Hah, ok well. It isnt new. Its a greese ball mess, but I cant wait to crack into this thing. It came out of an 89' Chevy. The block number is tough to read I cant read the middle numbers very well, but from what it begins and ends with only one matches up - heres what I think I read: The X's are ones I cant read well.

100XX286
(mortec)10069286...454.......90-91...4-bolt, Mark IV, Short deck
The only one starting with 1 and ending in 286, must be the one.

As for the heads:
14092360...86-88...oval...OPEN...454 Truck, "peanut" round ports

Ive heard LOTS about peanut port/ round port heads, are these good for a good street build up? They need a valve job but look pretty good so far. I just got this beast home, it came with a 700R4 Tranny, both were running, the engine had no compression though, dead flat cam/ valves. If anyone needs a 700R4 let me know ;) Well anyways im excited. :D

:cool:

The peanut port heads make lots of low end torque, but they aren't exactly a performance part. They just don't have the runner size to support any meaningful amount of RPMs. You'd probably be happier with a set of large oval heads. There are some nice aftermarket choices too.

Sounds like a good score. If I remember correctly from your previous post you got this whole thing for quite a bargain price.

Yeah he needed it gone and lived in the middle of nowhere, it came with a box of misc. Brackets and pulleys, alt, carb, some stuff ill toss, but I ended up getting everything for $180 smile.gif Im going to Seattle for 4 days, now I have to wait to play with my new toy. Errrr, I'll look into the heads too, Ive seen a couple sets of heads lately on BBC's with this: I dont know the terminology here but the holes where the oil leaks through into the lifter bay, the hole looks like a little chunk is missing, an uneven hole. I dont see it as a big problem, but what do I know!

The hole in the far corner oposite side of the firewall, near the grill. And the lifter bay, those long ports where oil leaks onto the cam, those also look a little chewed up, should I grind that before I take it to the machine shop? Clean it up a bit. Its strange the cam is so much closer to the lifter bay that a small block, its like RIGHT THERE. The cam seems so far down in a small block. I had a 454 about 4 years ago in a 75' checy pickup, loved that truck, I blew it though. I didnt mess with engines then though, but anyways. I'll take some pics.

180 bucks ? :eek:

There is a good chance thats a forged crank too.

You made the steal of a lifetime my friend.

I won't tell you what I paid for a 2 bolt truck motor with a cast crank.

Congrats on the BBC......I new you wanted it over the small block. Sounds like a tasty block, and well may have a nice steel crank. Pull the pan and check the parting line, wide and flat is a sure sign of a forged steel crank, it will also have ID numbers on it that you can reference at the Mortec site. Plan on scoring some differrent heads 781 / 049 GM iron large ovals is what your looking for. Dont waste a dime on the current heads. take your time, scope out a deal on the GOOD ones!!!!!!!!!! welcome to the DARK SIDE!!!!!!! The pulleys and brackets may come in real handy as well!!!!!!!!!!! graemlins/beers.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif :cool:

what are you looking to get for the 700-R4????

Originally posted by ak69:
Plan on scoring some differrent heads 781 / 049 GM iron large ovals is what your looking for. Dont waste a dime on the current heads. take your time, scope out a deal on the GOOD ones!!Craig,
Decent advice, I know those peanuts aren't that hot for a performance build. I might be off though.. and this is going off my brain which seems to be a melting pot right now but... isn't the velle phil's daily? Also, from the different posts it seems like a budget build.

Wouldn't it then make sense to spend the couple hundred on a valve job for the peanuts? Im no BB guy.. but it seems to me even the old iron heads run 500-800 dollars ready to run. I would spend the couple hundred doing the valve job on the peanuts and just to get it running then go and drop the money for the Merlin Ovals or something down the road.

Of course, if this isnt a daily driver than that theory is out the window! smile.gif It just seems to me that the peanuts are cursed, but for the most part even with peanut ports the motor should make good power. i dunno.. rambling now... carry on

im not sure what Phil has in mind with this engine, whether he is going to completely rebuild it or just refreshen it.

the reason i mention this is because that 454 has flat top pistons. with the peanut port (open chamber) or the open chamber large ovals (049,781) the compression ratio will be a very low 8:1.

if the plan is to refreshen the engine (cam,gaskets, etc) a set of closed chamber large ovals would increase the compression ratio a full point to 9:1. without decking the block and cutting the heads this is about all you will get compression wise with flat tops.

if the plan is to totally rebuild the engine then this doesnt apply, he can select a piston to work with whatever heads are being used.

in my opinion i would not use those peanut port heads on anything but a truck. the main advantage a big block has over a small block besides size is the better heads! you are basically giving this up with the peanut ports.

Phil,
Read this (http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/22139/2.html?) before you go head hunting. High 12s and over 400 hp on peanuts from people on this board. You might just want to have them ported and cleaned up for a daily driver. I think you would have tons of torque down low and run real strong up to 5k or so. It would be a fun driver.

