HEy guys!! I have a chance to buy a stock 454 out of an 82 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup. It ran when it was pulled out, it just has a lot of miles on it (pushing 200,000 if i remember right). I have always messed with small blocks, I can't say that i am fluent in big block. Are these heads gonna be OK, or are they gonna be some wesey little ports? I assume it probably would have somewhere around 8.5 to 1 compression? And what would something like this be worth??? I think I can get it for a couple hundred bucks. Thanks guys!!!!
Here in the midwest the core charge is usually $500-600 for a smog ere rebuildable core. They make a good reliable street engine that makes decent power without much strain. The heads are pretty much worthless. With a set of 049 or 781 open chamber oval ports with stock valve sizes. 8.7:1compression A comp cams 280 magnum cam Edelbrock performer rpm and an 830 mechanical secondary holley I've ran 12.30@ 108mph in a 3750lb chevelle on 87 octane gas. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I'm not sure what year Chevy truck big blocks started geting the "peanut port" heads...they're about 2/3 the size of a norman oval port. For $200.00, buy it and worry about that later.
Depends on what you are looking to do with it, the heads are really small port and will make decent power down stairs, but you can find 69 and earlier oval port heads cheap enough, slightly bigger ports and closed chamber, and increase the compression a little.Like I said it all depends on what you are looking to do. Guess I type slow there were noreplies when I started.
Nothing wrong with a newer Big Block chev. All Mark IV engines are the same up untill the 7400 Vortec Mark V engine came out in 97. Heck I will sell you my 454 out of my old Suburban 130K if you need one and I am in MN too. Everything bolts on and you have a wide choice of heads, cams and intakes out there for a BB Chev. My last 454 8.9 comp engine ran 11.90's with closed chambered heads (ported) and a mild cam in my street car. They are a ok in my book.
A cheap pair of L-29 heads at 100 cc chamber size should help low compression. They should cc intake port size something around 230 or so vs 200 cc's for the PP jobbers.. They are true large oval, but SMALL ONE's!! Add .020" thick steel shims and pick up a schosh more CR.. pdq67
I went the Rat Motor route once. At one point I looked at the bills for parts and machining, and a light bulb went off. 'Damn!', it said. 'I could be buildin' a small block and have some righteous ass parts, get it balanced, Vortec heads, and a decent intake and even buy a bag of burgers an' some suds.' So, I went back to Mouse motors. True story. You want grunt, get a 383. Nothin' wrong with Rat motors a little $ Ka Ching, won't fix. But, then and again.
Just for comparison I bought an '83 454 out of a burned out motor home with just over 50k miles for $700. Came with a set of stainless headers that should work in my F100. I think the one you're looking at is worth $200. I love BBC's. I love the monster torque in even the later low h.p. versions. I've never experienced a 383 SBC so I can't comment on how it feels relative to a low buck(stock) BBC.
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