Im tearing my hair out trying to decide what i should do here.

I just built a 350 last year for my car and the things barely even broke in and im looking for a new powerplant!

I have a line on a recently rebuilt stock 454 and th400 tranny for very cheap.


Im not sure if i should bother trying to shoehorn a bigblock in there or just spend a few more bucks on my new 350. If i got the 454 i would do a few little goodies to bump up the power but nothing major in hopes of keeping the swap costs down.

Im just not sure if its worth all the BS to put the motor in, it would be alot easier to bolt a blower on to my 350

 

I vote S/c lol

 

I second it. These cars are not well ment for a big block.
(cooling, exhaust , front end weight etc)
You have to look at the complete over all cost to get the power you'd like to have. Gas mileage will not be good.

The only big block intake that will fit under a stock 3rd gen hood is the Torker II or the stock cast iron qjet flatty intake. Both will severely limit the BB's power. That means a new hood.
That's just the start.

 

Cowl hood is in the budget regardless of motor choice.

But i think all the rest of the parts(fuel/cooling/headers) to get a BB in there probably wont be worth it for just a near stock 454.

Maybe i will just bolt on a few more goodies to the 350 and see if i can blow it up...

 

Stock 454 out of what though, a 90 truck? Then it has like 230 hp or so.

 

Stock 454 means a bunch of upgrades to make it a good engine. Cam, intake and probably head work depending what size valves are in it. Late model heads (91 and up) means low performance so add new heads to the list.

Price out a good crate engine before investing in an engine that will probably need a good rebuild with some better parts.

I've got lots of 454 parts sitting around in my garage. I've upgraded to a 540 and there isn't too many factory parts I can use. Actually the only thing that's factory GM on my engine is the alternator. I have enough parts in my garage to build about 3 BBC engines. Lots of machine work is needed though. Some parts are damaged and need to be fixed.

 

Ever see a big block in a monte ss? It looks like it was meant to be that way from the factory. One day. I just can't wait till that day.

 

you ever get the 350 to the track?


a cowl hood, seal the carb to the hood, etc etc. There's loads of fun stuff to do to that 350. S/C would work, but that would need new heads... You could do a solid cam or something...

...maybe suspension upgrades? nitrous? hmm..

 

Never did manage to get it down to edmonton, actually i barely managed to do anything with the car including driving it!

The motor only has 2000km on it tops, barely broke in.

But as it was, it was one of the faster cars in town. The only car i couldnt beat in town was my buddys WRX. We run side by side till we give up, if i can ever get traction.

This 350 is pushin some decent power, i definately need fatty tires on the back as these 225's dont cut it at all. If i leave hard off the line i can leave 100+ ft of rubber, both tires, with an open diff!


I think maybe i will keep the 350, bolt on some decent big chamber heads and scoop up a small blower. 12bolt posi and some 305 tires will be a 'must have'

 

stick with the 350 and get some suspension and tire upgrades. I would suggest you get sub frame connectors, new control arms, and panhard bar. Those will help you out alot.

 

Keep the 350 and play with it. It will create more power than the average 454 BB. It takes some cash to make a 454 pay off in the end.

 

I would also say keep the 350 at this point. Upgrade the 350 and have fun with it. A stock 454 is not worth the trouble like stated above. Maybe when you wear out this 350 you might consider a built for performance 496 big block.

 

Please, you people need to get your facts right. I run a BBC with a vic Jr. and run it all under the stock hood!! And on top of that, it was a cam and intake only, and i ran low 12's high 11's on motor plus spray... So go BBC.

 

you had to spray your BBC to get it to run high 11s? ouch.

 

Big blocks are great but you cant beat the bang for buck in building a small block chevy. If cost isn't a concern go with a big block. Theres a lot of extra costs and hassles with a big block installation like exhaust, headers, firewall clearance, ect . Its fairly cheap to build a small block to go into the 11's or 12's naturally asperated.

 

i agree, fix your traction issues. posi, tires, sfc's, airbags, shocks. then if you get bored, NOS.

you should beat the wrx easy with traction.

 

No, i sprayed my pump gas cam and intaked BBC into mid 10's on juice... ON a small shot for that matter...

 

Wow , you are running a vic, jr on a big block with the stock hood . I know for a fact that my hood would not close if I didn't have a cowl induction hood. I 've got a holley strip dominator single plane intake . I would love it if I could fit my big block under a stock hood but didn't work for me.

 

Get a Vic Jr. It worked for me, and I ran the numbers, I have time slips somewhere around here to prove it. Now my heads are oval port, I dont know if the rec port Vic Jr is a different hieght, check on there site....

 

hey guys i'm a newbe here, and i'm thinking of upgrading my 350 tpi to a 454 big block that i just aquired for free, but i'm up in the air about the intake, becose i absolutley will not change the factory hood,chev496 do you have any pics of your setup with the factory hood?

 

WEll, I will see if i can find some pictures. The car recently had a fuel fire so there is nothing left of it. So if I can find some, I will let you know...

 

i have been reading that a 496 big block is the way to go for massive horse power with or without a blower. what i am more interested in is the torque curve. not so much the horse. i want a car that has massive torque and good to great horse power. what do you think would get more torque a 496 big block or a 383 or possible a 427 small block. also how reliable with the small block of either size be?? i have been reading the big block will last forever but the small blocks are unreliable... just looking for second opinion as i am about to send out my block to have it machined for a roller cam and bore it out then add a stroker kit to it with afr 210 heads and the holley stealth ram built also i dont know how much horse to expect out of either a 383 or a 427 sbc with these heads and what kind of cam should i use with either that way i can buy the right cam and the right holley stealthram kit best suited for the power i can make. should i do a blower as well on the sbc. just looking for what i should do here since i have no engine in the car now and i have a 350 sitting on a pallet waiting for me to do something with. need to know if i should sell it and go bbc or keep it machine it and make a sick sbc

 

It's just my opinion,but I'd say go bigblock and never look back.I had every smallblock from a 283 up to 421 in my car,some mild and a couple of real nasty ones,but a mild,hydraulic cammed pump gas 468 was bar-none the most enjoyable.I could still pull 10's with a mild hit of NOS,it was MUCH more streetable than the 406 that ran similar #'s,and as far as gas mileage,I mean let's be real,it always sucks on a hotrod,unless it's one of todays high tech mills.

Weight on the nose is an issue if your looking for handling,but just for average driving,not ripping up SCCA courses,I really didn't see a drastic difference.I ran an S10 manual steering box,and skinnies,so is wasn't a corner carver to begin with,but it handled safely nd predictably.

Cooling it was really no tougher than cooling the 406,31x19 Griffin,high flow water pump,16" spal fan,never got over 200*.Not trying to argue with anyone else,just stating my experiance,but if I ever get to build another 3rd gen,you can bet the farm it will have a bigblock in it from the word go!

 

for the weight couldn't i just put tougher sprins and shocks in etc.. also any idea what the torque difference is between the two? in your opinion. and anyone else for that matter. also should and can i even make it mpfi with something like a holley stealth ram kit for the bbc???? i dont want tbi or a carb and also i want a supercharger at some point and i want it all to fit under the hood of my GTA. with no mods to the hood at all. this car is to be a sleeper that can rip it up like no other. i hope to be able to get the fornt end up and i know and have planned to put in subframe connectors and even some extra bracing above the headliner (i have a hard top) so it wont twist like crazy with all the power i want. also i have an lt1-t56 and i want ot keep it so i need to throw that in the mix. so i would need to know about what flywheel to use to keep it steel or aluminum with titanium inserts. do i have to have the bbc internally ballenced or not i want a stage 3 clutch i think anyway.. will that work with the bbc. i know they make headers specially for the 3rd gen with a bbc so i am all set there. and i not being realistic here?? i hope my dreams aren't to big and cant be done. as you guys can tell i am newbie to engine building i dont know much about heads or cams or how to match them or which ones to use for a blower setup etc. i need a lot of help for this project. i dont have anyone that has ever built a bbc with a supercharger helping me or one that has ever machined anything like is mentioned in another thread here for the 496 bbc where you need to machine a little bit of the dome of thepiston so it clear the valves on certain stock heads for use with a blower. so i am messed up here.. straighten me out would ya

 

We had a 496 with a Dyers 8/71 blower in my T/A with the engine it was around 980 HP and over 1100 on spray the torque was HUGE and it was hard to get the 29 -18.50 15s to hook even with the wheelie bars! unfortunatly it really was not practacal for a car that was to be driven so now it is getting a more streetable set up (motor wise) but still remain cool to drive ..

 

I would do a little more thinking on your combo The BBC will fit in without changing the springs if you use aluminum parts intake and waterpump or even heads if you can afford them , as for putting it under a stock GTA hood thats going to be tough to do I know of NO superchargers that will work with a BBC and fit under the stock hood , as for hedders Hooker makes one of the only sets that will work and they aren't cheep , and with a Blower of any sort you woulden't want domed pistons , flat top or dished are the way to go with around 7.5-8.5-1 compression and you also woulden't want to use any stock heads as the flow would be poor and blowers need good heads to make HP also you would want a steel flywheel for durability but a T-56 probably won't live long with a blown application look into a aftermarket trans like a richmond for that sort of power or plan on an automatic like a TH-400, you would also want to add subframe connectors and possibly even a frame and cage as the body wont take that kind of HP even the non T-Top ones...I don't mean to burst your bubble but I know what these cars take to handle that kind of HP and a stock frame won't do it ...