I am very tempted to buy the 454 aluminum small block for my 83 trans am, I can do this if i dont buy the quad that I want do you think it would be worth not having the quad?

 

You could probably buy 2 mild BBC engines for the price of that engine. The steel block crate engine 454 SBC is worth over $12,000. A bare aluminum block is worth around $4400.

 

ha! Just do a gnarly 383 stroker. Your wallet will leave you with enough money for gas, and it'll still be fast enough to kill you and 30 other people unfortunate enough to be in your wake. Fast enough to not be able to drive it on the roads at least...

 

Let me be frank with you:

Absolutely not.

 

I would put a ls1 in first...lots of power, light, and still get over 20mpg.

 

i know i bolted in a 350, but that was just to get the ball rolling and have a lil fun, personally i hate the 350, and 383's just seem like an act of desperation, I think i will buy a cheaper quad and jus go with my big block plans

 

You can build a much bigger, ruder, and more powerful big block for what that 454ci SBC would run you... and then you get the joy of saying you have a big block.

For the ten large or better that the SB 454 would cost, you could build a really gnarly 496 or even just buy a 502 crate - more power, big block torque, more reliable, better sound, and money to buy gas afterwards!!

 

no you cant spray on the 454. the head gaskets are already too thin. then you have to run a 4.2" bore gasket. and no gasket at all. now.

 

I was told that I was insane when I joked about rebuilding the 472 in my 1969 Caddy and dropping it in the Firebird. A 502??? I wanna see pics of that.

 

wtf?

 

i would say buld a 421 or a 434. id stay away from the larger bore size on the 454. evan the builders tell you not to spray because of the gasket thickness between cyls.

that said you have to decide what you want.
nobody can really help you there.
the 454 sbc has a great place in a driver that wont be sprayed above a 150 shot.

 

A Caddy is a whole different animal - quite a bit of fabrication to get one of those into the car, just because there is no aftermarket for those motors, or for using them in motor swaps.

The 502 Chevy though.... easy. Its outside physical dimentions are identical to the 396/427/454 big blocks, its just the bore and stroke thats different. Swapping in a 502 (or even a 540 for that matter) is no harder to install than any of the 'small' big blocks, because externally, its exactly the same.