dittoz
Jul 1st, 04, 11:29 AM
Okay, here goes with the dumb question routine again...
We're just about to get busy with a 454 truck motor that came with our '70 velle, but there are quite a few questions first...
We'll tear down the motor and have it hot-tanked first of course - it sat out without an intake on it for a couple years and thus far we've pulled a mass of leaves and a baseball-sized mouse nest from the innards. Fortunately, upon pulling the heads we find that the cylinders and pistons only have a few spots of light oxidation since one bank of cylinders is goobed up with assembly lube. The cam also is covered in lube, as is the crank and the flat-top pistons. Apparently, someone had this motor apart and then slapped at least one old head on it just to close it up. Not sure what all they did, but the bottom end looks pretty clean, as if the crank was out too. The cylinders have no shoulder, so perhaps they were honed... dunno.
Anyway, I suspect it's also got an aftermarket cam in it based on the seller's sketchy info, but have no clue as to what it is nor how to identify. Based on the numbers, it seems to be a 1985 2-bolt 454 truck block with oval-port heads.
Needless to say, we want everything for it and want to pay nothing. In a more realistic world though, we first need to learn the basics of cams, intakes, compression and carbs. Is there a source out there (besides here!) that anyone can recommend? "How to Hotrod..." seems like one decent reference, but I suspect it'll wind up being a combination of sources. After assessing the block, we figure to at least identify the cam, decide if it needs replacing, then we'll look in to an intake and carb, heads and/or valves as well as spark and the exhaust system.
So, obviously this is a little too wide to hope for specific recommendations on combinations, but what sources do you have/use to get an education on this sort of thing?
Thanks!
-curt
We're just about to get busy with a 454 truck motor that came with our '70 velle, but there are quite a few questions first...
We'll tear down the motor and have it hot-tanked first of course - it sat out without an intake on it for a couple years and thus far we've pulled a mass of leaves and a baseball-sized mouse nest from the innards. Fortunately, upon pulling the heads we find that the cylinders and pistons only have a few spots of light oxidation since one bank of cylinders is goobed up with assembly lube. The cam also is covered in lube, as is the crank and the flat-top pistons. Apparently, someone had this motor apart and then slapped at least one old head on it just to close it up. Not sure what all they did, but the bottom end looks pretty clean, as if the crank was out too. The cylinders have no shoulder, so perhaps they were honed... dunno.
Anyway, I suspect it's also got an aftermarket cam in it based on the seller's sketchy info, but have no clue as to what it is nor how to identify. Based on the numbers, it seems to be a 1985 2-bolt 454 truck block with oval-port heads.
Needless to say, we want everything for it and want to pay nothing. In a more realistic world though, we first need to learn the basics of cams, intakes, compression and carbs. Is there a source out there (besides here!) that anyone can recommend? "How to Hotrod..." seems like one decent reference, but I suspect it'll wind up being a combination of sources. After assessing the block, we figure to at least identify the cam, decide if it needs replacing, then we'll look in to an intake and carb, heads and/or valves as well as spark and the exhaust system.
So, obviously this is a little too wide to hope for specific recommendations on combinations, but what sources do you have/use to get an education on this sort of thing?
Thanks!
-curt