[cowboyz1970]

I have a 1969 ss 396 car there is a 454 in it right now. I havent taken it to the track but im guessing its a mid 14 sec car. It has a 750 holley double pumper with alum intake. what heads and cam would bring me up to the 550 -600 hp i was thinking of a good lift and deration cam?? any help there. range. i will be running header and flowmaster with a x pipe. This is my first BBC im use to small blocks so thats why im asking. i have a $3000.00 budget im working with. Thank for any help guys!!!!!!

 

[pauls72]

Need to know piston type for compression ratio.3k should get you somewhere just need more info

 

[cowboyz1970]

I do not know i just got car im think 9.5 or 10 the motor seem pretty stock beside the mild camshaft

 

[nashville beth]

I do not know i just got car im think 9.5 or 10 the motor seem pretty stock beside the mild camshaft

Most stock 454's are 8-1 compression, so to make decent power you need to change pistons to get it up to around 10-1 with aluminum heads or 9 to 9.5-1 with cast iron.

I would stick to a cam of no more than 230 degrees intake duration and maybe less if you have an automatic. That's if the car is mainly for the street. That will get you 450-500 hp.

 

[Malibu Mac]

I would recommend you pull the heads first to see what pistons are in there. Also want to check your deck height. If you have flat top pistons you could rework a set of cast iron closed chamber heads and get your compression up to around 9:1 and then cam it accordingly. 450-500 hp would be doable and you should be well under your $3000 budget. Now that will be different if you are going to rebuild the entire engine of course, and at that point you can pick your pistons to match what ever heads you choose. I just went through this last year, had a fairly fresh low compression 454 with flat top pistons and decided to swap out the heads and cam. See details in my sig. Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[71454Chevelle]

I have a 1969 ss 396 car there is a 454 in it right now. I havent taken it to the track but im guessing its a mid 14 sec car. It has a 750 holley double pumper with alum intake. what heads and cam would bring me up to the 550 -600 hp i was thinking of a good lift and deration cam?? any help there. range. i will be running header and flowmaster with a x pipe. This is my first BBC im use to small blocks so thats why im asking. i have a $3000.00 budget im working with. Thank for any help guys!!!!!!

Don't think you're going to get anywhere near 600 hp for only $3k. :noway:

 

[Dan Orgill]

The $3000 budget is workable in my mind. He could run a stout solid F/T cam ( this would save $$$ from going roller ), and his heads, although likely cast iron, may be useable as well. A good valve job, some porting. Again, what intake is there? Single or dual plane? His carb should be fine, may need some tuning and jetting, but no big deal.

Crank & rods should be fine.

 

[427L88]

Before you think about pulling the heads, and I wouldn't jump nto it just yet,do a hot / cold compresion test to guage sealing. It will also give you a ballpark of how much cylinder pressure its generating as estimated ( roughly) by cranking psi.

If it shows even compression across all eight, I'd be hesitant to broke what aint fixed.

And it will confirm its a low compression motor. THen you can custom "fit" a cam to your needs. 600 will be tough w/o some squeeze. But you could blower-ize it for less than 3K - maybe. Then you'll have a mild mannered beast at 700+.