Anyone ever build a 454 on this site? Looking for advice on what to look for for pistons and and a cam. Wanting something that is a good driver cam, with some rumpty rumpt noise to it, but streetable. And Piston wise, what would you recommend? Thanks-Brian
Not trying to make you mad, but if you have to ask advice on cam/ piston combos,maybe you should not be building or modifying engines!
My $0.02 Hypereutectics are great for the street if you aren't running boost or sprayin'. Big blocks can get away with alot more cam than small blocks on the street and still have a decent idle. But I have to x2 what kolektor said, if you have to ask then you should at least just copy a proven build combo that someone else has done before.
this site is for asking...smart ***..maybe you need to lurk around awhile before you open your pie hole!!!
I ran a .550/230 solid lifter Comp Cams in my '67 C-10 468 Big Block with SpeedPro 9.25 to 1 Hypers....Daily driver, Mid grade gas, 12 MPG......Checked the valve lash every 4-6 months...Sold it with 32K on the motor....Wish I had it back....
I have one in my vintage race car. Very mild build...but it runs great. I replaced dished pistons with flat tops for about a 10 to 1 compression ratio, still runs well on pump gas. Pretty conservative hydraulic cam with stock diameter heavy duty valve springs and stock stamped steel rocker arms. Stock heads with a fresh 3 angle valve job and run headers with a Holley 750 carburetor on an open plane intake manifold. I never turn it over 5000 and so far it has lived for about four seasons of vintage oval stock car racing which isn't as serious as full-blown racing, but we definately don't just putt-putt either. I think the engine I have would be great on the street. BTW..five years ago, this engine was built for $1,800 including a brand new cast crank, new pistons, rings, bearings, oil pump, timing set, re-con rods, block completely done, all new valves, cam, valve springs, etc...***embled it myself though.
I build one about 6 months ago... it's sitting on the stand waiting for a home, lemme know if you want to save yourself some time & money and love it the way it should be. Nice & streetworthy 454, 450ish hp
I've ran several close to stock 454's,try and find a set of '781 heads or even '049 casting numbers, pick your cam and make sure you run a good dual plane aluminum intake and headers.My last one dynoed at 360 rear wheel hp.
Try an edelbock perfomer rpm cam and air gap intake if you dont have one. Either oval port or rectangular heads work well with this combo.Keith Black hyper pistons are good for a street motor. Keep at 10 to 1, give or take half a point.Start with 36 degrees in it and a quick curve by 2400. That'll get you started. 750 to 850 carb.
Flat top pistons in a 454 with the big chamber heads (049. etc) will drop your compression to a little less than 8/1. A 454 will still run pretty well with this compression and run on just about anything with more octane than g**** juice, but a piston with a little dome will run better. As far as cams, "call your cam manufacturer for specs" is a pretty good rule. To get a lumpy idle in a big block usually takes about 280 (advertised) degrees duration though, kinda depends on stuff like lobe seperation too. Here's one of the big blocks I built. It's uses 1971 LS-6 pistons with Brodix heads to get around 9.5/1 compression and a 288 duration roller cam that doesn't lope as much as you might think. Larry T
Funny how the 454 used to be Chevy's big engine. Now days a 502 is just considered average in size. I have built and still have a 454 in my 56. The following is a dead nuts guaranteed combo that does not require anything special or exspensive to build. I put this combo in a 3850 pound chevelle an ran 13.1 in the quarter, had a nice rump at idle, was completely driveable and would pull enough va***n for power brakes and used a relatively mild rear gear (3.31). Flat top pistons and the closed chamber, oval port (not peanut port) heads that had the 97cc chambers (compression cam out to 9.5-1 with two valve reliefs in the piston). Comp xtremem energy 268 hydraulic cam. Dual plane, high rise intake (rpm air gap). 1 7/8's diameter primary tube headers. 750 vac secondary carb. Keep timing around 36-38 degrees and use 91 octane pump gas The engine was a torque monster. Set the governor in the trans to shift a 5000 and leave it in drive. With this cam/heads don't go nuts on header diameter (stay under 2" primaries) and resist the urge to go with a hugh cam. This combo maintains great cylinder pressure and is one that I have duplicated for several folks who continue to dig it. Low maintance, cheap to build, and very effective in heaver cars with moderate rear gears.
Don't trust advertised compression ratio! This is critical to the driveability and cam selection. Advertized numbers can be off by a full point or more with the wrong heads or gaskets. Mock the engine and test the real ratio. Put #1 on TDC. Measure the amount of fluid the chamber will hold. You will probably measure this in CC and covert the number to Cu. In. A cheap plastic syringe works well. This is your first number. Calculate the volume of the cylinder. This is Radius (1/2 of diameter) squared times stroke times, times 3.142. Add this to the first number and you will have the second number. Divide the first number into the second number and you will have the true compression ratio.
