I am prepping to buy the last of my paint supplied and paint next weekend. I get paid next Thursday! I need a rear valance panel and I found this guy in town selling one. I get there it isnt as nice as I wanted it to be but this guy has tons of chevelle and el camino parts. TONS OF engines, he has a 454 .60 over which is what I want. The only thing I wouldnt do If I built it was whats in it, which isnt bad. But check it out.

454 .60 over stock GM crank, Pistons and connecting rods, all turns find, no cam or anything else. $350 which I think is a steal, it looks really solid, turns, cylinder walls look real good. There is a thick coat of GM orange paint on the block though so I cant tell if there are any hairline cracks, he said its a good engine though. I think it came out of a 73-74 Chevelle? But I may be backing up my paint a paycheck to get this, a 454+ project is my other main project. graemlins/beers.gif

What do you guys think? Should I snag it? What to check for? Should I take it appart and make a 496 if so? It looks like a good bolt on, time and drop in motor.... ok enough from me.
Any comments are appreciated smile.gif

I kick myself every time I get the chance for not going to a 496 two years ago when I had the engine apart, all it ended up getting was a .002 overbore and a re-ring, new cam and a dyno pull. I don't know why I didn't, very dumb of me..
With the prices for new cranks, rods and pistons so close to the same stuff for a 454-468, there is almost no reason not to.
I think a hyd. roller 6000rpm 496 would be a killer street/strip motor.
If you are going to replace the parts, do it the way you know you want to-- not what is "prudent" or "frugal," you will just kick yourself for not doing then when you could have. Seeing as I already was going to have everythign rebalanced and checked out, new pistons and a new crank would have just been frosting on the cake, and I already had 6.385 rods..
Can't argue with torque, not in our boats..

My .02

Matt

Sounds like your on a tight budget. If the guy says its a runner and after close inspection (checking a rod and main bearing for wear). I would run it as is. Going from a 350 to a decent 454 (U dont say what kinda pistons flat tops dome etc.) will be a big difference. Then at a later day when U have more cash U can start your 496 buildup. It sounds like running the shortblock would put your big block dreams 3-4 months closer. Its kinda a shame to tear apart a good shortblock, especially since U would only use the block. But if your hearts set on a stroker 496 Im sure the guy would have a bare block at a good price also.

$350 for good parts is a deal. Don't "need" a 496, '468 is fine.

Ditto what Gene said...I'm not sure why,but seems most 496's pretty much run the same as a good 468...if you're gonna go big,go at least 540. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks guys :D Well I recently built my 350, not a ground up, just new manifold, cam, timing gears, distributor, a surface rebuild.... The idea of a 496 sounds so nice is all, Im not big into the track, I may be if I had a BBC ;) But a .60 over 454 with stock crank, is that a 468 or a 489? I think this may be just find for a good street performer.

a .060 over .454 is a .468. I just did a .030 over .454 (.461) and I paid $400 for just the bare block.

Dont trust anything or anyone. disassemble the short block and check all tolorences. Verify everything is between the high and low limit for wear. nothing is worst than getting all pumped to fire an engine you have spent to much money on and have problems.

Originally posted by lwop2000:
a .060 over .454 is a .468. I just did a .030 over .454 (.461) and I paid $400 for just the bare block.

Dont trust anything or anyone. disassemble the short block and check all tolorences. Verify everything is between the high and low limit for wear. nothing is worst than getting all pumped to fire an engine you have spent to much money on and have problems. Technically a .030 454 is 460ci. To calculate the displacement of an engine use the following formula:
pi/4 x bore squared x stroke x # of cylinders

.7853982(pi/4) x 4.280 (4.250 + .030 overbore) x 4 (4" stroke) x 8 (8 cylinders) = 460.33406464

Not trying to be picky, just clarifying the matter and showing people that may not otherwise know how to arrive at the displacement of an engine.