Bob

while its evident that the peanuts can be made to work, in essence all they have done is spent time and or money to make a large oval port head out of a peanut.

porting and head work in general is expensive, you can easily spend more money on having someone port a set compared to buying a set that would fit the application to start with.

unless hes doing the work himself, he would most likely spend less money using the large ovals.

Brandon, I agree with you, I have 781s myself. But then I sunk a alot of money in them too :D . Then again my car isn't a daily driver. I still think considering he wants a daily driver with torque on a limited budget he could do ok with the peanuts. With a little cleanup he could get away fairly cheap considering he already has the heads.

Phil,

Told ya you would get a ton of good advise from the guys!!

Have fun and way to go on the great deal on your 454.

BTW....I'm currently building a motor from the same era truck and it has the 360 heads, 4 bolt mains, and a cast crank which is OK for what you are doing with it. Chances are you may find a burnt exhaust valve too.
I tossed the peanuts but i won't tell you what I replaced them with....$

Theres a lot of things we need to know. Are you going to install new pistons, that gives you the ability to select compression ratio. You need to build the compression ratio for the cam you have selected. Are you just doing a stock rebuild or do you have the budget to make some more power out of this? What intake system are you going to use? That engine probably came with a TBI fuel injection.

Keep us posted.

:cool:

Hey guys! Im in Seattle, WA until Thursday... im dying to tear into this especially to see what kind of crank it is, ill get the numbers very soon. I plan on hot tanking, magna fluxing and boring it before i do anything, Id like to go nuts with a .60 over built, 4.00 crank, cant afford a new 4.25 so the 496 is out of the question ;) Yeah these peanuts, I dont know, Id be REAL happy with about 450-500 Horsies out of this build. 425 is my bare minimum, to give an idea of what Id like to do. What ratings did these motors pump out anyways, stock that is? High 300's to early 400's?

Everyone told me id need to get new springs, BUT, 1: They are brand new, which helps
2: I have a fiberglass hood (dropped alot of lbs)
3: I tore out the AC and HEAT

I think it might be fine... But im very happy with the price :D As for the 700, any decent offer for anyone on here.

I will be reading lots and lots and requesting advice from you guys on which pistos & the right cam. My main concerns, other than affordable heads...

"Craig,
Decent advice, I know those peanuts aren't that hot for a performance build. I might be off though.. and this is going off my brain which seems to be a melting pot right now but... isn't the velle phil's daily? Also, from the different posts it seems like a budget build.

Wouldn't it then make sense to spend the couple hundred on a valve job for the peanuts? Im no BB guy.. but it seems to me even the old iron heads run 500-800 dollars ready to run. I would spend the couple hundred doing the valve job on the peanuts and just to get it running then go and drop the money for the Merlin Ovals or something down the road.

Of course, if this isnt a daily driver than that theory is out the window! It just seems to me that the peanuts are cursed, but for the most part even with peanut ports the motor should make good power. i dunno.. rambling now... carry on" I agree! graemlins/thumbsup.gif Always build an engine for the way it's going to be used!

If you have an extra $100-200 to spend,keep your eyes open for a pair of large ovals..if you're going to spend the money on freshening up the peanut port heads,the only difference in money spent is for the large oval castings..capice

Factory ratings were really low. I beleive 89 was 230hp for the 7.4l... my grandpas 87 was even worse.. 210! How you can build a 454 with that little power is beyond me, but gm managed.

OR look around for a set of close chambered heads b/c the CR. the motor has now is down around 7.9 or so, therefore, use small chambered, closed chambered heads and .020" steel shim headgaskets to up it to a better ratio so you can then run a more performance oriented cam AND produce easily the power you are seeking!!

AND I wouldn't do much to them at all now b/c they will do nicely as well as you won't have to change pistons, but rather just freshen the motor up UNTIL you really decide WHAT you really want to end up with... I say this b/c of the mention of the 496..

-206's or -215's will do nicely as will probably a half dozen more heads for starters...

pdq67

Originally posted by mr 4 speed:
If you have an extra $100-200 to spend,keep your eyes open for a pair of large ovals..if you're going to spend the money on freshening up the peanut port heads,the only difference in money spent is for the large oval castings..capice if you're going to go through the trouble of an entire rebuild with boring the block and buying new pistons then i agree with Mr 4 Speed 100%. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

210-230 HP! Thats insane! What kind of torque came out of these things. Thats really low. Yeah I will keep an eye out for some large oval port heads maybe get a good deal someplace on some rebuilds and just trade or sell these things off to someone.

Ive alrady encountered a couple small problems :D The bolts on the harmonic balancer are stripped out, no biggy was going new anyways, but I cant get my puller on it, any ideas of getting this thing off?

If the balancer is junk anyway, use an outside arm puller. It will probably pull it apart, but just get down to the inner piece and pull it!
The 210-230 HP ratings is NET. Saying you want 400 horse is usually referring to GROSS rating, which is at least 75 HP more than net...maybe even 100. Don't get all bent on ratings. If you're doing a complete rebuild, make it what you want ! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

What if I weld the bolts to the balancer since they wont screw in? Seems like it might work out? Id rather bust out the MIG at this point smile.gif Few spot welds and poppo.