Are there any advantages to going full floating in a 468 that will stay under 6500 rpms? Will Eagle H beam rods hold up or use the stock 454 rods with new bolts? What pistons? the guy that wants to do my motor is recommending speed pro,but seems like Wiseco or J&E would be a better choice. All my engine builds before have been stock lower ends with cam,headers,intake,carb and ignition upgrades...aint got to do much to them big blocks smile.gif The 781's are being done now,cam(Comp 645/661,286/292@.015,248/254@.050,107 lsa,billet core w/cast iron gear)) is purchased along with Crower lifters,springs,retainers and locks,just trying to get ideas on the rest of the stuff. I'm thinking Eagle H beams or Crower sportsman,but will use the stock rods if they'll hold up,not sure on pistons yet, it will be align honed,decked,bored w/deck plate and balanced. TIA

The advantage of floaters is you can R&R them yourself. Pressed need to go to a shop. Not a DIY job. I doubt there is much, if any, performance advantage.

I'm with Pat. I had mine changed over to full floaters just so I could take them apart easier. Just don't jam that little circular clip into your thumb. You'll get blood all over your shiny pistons, ask me how I know :rolleyes:
That's quite a cam you picked out. What is going to be your true calculated CR?

My motor, for example, could use either press fit rods which were $130, or floating rods which were only $170. Pistons were the same price for either pressed or floating. The labor to install the pistons to the rods was $45. So for an extra $5, I might as well upgrade to floaters.

Floating

It will have 10.5-1 minimum 11-1 maximum compression. I'm still not sure about this guy,he's a big block guy,got a quick truck with a 540 in it,but seems a little on the high side at just under 3600.00 to build the shortblock which does not include the heads,,,but does include new rods,pistons,7 qt.pan,pump,pickup,clevite 77's,align hone,deck,mag and check crank and block,bore with head plate, balance,and assembly, I'm not sure on this price because I've never had a real motor built before :D does this seem about right?

Seems a bit high to me. Especially with SpeedPro TRW pistons. They are quite heavy. If this price includes a couple mockups with careful clearancing the price might be OK.

I agree thats a very steep price. If money is a concern I would do it myself and save the money for the goods parts like Wiseco Pistons. I just finish rebuilding a SBC 400 and had to do alot of clearancing. If an engine builder has to do clearancing the price will get real high real quick. A local engine builder wanted to charge me $50.00 hour to clearance my block which had 6" rods. This would have push beyond my available budget and thats without the $500.00 to assembly. I ended up doing it myself and I had a lot of clearancing to do: oil pan rails, Cylinder, oil pump shaft, roller rockers, windage screen. Could you just imagine what the cost would have been in the end. :rolleyes:
I decieded to do it myself with the nice books (Vizard & others) I have and the help of people at Team Chevelle, she is looking real good and I hope to have her on the dyno for breakin before 1 July and thats a $300.00 base price (break-in, adjust timing,and 3 pulls), but that price can go up if you want to try different parts and combination.
Final answer is to do it yourself if time allows. graemlins/beers.gif

Hmmm...have to agree with the boys,although I wouldn't call it "very steep", just a bit high. I'd say with bushed rod ends and SRP/JE level slugs ( about $175 more than TRWs)it would look like a better price tag.

I opted to have it fully machined AND assembled. The labor bill was near $1800 all told. Which includced cc'ing, dusting and new radius valve job. ( curious to see if that holds up to my street miles). Plus $400 in misc parts/gaskets, plus the SRPs( and rings as they come with custom file fit rings) and NOS GM crank I bought.

Bob,

That build price does seem a little high.

If you are going to go to the effort and expense that you are I would go ahead and spring for the Crower Sportsman rods and JE/SRP/Wiseco pistons.

Should be a screamer. Good Luck.