i have the engine. It is a crate 540. However i need help. The vehicle is an 87 iroc z28 with the 305.
1. Do i need to tube out the front end? or can i stick with the unmodified body?
2. what motor mounts?
3. what transmission?
4. what rear?

what else should i kno?

thanks.

 

think a 540 is what stephen 87 iroc is running, he will prob be around sooner or later and is pretty helpful but if not he would prob be one of the best people to go to

 

A 540 is just a large displacement short deck block. It's no different than dropping in any other short deck big block such as a 396, 427 or 454.

Read the sticky on putting a BBC into a third gen.

 

GM's Engineering Department stuffed a 572 into a 3rd gen when the cars were still new. There are pictures of it in a book somewhere (Camaro Performance, How to Tune and Modify TPI Engines, or something like that.)

Here's the deal. A small block and a big block use the same motor mounts. They also share a bellhousing pattern, so the trans will bolt right up, however the 540's torque will scatter it the first time you put your foot down. I'd suggest a seriously built 700R4 or upgrading to a 4L80E with a stand alone trans controller. If you want a stick a built T56 could fill the bill with at least a SPEC stage III clutch.

If you have AC you'll have to lose it. Getting headers in there is going to be hard enough. You may have to modify the heater box even if you just stick with heat. Another option would be a Classic Auto Air or Old Air Products aftermarket unit that installs behind the dash (nothign protrudes into the engine compartment).

Your brake booster will probably hit the valve cover on the driver's side. You can get a smaller diameter booster from Stainless Steel Brakes or Classic Tube. Or if your cam doesn't make enough vaccum anyway switch out to a hydroboost system or go back to manual brakes.

You will need a serious radiator to keep a 540 cool. I suggest Be Cool's aluminum system with radiator and twin electric fans.

As for a rear a 9" would be my preference.

 

Why is this post both here and in Engine Swap? You do not have to lose the a/c, I stuck my rat in my '84 Trans Am without it touching the stock a/c or brake booster. I just used standard height valve covers, since stud girdles aren't in my plans.

 

Going bigger than a 540 (565) means using a tall deck block. If you're going to use a tall deck to make a 572, don't stop there. Go right to a 632. Stuffing a tall deck block into a third gen isn't impossible, but a lot more custom work is required.

There was a time when the 540 was the big engine to get to beat the 502's. Then everyone wanted a 572 to outperform the 540's. Now you need a 632 to outperform the 572's. You can go even bigger than a 632 but you're also looking at $90,000+ engines.

The only transmission I've had behind my 540 is a basic race prepped Powerglide. For dragstrip use only, that's all I need. It's amazing how much abuse they can take with just a few minor upgrades. A high torque engine doesn't need such a low first gear especially the very low first gear of a 700R4. Unless you're doing a lot of highway driving, you don't really need a tranny with an OD but even then, if you have a 540, fuel mileage will suck anyway. My 454SS pickup gets 8-10 mpg with an OD in the city but also weighs 1000 pounds more than a heavy third gen. Highway it's around 16 mpg.

As for using your SBC accessories such as AC on a BBC, you'll need to pick up a bunch of BBC brackets. The SBC brackets won't fit. If you can't find factory brackets, that means aftermarket or custom made stuff.

I never had a problem with brake booster clearance even with the tall covers but I removed mine mostly for access. There isn't a huge weight saving from removing the booster. It might weigh 5 pounds.

 

Actually, with a 9.80" deck, you can get 605 ci with a 4.625" bore, a 4.500" stroke and a 6.385" rod length. That's 9.9 liters!

 

out of curiosity, what draws you guys to 540+ cubic inch blocks when a modern LS3 is making over 400HP stock and can do much much more when modified? An LS1 that can be had pretty cheaply now can make gobs of power too. I have to think the bigger cube stuff gets pretty expensive to the point where cost isn't the factor tipping the scale in the BBC's favor. The weight of those big boys isn't a plus either. I'm not knocking your preference, I'm just curious to understand why you choose them.

 

i would imagine that its becuase all things the same the more cubes you have the more power you make, ive seen a couple 572-632's making 900+ hp n/a and w/o nitrous, also some class's prevent the use of electronics and while the ls series can have a distributor installed its a pain, i wish i could afford a big block =/
oh yah one thing i forgot if you look at alot of ls series motors the torque climbs to a peak, if you look at a big block most of the time its close to straight across alot may only have say 30 ft lbs difference in the entire dyno(granted thats just the ones ive seen)

 

It's cheaper to make HP with cubic inches. When you figure that any typical engine can make 1 HP per CID on pump gas, more cubic inches means more HP. A really hopped up race engine can make 2 HP per CID. A 400 SBC would only be making 800 HP and that would be a very expensive SBC. A 540 would be making 1080. It would also be an expensive engine but the extra 280 HP is a huge kick in the butt at the track over the SBC.

