Engine Boom Progress

[da_raabi]

Visited the head builder today. He said my heads are perfect. No issues at all. So I guess the 454 is not an interference engine after all!

He took a look at my lifters and said they are whooped though. Said I need a cam. Any opinions on the Comp Cams Magnum 270H? I know it's a fairly big cam, but how do you all think it would act in a 454/peanut heads/4.10 Dooley's/dual plane intake?

 

[QBuff02]

Visited the head builder today. He said my heads are perfect. No issues at all. So I guess the 454 is not an interference engine after all!

He took a look at my lifters and said they are whooped though. Said I need a cam. Any opinions on the Comp Cams Magnum 270H? I know it's a fairly big cam, but how do you all think it would act in a 454/peanut heads/4.10 Dooley's/dual plane intake?

I had a Comp XE262 (11-238-3) in my 454 before I rebuilt it, and it was a very strong cam. that 270 is basically a step above it so I don't think you can go wrong. The only thing i'll mention is on mine it had domed pistons in it and was around 9.75:1 compression and I see you have flat top pistons so you might suffer just a little but probably not enough to bother you. You could always advance the cam a few degrees to close the intake valves just a touch sooner and help your dynamic compression ratio. But the cam specs don't call out for higher compression and it's only closing the intake valves a few degrees past what the XE262 does so if it doesn't concern you, degree it straight up and run it!

 

[Galane]

Removing all the oil galley plugs and running bore brushes through them will also be a good thing to do.

 

[da_raabi]

I had a Comp XE262 (11-238-3) in my 454 before I rebuilt it, and it was a very strong cam. that 270 is basically a step above it so I don't think you can go wrong. The only thing i'll mention is on mine it had domed pistons in it and was around 9.75:1 compression and I see you have flat top pistons so you might suffer just a little but probably not enough to bother you. You could always advance the cam a few degrees to close the intake valves just a touch sooner and help your dynamic compression ratio. But the cam specs don't call out for higher compression and it's only closing the intake valves a few degrees past what the XE262 does so if it doesn't concern you, degree it straight up and run it!

Well I went ahead and got the complete Comp Cams K-kit for the 270H cam. I'll be very interested to see how it runs. I'm pretty sure my compression is down around 8.5:1 or so, so I hope that doesn't result in it being a dog. As you say the cam description does not call for a minimum CR, so we shall see.

Now I'm working on putting together the list of ALL. THE. OTHER. PARTS I need lol. I've got a RockAuto order of around $300 with like 35 items in it going. Then I need to jump over to summit for a new distributor (the old one was on its last legs anyway) and maybe a set of headers. I'm dropping waaaaay more money on this than I want, but... do it once do it right?

 

[CorvairGeek]

As I've thought about it more, I never would have guessed that an '86 454 in a one ton would have contained the nylon and pot metal wonder. I really thought they were light duty / light duty emissions only.

 

[4WDKC]

Only concern I see is the 110 lsa, that may cause an issue when towing as the bleeds off low range torque in favor of high rpm hp. You may want to call comp and confirm that it will work for your intended purposes. Unless its a high end race engine a stock distributor will work fine, I used on from local parts store in my vette and my truck. You should be able to get one from rock auto for cheap also.

 

[da_raabi]

I compared the 11-207-3 (270H grind) to the 11-238-3 (XE262H grind) and the only difference I could see was that the 270H has a little more intake lift/duration than the 262. The descriptions state:

11-207-3 (270H grind)

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11-238-3 (XE262H grind)

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That tells me the 110 lsa should not be a problem for towing - at least according to these descriptions. Honestly the only reason I went with the 270H grind was because I wanted the rougher idle. I want this truck to bark lol.

I also noticed the 262 K-kit came with a single timing chain while the 270 K-kit comes with the double non-roller. Obviously this is a sore spot with me, so I wanted the double!

 

[QBuff02]

I compared the 11-207-3 (270H grind) to the 11-238-3 (XE262H grind) and the only difference I could see was that the 270H has a little more intake lift/duration than the 262. The descriptions state:

11-207-3 (270H grind)

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11-238-3 (XE262H grind)

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That tells me the 110 lsa should not be a problem for towing - at least according to these descriptions. Honestly the only reason I went with the 270H grind was because I wanted the rougher idle. I want this truck to bark lol.

I also noticed the 262 K-kit came with a single timing chain while the 270 K-kit comes with the double non-roller. Obviously this is a sore spot with me, so I wanted the double!

And that cam will tend to be a little more tame in a 454 because of the cubic inch gain over a 396 plus you've got the aid of lower gears so I really don't think you'll have any trouble at all. You're only adding a touch more to the intake side, and I know the 262 was pretty tame (idle wise) in my 454, but it made great power throughout the whole range. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

 

[shiftpro]

And that cam will tend to be a little more tame in a 454 because of the cubic inch gain over a 396 plus you've got the aid of lower gears so I really don't think you'll have any trouble at all. You're only adding a touch more to the intake side, and I know the 262 was pretty tame (idle wise) in my 454, but it made great power throughout the whole range. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Absolutely, good point.

 

[da_raabi]

Block painted

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$35 Winters Dual-Plane painted

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Next up is to clean up the pan and valve covers. Parts boxed have started arriving!

 

[da_raabi]

Took apart the heads yesterday. Turns out these heads have rotators on all the valves - something which Comp Cams said nothing about in their notes for the cam kit. The stock rotators are too thick for the correct spring height, so now I have to order 16 rotator eliminators. Comp sells a set that will work on the exhaust side, but they won't fit the intake side. I'm looking at a Crane set that is the same thickness, but has a slightly larger center hole that might fit over the valve post/casting/thingy (what the hell is that called???). Why does it seem there's always more to spend money on??

Found a bunch of these too:

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[Wumbo]

"valve post/casting/thingy" is the valve guide.

 

[da_raabi]

"valve post/casting/thingy" is the valve guide.

lol ok That's what I thought. I just didn't want to use the term incorrectly and confuse things.

 

[Wumbo]

Is that a rectangle port intake?

 

[da_raabi]

Is that a rectangle port intake?

No, its the old-school peanuts. I forget the casting number. They are the stock heads for the truck.