Ok so most of you are probably annoyed with me for all my questions, but i just dont want to waste money. In about 5 years, after college, me and my dad plan to do a frame up on the chevelle, and we were planning on getting a 502 crate motor. That means that the money im spending on this 350 is going down the drain basically, its not an investment, and probably isnt' going to fetch much down the line.

Thats when i cam accross this on ebay:

This engine would be EXCELLENT for a street/strip car, street rod, pickup, or your daily driver. Remove that old 454 and install this 450HP 454 to bring your ride to life! This 454 is a direct bolt-in, no modifications are needed! This engine has enough cam to know it has good power, but not too big to have idle or drivability problems.

The balanced rotating assembly includes:

* 4.00" stroke nodular iron crank
* 6.135" forged rods with ARP rod bolts
* 9 to 1 compression pistons

More special features of this engine include:

* Seasoned 2-bolt main block
* Deck head gasket surface on block to ensure a good seal
* New Hydraulic flat tappet cam with .527"Int/.553"Exh valve lift
* New Heads have 2.070"Int/1.720"Exh valves
* New 1.440" high performance springs with dampeners setup to match cam
* New Rocker studs
* New Hardened guide plates
* New 1.7 roller tip rocker arms - these allow us to use stock height valve covers so your stock brackets fit without any modifications
* New Hardened push rods
* New Perfect Circle rings
* New Double row timing set
* New High volume oil pump with steel drive shaft and steel guide with oil pickup tube welded to pump
* New Revolutionary 1-pc design molded rubber oil pan gasket with load limiters to prevent over-tightening and higher temperature resistance than standard cork-rubber gaskets
* New Brass expansion plugs
* New Edelbrock dual plane intake manifold
* All parts are painted separately before assembly for that show quality look


He wants $3,500.00 for it to "buy it now" with free shipping, he owns a shop and has about 20 crate engines on ebay right now, so he is trustworthy.

$3,500.00 is a heck of a price for that engine, and im wondering if this is hte route to go. I'm pretty sure that i could fetch around $2000.00 for my complete 350 since (as far as i know) i cant reuse any of it.

Now hte question is, what do i need in addition to that engine to get it running. Obviously id need a carb, but i know ill need things like the fuel pump etc. but im not sure on exactly what i need.

Also the car has a th350 that was recently rebuilt, if i put a higher stall convertor in it, will it be able to handle the 454?

THe best part of hte 454 would be that in 5 years i can tear it down and build a 502 out of it, its an investment, but hte question is can i afford the little things..

All the pulleys and brackets on the front of the motor,some can be tough to find, and a good radiator. The th350 will handle that engine just fine with a deep pan and an external cooler.

Just my opinion... But Id check with the BBB and some other sources before I spent a dime on a crate motor from E-bay.
You get what you a pay for.

BBB?

whats that, and realisitcally how much extra would it cost to install that engine?

Better Business Bureau

its hard to say what your "realistic" costs will be,the motor will fit no problem,just the availability of brackets and pulleys and what they cost.

oh, well he is hte only guy with affordable crate engines that ive found and has a 100% feedback rating, which means he doesn't scam.

If i can get 2k for my current setup, id be able to get the 454 for $1500.00 out of pocket, but than id need a carb, headers, fuel pump, oil pan for chevelles, (alternator?), water pump, (what about the fan and radiator, can that stuff carry over?).

I can tell you all the little things like you mentioned above add up REAL quick. Add up everything you can think of, then double it :eek: , should be pretty close.

lol, ok thats what i was figuring, i said to my dad earlier "i can afford a 454 crate no problem, i just cnat afford to install it "


Im going to go with these heads: http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp&part=TFS%2D30400001&N=120+4294925232+4294922130+303438

And im not positive which fel-pro gasket i need yet, but according to that high performance article the "thin rubber one" would allow me to get close to, if not 9.5:1 compression ratio the cam wants.

Reasons for doing so: The cost of the switching from non-vortec to vortec is the same as hte cost of these heads, actually these are cheaper at hte end of hte day. I dont want to change the cam, i can live with this one for now, and even though i can never realize hte full potential of this cam i know i should get darn close. They say these heads are good for 50hp over the stock heads on my 350, so figure i get 25hp over stock, and 25hp from my cam, so in the end ill be seeing a significant jump in power at hte end of the day with these.

The only question is, do i need bigger valve springs, there are options on there, can someone tell me if the ones on there now are equivelent to the edelbrock springs on my current head? The current springs are 1.265" OD and have a recomended 1.7" installed height.