ok i have a 1974 454 in planning on building and putting in my car... its got 781 oval port heads( if you dont know there are about the best street heads gm has ever made) i have to get the rods and crank turned/ reconditioned and new pistons.. the rebuild kit with fordged piston is liek 550( Federal Mogul Engine Rebuild Kits: FEM-CSMHP768-311 - summitracing.com ) or i could get a stroker kit with new crank, fordged rods, and pistons for 1300 ( Speed-O-Motive - CHEVY 489-496-506 STROKER CRANK KIT ) with reconditioning the rods and gettting the crank good.. id have to guess aorund 300 bucks for all of that... im not to sure tho... now my question is it worth the extra money to stroke it to a 496?...ill end up going with a bigger cam and porlly single plane intake manifold if i do stroke it...

 

Reconditioning the rods & crank would probably run more than $300 (you really should put ARP bolts in while you're at it), but less than $800. But, is it worth it? It's something only you can decide.

Going from 305 -> 454 is a bigger jump than 454 -> 496. But, 496 is still "bigger".

(You should also get either one balanced. Well worth it.)

 

Adding stroke will always make more torque. Increasing bore will make more horsepower. I went from a 469 (454 + .070) to a 540. That's a bigger bore and stroke.

The bigger the displacement, the more air needed to fill the cylinders. The 781 heads with some 2.19/1.88 valves would be pushing the limits for a 496. I have some Canfield 310 aluminum heads and they would be considered small for the 540 but they work well for me. Something with 345 intakes would be better for my engine.

As for the cam, again, a bigger engine can handle a bigger cam. A cam that would be considered aggressive in a 454 would be more milder in a 496 and just plain tame in a 540.

 

yea... i know the 496 would like to have bigger heads but im not sure if id liek to spend that much more money... my thought process all came alone when my dad thought that we needed a new crank soo i said why not stroke it?... i realize that the heads are a little small for the job but i think that it might just turn in to a torque monster for some street fun...

 

Sure the heads are a bit small for a 496 but there all plenty of 496 combos with those 781 heads only reworked. I myself am going with 781 heads 2.19/1.88 valves for my 496.