Ok. I have been driving my Nova with a 402 for awhile now and I am thinking its time to start getting parts for the .060" over 454. I was going to build a small block, but I just can't leave the big block now that I have started! I'm hooked! So, here is what I am currently thinking:

'74 454 block .060" over
'70 454 steel crank
truck rods with ARP bolts
Speed Pro dome hypereutectic pistons 25cc dome
049 heads, 2.19/1.88 valves, bowl hogged, ~10:1 static
XE274H cam 274/286 adv. 230/236 @.050" .552"/.555" lift
1.7 ratio Crane stamped rockers
Edelbrock Performer 2-O intake
Holley 3310 750cfm vacuum secondary carb
1-3/4" headers
2-1/2" exhaust w/Flowmaster 40 series mufflers
TH400 with TransGO kit
3.08 locker rearend
235/60/15 Drag radials
car is 3460lb w/driver and full tank of gas

I want to keep the 3.08s. I'd like to try and hit the mid-12s on them. Kind of like mr 4 speed and his highway gears. I was pondering the merits of going to maybe a smaller dome piston(roughly 9.5:1 static) and using a high-260-ish duration cam instead. Maybe for a better match to the 3.08s? My only thought with the XE274 and 10:1 is my other Nova has a 383 small block, XE268 cam, 10:1 compression and 3.31 gears. And it definetaly does not feel overcammed. This car will have 85 more cubes to help it along. What do you think, better big cam or small cam?

I like the 274 cam,,,3" exhaust and Performer RPM intake myself.

I like bigger cams, and would prefer having a solid flat tappet as well, a 468 should have close to .600 net lift and you should certainly consider using 2 inch headers also. theres no more fuss involved with them than the 1-3/4 and you get the benefit of the better size, IMO.
john

Stay with the smaller headers for sure. A motor with the rpm range that motor will work at will want the smaller headers. As far as the cam I would lean towards the larger one, but I might try both. The 468 will want some air so you never know. Those 3.08's will want to grunt against the motor so the smaller cam might be the ticket.

454 with an XE274 and 3.08's will be fine.
My 383 pulls them just fine w/150 lbs more.
You might want a little more stall. Not sure on a 454, but my 383 needs more than the 12" 2k I have to idle in gear. Not that it needs more off the line. When I had it on the chasis dyno, it flashed it to about 2800 by the look of the graph.

Careful on the hogged bowl. My 781's ended up at 124cc. I compared them to a stock set and about an 1/8" per side was taken out of the chamber.
I'd go with the 1 7/8" as a compromise. And 3" from the collector to the muffler. What if you decide to go bigger later on the cam.
And you don't need a steel crank at this level unless your going to use N20.

And I didn't base that on the fact that I need a 454 crank if you want to sell that steel one. My 3 yr old knocked both of mine over into each other and then onto the engine stand.
Ruined my balanced fresh 2399 rotating assembly crank that was .020 under. And dinged one rod journal on my std crank. For what it will cost me to fix, I'd consider a good steel crank.

I run almost the same exact combo. .030 454 with KB#207 hyper pistons(LS-6 type). the block has not been decked and the heads cc'd to 117. I use the big moroso pan with windage tray and had the whole assembly balanced from dampner to flywheel.
I'm figuring about 10.2-10.5 compression with the felpro permatorque head gasket. also heads are #781 castings with 2.19-1.88 valves with very little bowl porting. I topped all that with an old edelbrock C-396 with a gm heat shield under it and the heat passages blocked. I rebuilt an old 4779 holley dp carb with 75p and 76s jets. timing is set at 35 deg's total and i'm not using vacuum advance in the unilite dist. the 274H cam makes about 12-13" of vacuum at a 800-900 rpm idle and operates my power brakes perfectably. for plugs I run ACr44ts.
car makes great torque. i run a transmission specialities 10"LS xhd converter. I THINK that if you run a tight 10" converter the 3.08 gears might not hurt you as much as you have a lighter car(mine is 3800#'s with driver). i have not tun a DCR on my motor but comp tech told me I WOULD have detonation issues. so far no evidence of that. I would think that in a nova with a set of good slapper bars and decent front suspension you could go mid 12's on that combo with some tuning. remember this is 1 man's experience and take it for whats its worth. good luck mike.