I am attempting to save myself and my wife from having to sell the 34. I have about nine BBC blocks one is .060 over and my son swears that is the one he wants. I eventually want to build a large BBC so I was wondering if I should keep the tall deck 427 or just use one of the 4-bolt blocks with a 496 kit and my blower/magneto combination. Any ideas which way to go? I already have a 454 running with the blower and Vertex mag.
I need an explanation. Do you mean there is someone holding a gun to your head and if you don't use one of your nine big blocks in the car you'll be forced to sell the car? Really strange situation, hope you find a solution. Frank
I would try to keep the tall deck, it's unique, and m***ive displacement seems to be the thing these days. You know what they say, cubic inches rule the street... edit: I'm ***uming if you kept the tall deck you are thinking of building a big-inch motor out of it?
Sorry y'all. I am at an imp***e in life. 8flat hit the nail on the head. My father in law is dying of lung cancer and we are selling all we can to raise the funds to help him and my mother in law out. I was at the point of selling my all steel 34 3 window Chevy and build something else this winter( I have wanted this particular car for twenty five years) or sell off every excess car part I have and just start ac***ulating again later on. I have decided to sell off all the excess and just keep one spare block to build a huge Ci engine for the coupe out of. I just finished rebuilding the engine in the coupe but it is a standard deck 454 and I just wanted to know which would be the better option for building a big cube engine later on. Sorry for the confusion and thanks, Chip.
Likewise, it's just the strange way you stated your options. Sorry to hear about your situation and prayers will be offered. Frank
I was just relieved to not have to sell my car. I have been frettin gover it for the last couple of weeks and trying to come up with a solution other than selling the hot rod. Thank you guys for the offering of prayers, I am somewhat choked up, Chip.
Years ago ... the tall deck block was considered the way to go. But ... it causes a good many issues too. The deck is .440 higher than a regular BBC block ... so the intake and the distributor will not work without spacers under the intake and the distibutor has to be cut on the mounting surface or use a aftermarket slip collar distributor. Longer Push Rods are also needed ... GM made the tall deck for truck use ... and they needed the extra room for another set of rings ... to help control the oil ... I would sell the tall deck, myself ...
So many options. I was wondering what the tall deck would do to the intake and mag. Sounds like the tall deck might allow me to go bigger, but possibly at the expense of some machine work or spacers. This is the kind of responses I needed to get back. Thanks, Chip.
lung cancer.hmm,did he smoke? does he smoke now? dude if he was a smoker he killed himself,just like a crackhead. i'm sorry for you and yours that hes dying,i watched my dad die of lung cancer,from smoking. BUT,if he killed himself from smoking when he knew it could kill him then your family is paying for his addiction by selling everything thats inportant to you. sad,very sad. this is what piss's me off about smokers,we have to pay for there stupidity. if your inlaw was not a smoker then disregard all i have said. randy
Yes and yes. But on the other hand he has always tried to help people out to the best of his ability. Sometimes to the point of him pretty much handing out help to people who were too lazy to help themselves. They knew he would do it for them. None of them are around now that he could use some help and moral support. He hasn't asked for the help, my wife and I are doing it because we can. I don't smoke or drink but I do have a weakness for eating all the wrong food and playing with hotrods. Either the carcinogens in paint and turbo blue will get me or I will die of a heart attack. On most any person other than my father in law i would agree totally with you Randy, in this case I agree, smoking has been the cause of the cancer and will be the death of him. My ad has smoked for forty years but has never inhaled(right). Gotta go pick up the wife. Talk to you guys tomorrow and have a great evening, Chip.
my father in law died from smoking,my ma in law has lung cancer,my bro in law is a crackhead. its hard for me to help any of them with money.its hard enough to see what their habit is doing to the family while they are dying from their addiction. randy
Damn Randy, you are in quite the predicament. I hope you can tough it out and your wife is as good a person as mine is. I really don't deserve mine. I must have done something really good in a past life. Take care man, I am actually out for the day now, Chip.
Tall-decks are neat, and they're pretty easy to build as a 496. If you use a tall-deck Brodix intake, they just bolt on, and they have a counterbored recess that the distributor slides down into so you just use a regular-length SBC/BBC distributor. There's pictures of one on the 496 I'm building on http://www.roadsters.com/power/ Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
That's a interesting development ... Many years ago when 460 - 470 cubic inches was BIG ... I built a tall deck BBC ... and I had to make the intake port spacers and cut down a Mallory tack drive distributor ... I knew they make the spacer plates now but did not know about the bolt on Brodix intake Thanks ...
If you're only going to 496, I'd use a standard deck 454 4 bolt main block. If I was going to 534, I'd use the tall deck 427 block. Eagle makes a stroker kit that's fairly reasonable. In either case use as long a connecting rod as possible. They used 427 rods in a 454 and they aren't long enough. Chevy did the same thing when they made the 350. They used 327 rod length. To fix it, ya' need to use 6" rods. As Deuce mentioned, ya' need an intake spacer kit if ya' use a tall deck block. Think they're about $100. A Vertex mag for a SBC/BBC with the adjustable slip ring collar will solve the increased height problem there.
Here's what I was mentioning about Brodix intakes: Above, the standard-deck Brodix intake has a raised distributor boss. Below, the tall-deck Brodix intake has a recessed distributor boss. These pictures are from http://www.roadsters.com/power/ Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
How big do you want to go cubic inches wise? A 4.25 stroke (or .25 over stock 454) is about the limit for a stock low-deck block. Combined with a 0.060 overbore (4.31) and you get the 496. Get a siamesed bore block that has 4.5 bore and with the 4.25 crank you get a 540. Any bigger requires a block with spread pan rails that can accomodate the bigger stroke. The raised deck "truck" blocks make the clearance better for bigger strokes, as the cam is raised in the block, they also have the higher deck height which allows for the extra stroke. Lots of drag racers use the raised deck blocks and as said you can run spacers or secific intakes. Now since you are running a blower, I would say that the 4-bolt main 454 block you have is going to be the best choice for your application. The blower will have more than enough added power to make up for slightly smaller size. Parts will be standard and not special. You will get more money for the 454 block than the truck 427 block though. The truck block has a forged 3.75 stroke crank, and is same as a 396 stroke. Many parts are the same between the std and raised deck blocks, but the distributor and timing chain are specific.
Use the 427 tall deck block. They make tall deck manifolds so don't use the spacers. Wiend has a nice team G single plane for 4150 carbs and oval ports and I have made over 650hp on and its not expensive. Blower manifolds, tunnel rams, etc are all available. The tall deck truck blocks are stronger than the low deck blocks. They usualy sonic check out with thicker cylinder walls and decks, the main caps are much stronger than p***enger car blocks, and all 5 are 4 bolt. They are generally a real good block.
This is true of some raised-cam aftermarket blocks, but the OEM Chevy tall-deck truck blocks retain the standard cam location and use a standard timing chain. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
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