If/When the 305 dies of natrual causes, I was thinking of doing a BBC swap. Now I got 3 BBCs in the garage. (2) 396s and a 454. The 396s put out a few more horses, but the torque in the 454 is only matched by a Mack truck. Which would you guys go with and any specific reason?

 

The reason the 396 put out more HP than the 454, isn't because it's a 396 vs a 454; it's because the 396 has better heads & cam & probably intake, than the 454. The 454 most likely has that stupid "Vette" intake on it, where the carb flange is lower than the valve cover flange; such that the air has to make 2 135° turns to get through it. Believe it or not, big block newbies will actually pay extra money to get one of those, because it has the magic "V" word; if it has that word, it has to be better, right?? I took one of those off of the 454 in my Land Yacht, and put a 396 intake on it; made it feel like I'd added 100 CID and 1500 RPM.

Use a 454 short block, and put the best heads & induction system you have on top of it. Being a big block though, there are things you have to watch out for; such as, open-chamber pistons and closed-chamber heads, and vice-versa, often don't work; and CRs can be all over the map.

 

I'm with RB.

Find out what those 396s have for heads and intake. If they are good (or better than the 454 parts) use those on the 454. Then you can bet the 454 will be making more power than the 396s will be.

If you rebuild the big block though (ie. machine work) you could also take the rotating assembly, minus pistons, out of the 396, drop it into the 454 block with new pistons, and you could have a nice 427.

Might be good too, because IIRC, most 396 engines had forged cranks, but the 454 probably has a cast one. Just food for thought.

 

All of the engines I have (454, (2) 396, 327, (3) 305s are all bare. All need to be assembled. Orig I was gonna put in the 327 when it died (the 327 was a monster with 400+ HP) but then I said to myself, Self how badass would the 454 be in there. And plus the 327 was so powerful to the point it was unreliable. You ever have a leak past one of the cylinders and build up enough pressure in the oil pan to have the dipstick blow 25" feet into the air? I have

 

And that has something to do with how much power the motor puts out???

Sounds more like somebody didn't know how to build a motor.

I've built plenty of motors that put out a hell of alot more than some puny 400 HP; and never launched a dipstick into orbit. That just means the rings didn't seal right, or some other point where exhaust can get into the crankcase, had a leak; and the engine wasn't vented (PCV) properly.

Power comes from the heads. Rarely is that more true, than building a big block; since there are so many varieties. What choice of heads have you got for it? Casting numbers only please; no "Vette" heads or that sort of thing. About the only substitute for casting numbers would be if you could tell me they were "68 model closed chamber 98cc with 2.19"/1.88" valves".

 

It was good fun. Damn near took out my brother

 

Is your real name by any chance Tim Taylor?

 

Between my dad and I, you would think so