I recently purchased a '72 Chevelle from my uncle who needed some quick cash. Unfortunately, I know nothing about cars and/or motors. The body is restored and the interior is plush velvet (80's look). It does not have a motor, the transmission and a 12-bolt posi sits in the trunk. There is a 454 engine from a Chevy 1-ton Dually? that needs to be rebuilt and put in. I will have a ton of questions and I hope some expects in the Chevelle world can help me along the way. I have 30 people telling me what I can and can't do with the motor, tranny and rear end. Can I put the 454 into the car and will it fit? Also, are there any book for dummies (me) regarding engines, transmissions, and rear-ends? I have a ton of questions and a bit of research to do about the tranny, motor and rear-end, but I hope you all can help in getting this awesome car running. Also, I live in Minneapolis, MN, are there any quality engine rebuilders and those who can help me put this thing together?

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

This is the greatest place on the web (and off of the web) for Chevelle info. Feel free to ask lots of questions, this groups is great.

As for you engine, a 454 was offered from the factory in your car, so it should fit, and there will likely be factory pieces availble to put it in. As for the 30 different people telling you 30 different ways, you will find that all along the way. And 15 of them will have good working ideas. With cars like many other things, there are several was to do the same thing. You just need to gather others info and decide which method you like the most. I would suggest following the site for a while, and learn what you can before you start jumping into the car. It can save you allot of time and money. And be sure to use the search function, 90% of your questions have likely been asked in the past.

As for books, start with 'How to rebuild you Big Block Chevy' by David Vizard. You can find it in allot of bookstores, or at Amazon.com

Good Luck graemlins/waving.gif

Welcome. I bought this video a while back.
http://www.jvbautosupplies.com/product_info.php/cPath/38_39/products_id/1070

It a video on building a small block chevy from start to finish. It doesnt cover big blocks but it give you an idea on what goes on when you do a rebuild.
Not a bad investment in my opinion.

Tom

Welcome to our little world! You should check out the Northstar Chevelle club. It's based in Minnesota( Northstar Chevelle club (http://www.northstarchevelles.com/index.html) ) but they allow us low life Iowa peeps in also. Our last meeting was held at Magnum Superchargers about a mile from your house. I was real impressed with there knowledge of engine building, and their rates seemed extremely reasonable. Just keep hanging around here and you will get the answers to about anything you can think of to do with Chevelles. graemlins/waving.gif

Dan, your not going to corrupt another soul like you did me are you? I was a real quiet guy until I meet you and Cathy at Chevellabration last year! graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/beers.gif

WELCOME to the BEST site on the net. Sit back and get ready to read, there are lots of places to look for info and lots of people to ask on this site. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Mhayen, there are quite a few chevelle/el camino guys here in the cities, I live in lakeville. We also have a chevelle club that you may be interested in
club website (http://www.northstarchevelles.com/)
Are you looking to rebuild your motor yourself?
I am not very experienced with big blocks but have built several smallblocks , can give you a hand maybe. Yes it will fit, one way or another! graemlins/beers.gif

Originally posted by Mhayen:
I recently purchased a '72 Chevelle from my uncle who needed some quick cash. Unfortunately, I know nothing about cars and/or motors. You could get a great start by posting your cowl tag information in the 'Tags' forum. Deciphering that would let you know how that Chevelle began life -- paint color, interior color, etc. etc etc.

You can also find out what sort of gearing is in that rear-end in the trunk by examining the axle codes.

Finding out what the car is first will answer many future questions.

I know three things for sure:

1. That 454 will absolutely fit.

2. No matter what condition the car is in, it can be restored/restified to better than the day it was born.

3. People here will be glad to help you with whatever info you need, no matter how obscure the questions may be.

The 454 will absolutely fit as long as you get an oil pan for a chevelle,it will not fit with the truck pan on it. What year is the motor? Do you know? We need the casting numbers off the heads. What do you want to do with this car? Strictly street? Street/Strip? Plenty of ways to go,but you don't have to do much to that big block to make the Chevelle move graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks a lot to everyone... I am going to have some fun with this car knowing that I have some wonderful resources out there.
I will try to find out some of the information from which the questions were posted. I did find out, through some of the other forums, that the vehicle had a 350 motor. Where can I find the Cowl Tag information? Would this be the VIN number?
The car was a show car in the Little Falls, MN area about 10-15 years ago. Won many first place prizes. But the uncle sold the non-original engine and everything else. As far as driving, simply a cruiser to Midway and other car shows. No racing the import, but would like the 400+ horsepower to "flex the muscle". I will find out more about the motor and rear-end as soon as I can. The car is still sitting in a garage in Little Falls.

Mhayen,
When I bought my '70 it had a 1977 454 from a truck in it. The great people on this web site helped me to indentify it. I wasn't the one that installed it so I can't comment on any instalation problems there might be, but it runs great and there hasn't been any problems with it.

WELCOME! You have all the right ingridients to make a really , really nice muscle car. Learn to use the search feature here, ask alot of questions. This is a wonderful knowledge base of info here.

The dually 454 will work just fine. You'll likely want to find some new cylinder heads BUT as Robert said, pop off a valve cover and look for a casting code. You might get lucky and have some 781 or 049 ( the codes end in those numbers) on that motor. If so, a stock rebuild of the bottom end with some new pistons, and some head work, and you'll have a 500 lbs ft pavement pounder for not too much money ( like $2500)..

And if I may bo so bold to add, you're going to love the fellow Chevelle people you meet along the way. Thats been the unexpected surpriseof my , now five year, Chevelle experience. Ya, and my car is fun too!