I haven't built a 454 in ages, but what everyone here is saying is pretty much true. The motor I am working on now is a tall deck 427 bored 60 over for 438 cubes IIRC. I am using closed chamber oval port heads that have been ported with large valves, a stock forged crank, 6.8" **** rods, 496 flat top pistons, and a snotty cam. If you really want to know about big blocks, talk to the guys at teamchevelle.com. They are really good with BBC's.
Good advice here, if you are going to run a large cam, it has to breath! A lot of those 454's came with pretty restrictive heads.
By the time you get a crank ground, you may as well buy a 4.250" **** crank, and by the time you buy bolts and resize the rods you may as well buy their new 6.385" rods. Get some KB-SRP-Probe pistons with about a -20 dome and a set of 781/049s. Stealth or RPM intake and an HP1000 carb. Get a hyd/hyd-roller cam around .240-.250 @ .050 and .600-.650 lift, and don't forget tires, you will need lots of tires (this is a basic summary of what you will find at teamchevelle.com except thay will push a solid roller pretty hard).
Lots of good advise here-I think you need to decide what your goals are-good driveability? Brutal Horsepower? Or, somewhere in between? Also, what Transmission are you using? Rear end ratio? Weight of Car? Tire Diameter? Are you running Power Brakes? If you are running an Automatic, how do feel about a high stall converter? As a general rule (IMHO), if you are looking for good drivability, I would stay with a 9.5-10.5:1 compression ratio, some good oval port Aluminum Heads (if you can afford them-if not, 781's or 049's) somewhere in the 280-310 cc range. Get a good Dual Plane Intake and keep the Cam somewhere in the 230-240 range @ .050, 110-112 LSA, and if you can afford it, go with a Hydraulic Roller for street use-it should give you good Vacuum (if you have Power Brakes), and have good street manners. If you want Horsepower, upr the Heads to the 325cc range (AFR's are good), single plane Intake and a Cam in the 250-260 range (@ .050)-peakier, but more h.p. I am in the same quandry, and started with a 454-that became a 496, and now I'm building a 540-it's a never ending battle. If anybody's interested, I have a set of Edelbrock Ovals with a Edelbrock Endurashine Air Gap Intake for Sale-
I am running a mild 9.3:1 combo with hyper pistons, mild Voodoo cam, Stealth aluminum intake, "junk" truck heads (peanut ports), 770 vacuum secondary carb, 1 5/8" headers, and 3.31 gears in the back and my car hauls *** on the street. This is low buck. If you arent revving over 5000rpm very often, and you wont on the "street", then avoid the hype, save your money and run whatever heads you got, as is. 454 has plenty of power and torque. 500+ cubes is just dumb on the street unless you are pushing something very large...
ko-lek-tor, thanks for the input, just looking for what people are running and what they like. This engine was set up for a blower and running on the drags. Really looking just seeing what's out there, as there is a lot out there. Personally I'm into earlier set-ups, flatheads and OHV. This is really a question to feel out what's there.
Thanks for your gracious reply. I personally like to see how little I can spend to make good street engines. Machining is expensive, but neccessary many times. I won't build junk,just won't bore if there is only .003 or less bore wear. Like others said, a set of flat tops is the best route. I would suggest oval ports, either open or closed. Closed gives you a little more compression. Cam with 110 lobe separation ussually has a rough idle. The less lobe separation increases the overlap, hence rougher=higher idle.Around .550 lift up to .580max.to avoid spring coil bind,valve to piston clearance and other geometry problems. Hydraulic is fine,I like solids, roller better. It will produce more torque than you will ever need.
What are you guys building here SMALL blocks???? do they even make BBC cams that small??? I just built a 454 myself and put a 266 hyd roller in it. and it has GOBBS, I mean GOBBS of torque and does not have even the slightest hint of a lope.... but like said above 781's or 049's Are a Good head for the street. even the torquey 266 roller slightly runs over the peanut port heads. and for the street do not use a Rectangular port.. your just wasting the usefull part of the engine then
When a customer comes in the shop with these needs this is what I recomend. Comp Cams Extreme Energy XE268H. Cam has 515-268 and 520-280. Degree the cam and advance it 4 degrees. All the Federal Moguls that we are getting are Hyper and have a teflon coating on the skirt. hope this helps >>>>.
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