I've been a reader of a lot of posts on this site, and have not posted many times. I am fairly new to the restoration project and am a novice at best.

I have the opportunity to purchase a 454 for $1000. This deal comes complete, carb, manifolds, alternator and a th400 tranny. It comes out of an RV, yes that's right an RV Camper, a truck motor. Would anyone in their right mind put one of these in a '69 Camaro?

If so, what modifications to my '69 will I need to make? Or do I merely spend the cash on stroking my 350, which happens to be the original?

Any input on this would be beneficial.

Thanks

If you search "big block swap" you should find lots of info. It's not hard, but quite a few things have to change.

You'd have to know quite a bit more about the 454 before you could decide if it's a good starting point or not. Probably most important would be the head casting numbers, as some of the 454s received "peanut port" heads, which are worthless in a performance application.

Yeah I'd say with it being a pulling motor it's low on compression and has some pretty brutal heads. My buddy has a 454 truck motor that is only 200 something horses.

In my personal case, I would really only buy a 454 out of a truck/rv for the block, crank and rods then get everything else fresh. The heads will probably be your biggest obstacle in terms of cost.

Personally if I were you and had good heads/intake/carb on your 350 already I would just go ahead and make it a 383 and buy a new cam, that'll make it thump.

I just installed a 454 in my 68 and it took some doing but wasn't something you couldn't do by yourself in a garage. Do you know how many miles, what compression or condition it is in? If you put an old motor in and have to replace it in a year you might be better of having it professionally rebuilt. There are builders in Colorado who can get you a fast street motor for around $4k, thats what I did. Save the original if you can.

You can use block,crank,rods,heads from that RV motor and make an EASY 450hp. If the RV engine has "large" oval port heads and no peanuts you can make 500hp. That should be plenty to get you in trouble :thumbsup:



bob

Every RV engine I've pulled has had peanut ports on it. Sounds high for a usable block, crank and set of rods. TH400 cores are going for around $100, I'd think that unless the heads happen to be large ovals, that price is about $300 - $500 high, IMHO. Head out east on the plains, there are a good number of farms, etc. and you should be able to pick up an old farm truck with a 454 and TH400 for a couple hundred bucks. Stick with 1 ton and smaller trucks, the bigger stuff tends to have tall deck engines in them.

I'd think that unless the heads happen to be large ovals, that price is about $300 - $500 high, Agreed.
I really like big blocks but just a thought for you, have you looked into stroking the 350? I finished a 383 for my sons pickup, It is an internally balanced Eagle rotating assembley with forged pistons. Not adding the cost of rebuilding the heads we were under $1000. By the time you buy motor mounts and headers you could almost pay for head rebuild and have a completely rebuilt original engine with much more power and nobody would know it's not a 350.

I sent you a PM with a list of all of the parts you will need to convert from a SBC to a BBC in a Camaro (part numbers are out of date but you can find repops for a lot of the stuff that GM no longer caries). The PM includes pictures of the parts to help in identification.

A 454 RV motor will most likely have peanut heads as all BBC PASS engines after 1974 are so equipped (the TRUCK heads are ovals, but the TRUCK block is a tall deck which has other fitment issues).

So far as a big block goes there is no comparison on the torque the big motors make. The SBC makes more peak horse power per cube but the big block generates more power under the curve for that seat of the pants thrill of tire shredding torque. The down side is those extra cubes cost more because there are fewer BBC parts made compared to the small block Chevy (economy of scale issue). BUT; if you are going to build a BBC go large, I would recommend buying a 496 rotating assembly, and bolting on some cheap (Chinese import) aluminum heads that have been professionally ported with valves reworked, and a Edelbrock RPM manifold with a Holley 850 cfm vacuum secondary carb and a modest hydraulic roller cam. It will return the highest number of grins per mile in my opinion.


Larger Dave

I sent you a PM with a list of all of the parts you will need to convert from a SBC to a BBC in a Camaro (part numbers are out of date but you can find repops for a lot of the stuff that GM no longer caries). The PM includes pictures of the parts to help in identification.

A 454 RV motor will most likely have peanut heads as all BBC PASS engines after 1974 are so equipped (the TRUCK heads are ovals, but the TRUCK block is a tall deck which has other fitment issues).

So far as a big block goes there is no comparison on the torque the big motors make. The SBC makes more peak horse power per cube but the big block generates more power under the curve for that seat of the pants thrill of tire shredding torque. The down side is those extra cubes cost more because there are BBC parts made compared to the small block Chevy (economy of scale issue). BUT; if you are going to build a BBC go large, I would recommend buying a 496 rotating assembly, and bolting on some cheap (Chinese import) aluminum heads that have been professionally ported with valves reworked, and a Edelbrock RPM manifold with a Holley 850 cfm vacuum secondary carb and a modes hydraulic roller cam. It will return the highest number of grins per mile in my opinion.


Larger Dave
I vote 454, might cost you a little more to swap but more cubes means more hp.

And if it has a bad crank, but is still a good core engine, you can buy an inexpensive 496 rotating kit from Ohio Crankshaft Company, both forged and cast !! I'm talking like $1300 and $900 or so inexpensive for good stuff, imho!!

Can you say "big power, EASY"???

pdq67

Thanks gentlemen, for your responses.

Smoksho, I have looked into stroking the 350. About $1500 balanced. Does that seem reasonable?

Thanks for the article Larger Dave.

Just depends on quality of parts you want. Here are a couple of different kits I found on ebay. The last kit is the one I used and you can up grade any of the parts. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SBC-383-STROKER-KIT-Internal-Balance-6-rods-NICE_W0QQitemZ300128108898QQihZ020QQcategoryZ33620 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SB-Chevy-383-Stroker-Kit-10-7-Pistons-Eagle-Speed-Pro_W0QQitemZ200125761661QQihZ010QQcategoryZ33620Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

CNC Motor sports will let you sub any part for higher quality and are helpfull on the phone.

Hey Guys, Not trying to change the subject or anything but doe's anyone know the history on a 69 camaro with dual fuel line's and what did it come on?