I have a opportunity to purchase a 454 out of a late 80's pickup with 30,000 miles on it that has a casting number of 361959. It's from a trusted friend so I believe the mileage. Apparently the body rusted away so he saved the replacement motor. Any thoughts for $1000?

$1000.00 is too much for that engine. Cast crank, peanut port heads/intake and 361959 is probably the least desirable Mk IV block made, not bad but due to thinwall casting techniques and potential for core shift overboring more than 0.030" could be questionable. My guess would be in the $300.00 to $500.00 range.

Thanks for the reply Dave but you really know how to hurt a guy. I thought it might be worth it because of it's condition and it has all it's accessories. Maybe I could just throw it in with a cam, intake, exhaust up grade for now. It's going in a 57 pickup if that means anything to you. I'll have to get the head casting numbers and go from there. I'd like around 450HP and a bunch of torque. PS: I seem to remember a dyno test in Hot Rod where they used the peanut heads on purpose to build torque and still got the HP.

$1000 for a 30K 454 sounds decent, is the motor complete? usually you can't find a complete 454 builder for less than $500 and that's a motor that needs boring, If it's going into a PU wouldn't yu want more torque on the low end? from what I understand the peanut ports are good for up to 4500 rpm, put in a mild RV type cam a good dual plane intake should be a good street motor, I did the same thing hope to see how it runs in a couple of months, Jim

Thanks for the reply Dave but you really know how to hurt a guy. I thought it might be worth it because of it's condition and it has all it's accessories. Maybe I could just throw it in with a cam, intake, exhaust up grade for now. It's going in a 57 pickup if that means anything to you. I'll have to get the head casting numbers and go from there. I'd like around 450HP and a bunch of torque. PS: I seem to remember a dyno test in Hot Rod where they used the peanut heads on purpose to build torque and still got the HP.

Didn't mean to "hurt" you, just my honest opinion. I should have said that it is still a good block none the less. If you are going to install it in a 57 P/U that will be used for hauling, then it's probably okay the way it is and if you feel comfortable paying $1000.00, go for it. Personally, I wouldn't pay that much as I would prefer a good set of large oval port heads and a steel crank. The cast crank thrust surfaces on #5 main take a beating in a manual transmission truck so that is one more thing to keep in mind. Automatic trans. equipped light duty trucks don't have that problem. Food for thought.

i would get the head casting number. the last 2 454's i pull out of pickups had 781 heads not the peanut ports like my 1975 monte carlo had. not all trucks had peanut ports.