermarket intake duel plane will be fine. if you want to do it all. best would be about 9 to 1 comp. good street to power and good for octane friendly gas also.

you might want to check your heads for the casting # if you cant find any info post up and we will help . good luck.

Im sure it was a typo, but he's gonna want 781 head castings.

 

[freeflow]

is the number im looking for inside the heads? like next to the springs?
I looked and i found a 346236 number

what 454's came with the 781 heads? can i get them anywhere besides a junk yard like order new ones?

brad

 

[DEMON44]

Sorry to break it to you with that # you got '75-'78 peanut port heads. Junk.


lots of 454s between '73-'85 came with 336781 heads. 353049's are good too, find them between '70-'73.


I just sold a set of 781 heads a couple months ago. They're around, but all BBC stuff is getting rarer every day. I don't think you can buy new oem castings, but you can of course buy aftermarket cast heads that are near stock or just better.

 

[freeflow]

lol yeah i figured the heads were junk oh well.
What would be good aftermarket heads to get?
should i keep the stock crank and get new pistons, heads, cam, valves, bearings, intake
What about carb, its got a quadrajet will that work ok? or should i step up im guessing ill need something that flows more

What the end product of the truck is gonna be-454-400-205 14 bolt, dana 60, i think im gonna go with 5.13 gears and 39-40" ground hawgs

brad

 

[mountainexplorer]

Yeah, 781 heads or 049 heads are good flowing heads. I had a pair of 781s on a 396 and 049s on a 454 and both motors had good power and ran excellent. Every time I see those peanut port heads now, I scheme a way to get rid of them in a hurry. I won't run them.

I have a couple pairs of closed chamber heads I have to run on a couple big blocks, which is a way to gain some HP; but then you need to run higher octane fuel at all times- and it's hard to find closed chamber heads to begin with. A pair of open chamber oval port heads like the 781s or 049s would be just fine and better for low end torque than bumping up the compression ratio.

My 454 that had 049 heads was just a .030 over bore block with flattop pistons, cast crank, Comp 268HE cam, and Edelbrock Performer intake; and I was pleased with it's power. I know it wasn't 400 hp or anything, but it ran strong. That cam isn't even the ideal 4x4 cam and only had .485 lift.

A friend of mine was running a Comp Xtreme 4x4 with .544/.564 lift in his 488 stroker and was pleased with it. His motor was Dyno'd at the 460+hp range and loads of torque over 500ft/lbs (if I remember right). It was a .030 over 454 block with flattops, 98cc chamber heads with larger valves (can't remember the size but they barely fit in the chanber), stroker crank, and air gap intake.

 

[Burt4x4]

YYYEEEEHAAAAAAAAABBC!!
I have a freash one and LoveIt!
Got a running when pulled 454 fer 175 bucks
30 over 454 w/781 heads and oversized stainless valves.. 2.19intake & 1.88exhaust, steel rockers. The cam is a Comp cam w/gross lift @ .505, Keath Black pistons, stock crank. Balanced from dampner to flywheel. I went for broke and bought Edelbrock's MPFI setup to go on top
Other items like Thorleys, Mallory EFI ignition, 1" cog belt, etc...
Build for lowend continuious duty (balancing & match all parts) and end up

looing like this:

 

[freeflow]

very very nice, how much power does it put out? what was the total cost? did u do most the work yourself or have it done at a shop?

brad

 

[Burt4x4]

very very nice, how much power does it put out? what was the total cost? did u do most the work yourself or have it done at a shop?

brad

Don't know how much power I have yet...soon I plan to take it into a dyno shop and have them fine tune my MPFI plus find out what kinda numbers this thing is makin
I had the long block rebuilt by 4x4High (memeber here and at Nor Cal Off-Road). He did all the block work and head work for me. After I got the long block back I put it in my 72 and assembled the rest.
The cost...well I haven't offically added it all up..I'm not sure I want too hahahha. I collected parts for months & months...Over 4K - 5K (so much for my original plan to do a budget build up)... the FI alone was 2200 bucks. I bought everything new that I could too so that added to the bill alot.

I upgraded to AutoMeter gauges in my cluster and converted to Hydro clutch, I also upgraded my brakes to 1ton. New exahust,new flywheel and clutch assy too...so I kind of went all out for the SBC to BBC swap
So far it has been worth every penny.. when this thing runs it purrs and doen't shake at all..just spins nice and smooooth and FI's throttle responce is increadable, Zero hesitation! Awesome! No more carbs for me

 

[freeflow]

well i think im gonna look for a set of 781 heads i guess, since i dont wanna spend $1500 on new heads from jegs of summit lol.

If i go with 781 heads- new valves and springs, aftermarket intake and comp extreme 4x4 cam how much power u think i would get out of that combo?
For the cam im looking at the comp extreme 4x4 5.05/5.05 cam would that be a good cam for the motor- low end grunt?
and should i go with new pistons 2?
and im guessing i should get a new carb unless the quadrajet will work good enough but i dont have any clue about that lol.

Gonna try to keep the total cost as low as i can otherwise i would just get a gm performance 454 h.o.

ALSO WHAT COLOR COMBO FOR THE BURBAN? im thinking black with like silver accents

Brad

 

[Burt4x4]

I am no gear head so I don't know what kinda power thoes parts will give you. Better than stock that is for sure

I use to run Edelbrock Q-Jet 750cfm and I had real good luck with that 4barrel. It worked real well off-road for me. If I was to ever buy another crab, NOT , it would be another Q-jet from Edlebrock...it ran great for years right out of the box. Summit has the best pricing on them. Don't ever buy a square body Edelbrock, they are for cars and do not work off-road.

Cost will sneek up on you quick...sooo many cool parts out there to buy. Yes if you do a rebuild I would want the shortblock nice and freash(new pistons/rings & a freash bore) like the rest of the engine. I hate doing things twice so that is the main reason my 2month long SBC to BBC swap took me 1 year instead...I couldn't stop upgrading everything, but I knew I wanted to make it reliable and done...don't want to do it again

Anyway good luck on your build. If you do rebuild instead of going crate then I suggest haveing the engine balanced and MATCH all your parts so you know they will work well togeather...you will have a stump pullin RAT!
RATT TAT TAT RAAAAAATTTTTT
So much fun to be had....hahhaahah
Later
Burt

 

[marv_springer]

Gonna try to keep the total cost as low as i can otherwise i would just get a gm performance 454 h.o.

I built mine really close to the same specs as the HO 454. It goes like a mutha...!

 

[marv_springer]

Freeflow....

Did ya see this???

Marv

 

[marv_springer]

Freeflow....

Did ya see this???

Marv

 

[freeflow]

well pretty much got the whole motor taken apart now, just gotta get the tool 2 remove the balancer then pull the crank and start cleaning the grease off.

Now for a crank, should i try 2 reuse the stock one, or just get a new one?

and im not sure if i should go with a cast crank or a forged crank- i know the forged one is stronger but also $400 more than a cast one.
what do u all think

brad

 

[greywolf]

i'm in the same boat you are but i have 781 heads and gonna use the stock crank.now what about the oiling system my buddy said it sucks on the top end

 

[mtnman210]

I'm in the same boat as the rest of you in this thread. I've run into nothing but problems with the 454 the I'm going to build. I figured I check the head numbers and find one more thing I'm gonna have to toss but I ended up with the 049's. they may not be the best but atleast they're not the junk heads. I'm going to try and build off the specs as the HO crate motor with a littler personal tweaking.

 

[greywolf]

check the free section on pirate i got a moroso oil pan/pump,intake and a chrome timing cover for free .