$350 is a BARGAIN for an entire short block assuming the parts are good. Around here a decent 454 block will bring $300+. You could likely sell the cast crank/rods on Ebay if you were in the market for forged parts down the road. Having said that, the factory stuff will stand tons of abuse. Check the casting numbers to make certain what vehicle it came out of. Wouldn't want to end up with a truck motor.

If it looks good and checks out,I'd throw in a fresh set of bearings,a nice solid flat tappet cam,and a pair of closed chamber heads graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Stout 468" street rat for cheap! ( if it all checks and KNOW what type of head you can use with the pistons you have before you spend anything on heads.) You do the cam/compression right ( 'wee bit HAIRY!) :D ) and get nice heads on there, those combinations are in the 11's.

Hey everyone graemlins/hurray.gif Well I dont trust anyone for starters, in the used market pretty much. But Id be closer to trusting this dude than not. I think he likes his repuation for selling lots of stuff. If I get this setup I should probably have it tanked or baked, get all this paint off, make sure its clean under it, plus I hate the color wouldnt match anything im doing :D So this would be a 468 right? Anything bored over 454+ is going to make me very happy. So what should I do @ the machine shop with it, balance, clean? Get the paint off?

So what do you fellas think? :D

I think the price is very good for what you describe. If I ran into that motor here I would already have it stored in my shop.....

I would definately ask the guy for some sort of guarantee. Or ask him if you can have your machine shop check it out.
At the very least, look at all of the rod and main bearings.
I bought a 454 block once for a steal of a deal $200. Stuck it away for a spare.......then decided to make my 396 Chevelle a 454 car. Well, the machinist calls me and says the rear main is burned so bad, the block was junk. And the guy who sold it to me? Nowhere to be found.

Deals like this are a wierd thing....so if you feel the least bit wrong about it....you know what to do. How does that phrese go? Let the buyer beware?

Good luck!

Ron

Dude I've gotten many 454 out of P-N-P, I think it's around 200 for a complete with all the accessories. The same guy that painted my Velle had two in his garage. One 2 bolt and one 4 bolt both with zero ridge and stock low compression pistons. He got the 4 bolt on half price day, I was there when he pulled it but I already have two spares. If I remember correctly he wants under 500 for each.

Hey... whats PNP, are we talking about the same guy? He lives in Orangvale too. Yeah I'll see if I can have it checked out at the shop first, is that expensive?

No I mean Pick-N-Pull junkyard. I didn't know there was a guy in Ovale with a lot of chevelle parts.

this is only my opinion. here goes unless you have an open ended budget . finnish the body. paint interior ect.the 350 is a decent motor that can produce good performace. it is known that you can have 7grand in a big block before you realize it. there will be other deals out there if you put your heart before your brain and (pocket book) you will get in trouble. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Around here in IL you almost have to buy a whole truck to get a 454. I would grab it. I have $3000 to $4000 in my 489 (.30 over with 4.25 stroke). Loads of torque and internal balanced it pulls hard to 6000. I should have put in a hydraulic roller and an UD/Lunati cam. But it runs hard with just 781 oval ports and 10:1. I needed a crank so I bought a whole balanced rotating asssembly from Jegs.

Buy it and start saving go for the extra cubes. It like going from a 427 to a 454.

i to am a big block user .but i will tell you this . be careful of the so called mouse! its a beast in a lambs coat.you get a 406 or some of the new bigbore smallblocks that have the 454 cubes in a very short stroke. dangerious man . but i to still love the smooth drivable torque of the bigblock. :cool:

Whittaker, which UD/Lunati hydraulic roller cam should you have used in your 489?

Just curious because I also will be building a 489 stroker for the street later on this year hopefully.

Charles

Its not what cam do you want to run,what ET do you want to run ;)
..then pick your cam,and the components to support it.

I would call UD Harold and have him custom grind one based on my car. Stall speed, , intake, carb, weight, rear gears, tire size, etc. I'm pretty happy now but I wish........

You should spend it once then you won't be like me wishing I had done it when I should have. Now I'll wait till I get my other car up and going and may not get to it. Plus I need to run down the track and see what it does now. I'm afraid my 10 bolt will break if I do.