Bottom line up front: I do not know anything about the mechanics of a car, especially under the hood.

Now that we got that out of the way, I recenty bought a '70 Chevelle that is in the process of being restored. It has a 454 that was taken out of a late '70s pickup truck that runs well as it is now, but I am guessing it is not built for speed.

Here is my question, I see all this talk about cams. headers, carbs, intakes, etc. What do you recommend I put into it for the restoration. I WILL NOT be taking this to the strip or racing it. I probably won't go to shows/events either. I am not looking to spend too much money on the engine as most of it is going to the body and interior. I would like to stay as "original" looking as possible with the car. Just don't want to do anything to it that will obvisously hurt the value of the car. Included is the only pics that I have. Thanks!

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9878/cimg0860tn8.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0860tn8.jpg)http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/55/17752207tl8.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=17752207tl8.jpg)

I have never been good at spending just a little money to make it just a little better. To me the options are spend a bunch and make it real nice, or run it as is.
One observation, the first pic, there is a ballast resistor on the firewall (white porcien deal) and you have an HEI distributer. Wiers are not conected so I don't know what the plans where but you do not want to feed the HEI thru the ballast resistor, it lowers voltage to abt 9 and HEI wants 12.

Thanks Dave. Yeah that first picture was taken with the car as-is; no work done to it all. It is going to be hooked up properly.

Just wondering if you guys had around $1k or so, what would you invest in under the hood. Thanks.

IMO,if you want a clean stock look, I would just clean it up some. Get rid of that carb spacer, get a nice dual feed fuel line for the carb, make sure the motor is painted nice everywhere, media blast the intake and paint it to match the motor or clear powder coat. Looks like you need to clean that water pump up also.

I would also get some stock height valve covers(chrome or painted), get some black alternator brackets, a black radiator cover, new hoses, and stick with exhaust manifolds instead of headers. They will give you alot more dependable service since you said you are mechanically challenged. Then have some new exhaust bent.

Inner fenders headers and cooling system clean the rest. Come back when you can spend more:thumbsup: