Thats how they are configured. 3 inch 3 bolt flange with a reducer and a smaller diameter perforated core wrapped with glass. I'm gonna put those headers on this weekend god willing. Weather here has been crap last week. This engine is a low compression motor home engine so I don't need a really free flowing exhaust. I'm just laying groundwork for the 496 me and my dad are gonna build in april.

 

Think your weather is crap? It's 2 degrees F here.

Let us know how it works out.

 

Ha ha sorry. I always get **** for complaining from my friends stationed in North Dakota. I'll post pictures once I get em installed.

 

I got you both beat.... -42*C today here. Ugh.

 

So the 454 from a motor home is a passenger car engine? I figured they would be tall deck like truck big blocks. I assume the difference is head and intake height.

 

Yeah its a passenger car engine. I put an edelbrock 2101 intake manifold on it. I wish it was a tall deck. I'd stroke it more than 496 when we rebuild it if it was.

 

Any new photos or updates to the header install?

 

All factory 454s were std deck engines - the only tall deck BBC engines were the 366T and 427T. Those only came in BIG vehicles (school buses, dump trucks, etc).

The difference is the distance between the center of the crank and the top of the mating surface for the cylinder head. IIRC, a std block like a 454 has a deck height of 9.8" and the tall deck blocks (366T, 427T) had a deck height of 10.2"

Most of the tall deck motors used the good 781 casting heads (large oval ports) - they can use any BBC head that a std BBC can use. The intake is wider though, and the distrbutor is a bit longer.

 

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been at home on leave for the last month.

Right before I went home I noticed a tick in my engine. My engine builder thinks its either a rocker arm or a lifter. I've gotta diagnose the noise and then I'll try to get on the headers this weekend. I'll post pictures of the project when I tear into it.

The 366T and 427T engines have that larger deck height to facilitate longer pistons with 2 more compression rings for the extreme loads that those engines were designed to handle. Imagine a 427 pulling a fully loaded gravel truck turning 3 to 5 thousand rpm constantly.

 

subscribing. need to know how the headers fit too. plan on finding and installing a 454 into the 88 t/a. gotta get a parts list together for the budget. nice work so for great info.

 

Thanks.

 

Here's a pic I forgot to post after I got done painting the car. She aint beautiful but it gets the message across.

 

I see that you took out the whole air duct that goes behind the grill. Are you having heating problems after you yook that out.

 

It never gets over 190 degrees no matter how hard I run it. I usally drive around about 75-85 mph and the rpms are around 3-4k constantly. I cut that divider out to make the grill larger and I will make a new tunnel with sheet aluminum at some point later. Probably when it starts to run hot.

 

Scince i am in Arizona and it gets pretty hot could i just take that out and put the fans in front of the rad and then ad the tunnels.

 

I did it to increase the grill area, remove the unwanted plastic and facilitate the installation of a tubular bumper and permacool 6 pass 8AN oil cooler. The oil cooler is probabaly why my engine doesnt overheat, that and lack of exhuast system gets the heat out of the engine. I also don't have air conditioning so I don't have the heat exchanger in front of the radiator either.

I have heard that putting the fans in front of the radiator hurts the airflow through the rad a little.

Does your car have the exhaust crossover under the oil pan?

 

Well at this point it has nothing i am looking to build it the best possible so i dont have problems with the engine later. I did take out the whole ac unit even from the inside. Maybe ill have moré room since the Heat exchanger is gone. Ill try and post some pics of the engine bay when i get home. How well did the hookers fit on your car?

 

I'm gonna try to put them on saturday. Thats the only time I'll have access to a lift to put them in. I'm sure they will fit. It will just take some time and cutting.

 

If possible can you take pics of what you need to cut in order for it to fit.

 

Yeah me and my buddy are pretty thorough about taking pictures. I'll try to post them saturday night if possible.

 

Sweet man, ill probably cut off the impact bar of mine cause is so rusted that the bolts aré loose on the impact bar. After that i should be just preping the bottom of the car for painting. Have you heard anithing about the rust bullet paint?

 

Nah I don't know near anything about paint or cosmetic stuff. All I know is chevy engines and transmissions.

 

I found out a week ago that the trany i have is a viper trany. A guy that came to buy some Parts from my bro told me that. Do you know where i could DNS out what it really is?

 

Ok I got the hooker super comp headers on today. It really wasn't that bad. You gotta remember however my car has had sooo much stuff removed to facilitate ease of maintenance it may be harder on a stock car. It took all of about 4 hours with a buddy's help and a lift stall. My dang camera died on the way to the shop though so I don't have any pictures yet. I'll try to get some tomorrow. You have to remove the starter, oil filter, flywheel shield, and sparkplugs. The headers go in from the bottom and the part you have to cut on the bottom of the driver's side behind the a arm is very minimal and very easy. They are a VERY tight fit and I'm amazed they bolted right in. They rattle against the subframe in a couple places though so if that bothers you, you're gonna hafta either hammer the headers or the subframe a little. Mine is already as loud as a squadron of bombers so I'm used to it. I did have to bend the brake lines on the driver side coming out of the master cylinder a little to clear the primaries. It was pretty easily done by hand. Man the tone of this thing is AWESOME now! I get the biggest **** eating grin every time I get on it! My parts combination now is horribly mismatched though. Too much carb, too much intake, too much exhaust flow and not enough cam. On the first I'm gonna take it to an exhaust shop and get the mufflers put on. I'm probably gonna neck it down to a two and a half inch pipe and use a fairly restrictive muffler to build some back pressure. I'm gonna take the 2 inch carb spacer back off also. I thought the taller the spacer the more torque it put back but I was exactly backwards. 'Doh! I post some pics later. I'm goin' to sleep!

 

Great man, good to see the headers went on so well, i am waiting to sell my 461 still, scored a 6.0 and LS1 T56, so i am waiting on more money for the edelbrock intake and MSD 6LS box, then iw ill get the cam, then on to head work, re ringing the engine, ARP bolts and yada yada. Know it isnt going to have the BBC torque, but the top end power and lighter engine will make up for some. Found a bad *** cam for guys like myself doing a carbed LSX.

 

Even if the rattle doesn't really bother you, you should hammer on the subframe a bit for a little clearence, or else you'll have have some holes rattled right in to your new and expensive pair of headers.

 

Hooker pictures

 

hooker install pictures cont.....

 

Hooker install pictures cont.....

 

Please forgive my crappy phone camera. My good one died.

It looks like I have a motor mount that has gone soft on me. I thought the engine was leaning to the right and this confirms it. I got a good 1.5 to 2 inches of clearance to the floor boad one the passenger side but the driver side collector is right up against the floor board. So I'm gonna put some new mounts on order.

It also appears that that tire scrubbing noise was in fact my LF tire scrubbing up against the header collecter on the driver side. You can see where it took the paint off in one of the pictures. I am currently running the stock 16 inch wheels with 235 wide rubber. The scrubbing may be a side effect of the motor mount mismatch. I ran the steer wheel full left and right and could not duplicate the interference in the driveway. It's probably happening when the a arm is either fully extended or retracted.

We'll see if all that goes away with some new matched motor mounts. The instructions say that the headers will ONLY work with small block mounts and pads. I can't remember if I put the big block pads on the engine or not.

I just checked and turns out I do have the big block pads on the engine. They are alot longer than the small block pieces. On the first I'll order some proper trans adapt heavy duty small block peices.

 

Thanks for postin the photos! In the 1st photo on post #128, are the braided lines going to be moved?
I thought maybe they were fuel lines??? IDK about braided lines--maybe they can take the heat with out damage or vapor lock??? Also, when you change motor mounts, will you still have clearance for firewall & frame??
Sorry for asking-- you probably already have your plan of attack.

I'm following you so when the time comes, we know what to expect for our swap.

 

probably a dumb ? but you guys with the big blocks and carbs what kind of gas mileage you getting in the daily drivers? just want to know what to expect. later on down the road

 

Those two 8AN lines are go to my oil cooler. They are tied up and have plenty of clearance and can tolerate more heat than a cloth braid hose. The small block motor mounts will lower the engine bringing the oil pan closer to the K member. This will give me more clearance to the firewall and move my headers away from the floorboards. As far as gas mileage right now I get 12 mpg driving no faster than 55 like a total grandma with 2.73 gears. I don't have an overdrive trans or mufflers on right now and my carb is 100 cfm too big. All of these are bad for mileage. If you had a small carb, street cam and intake, and an overdrive trans with 2.73 rear end gears I think 18-22 would be pretty realistic.

 

Nicely done, that looks great i think ill buy mine when i get my taxes.

 

Thanks. Its the little things that take forever. The engine went in in a weekend. Everything else is whats eating up all the time.

 

nice build! how do you like that BMR K member? did it allow more room to the oil pan removal without engine movement? is it bolt up?

 

I don't have the BMR K member yet(but soon). I have the BMR TH400 torque arm relocation crossmember and full length torque arm. I'm gonna hold off on the K member until I get back from Mississippi with my 598.

 

I can't get to my Bigblock stuff til the weather gets better.
When you get your motor mounts, could you give part numbers? I'll compare them to the ones in storage when I get the chance.

 

I have the mounts on a 350 in my garage. I'm just gonna steal those. So far the only people I've found that manufacture the engine side brackets is transadapt. If there are any part numbers on the brackets I'll post em up here.

I found a remanufactured world class T5 on ebay for 695 with a 12 month warranty. So me and my buddy are gonna take off the headers, pull the 454 and TH-400 together, do the T5 conversion, change the motor mounts, stick the 454, and put the T5 in.

Then if all my header interfence is gone I'll take it to a muffler shop and get some 3 chamber mufflers put on. WOOO!

 

The 5 speed will be a BLAST!! Hope the swap goes good-n-easy!

...SIGH... Slamin' gears with a Bigblock...you guys have ALL the fun!!

 

HAHAHA You're welcome to help me and Derrick swap this thing. Some times fun is not the word I would choose

 

L O V E to get dirty in So Cal...Bride wouldn't like me too much tho
You going to put the tranny on after the motor's back in?
How much PITA to put it in attached to the motor??

IMHO _seems_ easier to stab into the clutch//pressure plate//flywheel & there's room to get the bellhousing bolts while it's all out
I also keep forgetting you can use the "craft" garage.

Yessiree I love to be there!!

When you have it in & drive it, & post up, I will raise a Long Island or 2 in honor of the accomplishment!!!

(edit)
Just found this by mistake but check on it:
Engine Swap
racerd146
post #2 of the thread!!
Sorry IDK how to quicklink this kinda thing!!

 

Lol thanks. Its not much harder to do with the trans attached. I may just do it that way. I ordered all the parts today (ARP bellhousing studs, zoom kevlar HP clutch/diaphram, 454 balance plate, BMR torque arm relocation crossmember). I have a driveshaft from a car thats getting scrapped. I just need to sit down and do the math now and see how much it needs to get cut.

 

Here's an update on the project.

Got all the parts for the T5 conversion except the driveshaft. Rebuilt WC T5, BMR crossmember, zoom kevlar clutch, ARP flywheel bolts/Bellhousing studs/header studs, new GM master cyl/slave cyl/resevoir/lines, Pedals from an 88 firebird, used shifter, and two new stock motor mounts.

My spohn heavy duty driveshaft should be here next week.

I've decided to wait until the paycheck on the 1st when I can get a BMR K member and tubular A arms to do the conversion.

 

Why a Spohn HD DS? I would think that the T5 would break before any stock DS would...
Plan on getting a stronger transmission later?

 

Yeah according to the overall scheme I plan to replace the T5 with a retrofit T56. It is suppossed to be a direct replacement for a T5.

I intend to overbore/stroke the engine to a 496, install a Moser M9 rear end, setup my accel DFI system on it, replace all the suspension with BMR peices, Get some kind of turbo/supercharger, cage the car, and finally build a 572+ cu in motor for use with whatever forced induction I have at the time.....

But you know how much the "plan" can change..........

 

I'm not familiar with that rear, 9" based? Regardless, not likely that a driveshaft that fits the stock rear will work with it.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Devastator
... install a Moser M9 rear end...)

I'm not familiar with that rear, 9" based? Regardless, not likely that a driveshaft that fits the stock rear will work with it.

http://www.moserengineering.com/hous...e-package.html

I don't imagine that the yoke on the M9 assembly is the same as the stock gm axle but if I have to change u joints or run a long slip yoke on the drive shaft it won't hurt my feelings. Worst comes to worst I'll have to get another driveshaft after I upgrade the rear axle.

This setup is WAAAAAAY overkill but I intend to build that huge turbo BBC and I don't like to buy two or three different axles as I upgrade so I'm shooting for the moon.

 

8-9 yrs ago, I helped a friend do a V-6 to V-8, & 5speed to T56 6speed swap.
As a reward, he let me dive around town......whenever I think about it!!

My llloooonnng term goal is to have an 8:71 on a 489 Bigblock!!
It's just an " old school " thing...blower thru the hood, the whining, the bad a** idle, power on demand....
Ofcourse, turbo Bigblock would be awsome!!
Sorry for the blahblahblah
Do you plan on photos doing the Kmember swap when you get around to doing it?

 

My good camera died when I went home on leave. I'll get ahold of another one from somewhere before I do all this. I had to take the header install pictures with my phone and they sucked so I'm definately gonna beg borrow steal a camera from somewhere.

I was originally gonna go with an 871 on my 496, but my father builds engines and suggested I go with a 598 and turbos. The main reason is I want an intercooler and with an 871 on a street car its pretty much impossible. Makes the whole assembly waaaay too tall. I love the whole giant blower, revving Idle, whining murder machine look. I wish I could just go with an 871.