Sorry I'm being lazy but some of you have these #'s memorized. Don't really need another BB but this complete nice looking block is coming up at an Estate sale this weekend with just a few other things - mostly what else I saw was a set of 4 really wide wheels - like maybe 10"
Are good intakes available for these engines now? I recall an article in maybe HRM in the 70’s touting the tall deck blocks, but have to use spacers for the intakes.
Thanks guys - got to wonder if these old 427 truck blocks that have been shunned like the 409 truck blocks will come into their own......sale starts Thursday morning so might go for a quickie look. I'll get a few more pictures later on here this evening.
Back before Dart and many others started producing blocks and cranks in just about any configuration you can imagine, the tall deck truck block was the starting point for a big inch BBC. So if you want an old school build grab it. But if you just want to flip it, I don't see them becoming valuable.
Not much use for them these days. I'd save the crankshaft, but even that will take some effort to balance with 3 ring 427 pistons.
Or on a short, or bare block another visual will be the extra height from the top water pump holes to the deck. The block on the left is the standard deck height 9.800 version, on the right is the tall deck at 10.200.
Once upon a time...you could buy spacers to put a regular intake on a tall deck block. But they may have only been in square port design, don't remember. Gene.
I know this doesn't make a **** on the hamb, but I was at the machine shop recently, shooting the **** with Jamie that owns the joint. I asked him if he was interested in a big block core. He asked how much, I told him $450. He said nah I have no need for it. I started laughing, because he was always the big block guy ya know. I said that's cheap Jamie! He said no that's about dead on. I said what in the hell are you talking about, 454 Chevy core was a grand the last time I checked. He said oh yeah? how long has it been since the last time you checked? He turned around and kinda looked across the shop floor and said "they don't want them anymore, so the supply and demand thing isn't there, it's all these God damn LS engines now"
the distributor hole on the stock tall deck intake, is lower down...so a stock distributor will fit. But if you use a low deck intake with spacers on a tall deck block, then the distributor won't fit, you need a special one.
About 2000 I lived in the Nashville area and there was a guy that went around buying big blocks. He said he was putting all of his retirement money into that. This guy would not sell anything. Not even a bracket. I sold him all the BB I had except a 454 from a '74 truck (should have gone .030 over)and a basically new 427 forged crank because I was going to build a 427. I don't know what happened to him, but I hope he did OK. I know I have not had much luck the last few years with big blocks. I finally decided to build something smaller so I hauled that engine and crank around to swap meets for a couple years. I think I got $200 for the engine and $75 for the crank at the Nashville AACA swap meet. They just don't have the demand they did in the 80s/90s.
The 427 I built for Plan II almost ten years ago was rather inexpensive...I ended up getting a suburban with a tired 454 for not much money, and s****ping the body covered most of that. The steel crank I got for free, it needed straightened and turned. The big rods were $100 for the set. The heads were the expensive part, $1200 on ebay for pretty decent ported 074 L88 heads. There's some money if the parts are number matching stuff that fits Vettes or early muscle cars, but not many guys are building them with old stock parts these days.
Not sure but with all the negative posts - I'll just let it get junked. BB cores around here were bringing about $400 at the engine rebuilders a year ago.
That's what I built in the mid 70's for my 1964 SS -because no one wanted ANY old 396 - it was a 350 or 454 engine which was the choice. And along with those M22's as well that got junked - everyone wanted the turbo 350 or turbo 400.
I got a steel 427 crank I got out of one of those truck blocks, I had the whole engine and I junked it. Anyone want the crank come and get it, free! Pat
Might be worth going to the sale and seeing what else is hanging around. Or go late and haul off the tall deck for free.
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