Yes, smaller engines such as the LSx engines can make a lot of power but they're still limited by the small size and it always costs money to make HP. Bigger cubic inches can make more HP with roughly the same amount of money spent.

Last year my 540 engine made an estimated 850 HP with tiny heads. Over the winter, I installed some much better heads and I'm hoping for closer to 1000 HP this year. Although I run alcohol for fuel, the engine (not the car) could be streetable changing the fuel system to gas but it would need race gas because of the high compression.

Weight isn't a huge issue. Anyone who builds any kind of performance BBC will be using an aluminum intake and aluminum heads. Aluminum heads, even the small ones, are cheap enough to not use them. That puts the BBC weight very close to an iron head SBC.

Going from a 4.250 to a 4.500 stroke in a 9.8 deck height isn't impossible. My 540 uses a 4.250" stroke and I already use 6.385" rods which puts the wrist pin into the oil control rings. Increasing the stroke with the short deck means moving the wrist pin even higher up the pistons getting it very close to the bottom compression ring. Yes it can be done but isn't a common way to build such a big engine.

Using an aftermarket block, it's possible to build a 454 SBC but it would cost more to build than a 454 BBC and the BBC has more potential to make more power from the bigger heads available, even with factory heads. The SBC would need some expensive and exotic heads to feed the big engine.

Here's a few pump gas and race engines

http://www.sonnysracingengines.com/
http://www.theengineshop.com/CompleteEngines.html
http://www.steveschmidtracing.com/dr...g-engines.html
http://www.nelsonracingengines.com/new_engine_chevy.htm

 

the 605 has a better r/s ratio, and a taller piston, than the 632. AFR BBC heads are about the same price as AFR LSx heads, BBC cranks are cheaper, you can run more bore and stroke, the water jackets are better for big power, BBCs look more impressive, BBC rod journals are stronger, and no matter what you do to an LSx to make it give the same peak power as a 540+, it'll never equal the torque below 1500 rpm.

 

I can see both sides of the argument. I've built a few big blocks over the years, mostly for speed boats. I built a pair of 468s for my dad's 29' Scaraab that would wipe the bay with the 502s that everyone was running back in the day (that was when the 502 was brand new and hot you know what). These used LS6 blocks, rods, and cranks that I did a lot of work to. I used a set of rectangle port heads that I ported and did some epoxy work on (mostly to raise the port floors to get the velocity up). I ran mechanical roller cams and single Holleys on port matched intakes. Even with the restrictive wet exhaust we were still running 95MPH once we got the right props on it. I guestimate that these engines were making close to 600HP each, or 1,200HP for the boat. Today I could get that out of a single 632 (or Diesel for that matter, but this isn't the place to talk about that

Big inch motors make more power with better manners. A 632 will make 1,000 HP all day long and seem mild mannered on the street. A 1,000 HP small block will be unstreetable without twin turbos, and even then the lag will be a factor, plus the cost of the setup.

On the other hand I love the LS series engines. God bless GM for keeping the cam in the block and proving to Ford that their modular motor is exactly what I always said it was; a good boat anchor. You can get a cheap iron block 6.0 LQ4 motor now and hop it up a little and easily make 500+HP, which makes for a great street engine or street/strip engine. The symetrical port 15 degree heads are simply amazing on these motors.

The bottom line is that it has never been easier to make rediculous power from a chevy motor of any architecture. Run what you like, just make it fast!

 

A 540 with 625HP and 640ftlb of torque is only $10,000 a 300+HP nitrous fogger system is an exta 1800 thats almost 1000Hp for about $12,000 bucks i know its alot but biuld a small block with that power on that budget and to top that off thats only on pump gas if you wanna go crazy big block cram out $80,000 for a nitrous injected 2,500+HP 802ci race engine for alot more engines check out.........ultrastreet.net

 

hey guys im building a street sleeper/sweeper 89 gta with a 540 and im looking for suggestions on exhaust and a top end kit for my car. its a street car that i'll be driving quite a bit. also looking to run a 700r4 and perhaps a 3.73 or 3.42. looking for a low profile intake that will allow me to run my stock hood or really no more that a 2.5 cowl hood. also if some one has pictures of a bbc in a third gen camaro or trans am and the part number for long tube headers that wood be great. im also looking to run a voodoo cam or atleast a tame hyd roller so i can run a 2400-3000 stall with lockup converter. im thinkin of the same ppg white with gta decals and would love to see pics of a third gen with the 17x9 snowflakes on it.

 

A 700R4 won't survive behind a 540. Although you could use the Hooker Supercomp swap headers, they'll be far too small for a 540. Ed Quay makes a good swap header but expect to pay at least $1000 for a set.

A picture of a 540 under the hood looks exactly the same as any other BBC under the hood. Lots of pictures of 454's if you use the search feature.