Irish's pickup from hell, the 454SS.

[Irishman999]

Whenever you meet people like that, it makes you both sad and happy, at least for me. Happy because he's enjoying (at least I would hope) the life that he's set out to live and gathered an amazing collection, but I get sad whenever I think about those kick ass people one day kicking the bucket, and those collections being sold off to people who would probably give less than a rat's ass about it. The people who gather the rights to those sorts of things tend to do that whenever the original owner dies. At least from my experience.

But seriously would LOVE to see some pictures man, I'll probably be jaw-dropping through everyone.

I hear ya there dude.

 

[Irishman999]

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[Irishman999]

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[HotRodPC]

About a lucky *** to have a wife willing to help work on the truck. But this isn't the first time you've heard that. Kinda makes a bit worth putting up with some of her **** doesn't it?

I won't swear to it without a closer looking over, those almost look like forged pistons. Bummer they're flat tops. Some 18cc domes would make your sticker peck out !!!

So what's up with the crank getting derusted? Not so sure I'd have done that. Don't be afraid to spend a few bucks dude. I'da took it to a machine shop from a micro polishing. Here's the big deal on taking things to the machine shop to have some minor things done. They'll be checking it over and making sure nothing else is out of spec in most cases. NORMALLY, they don't just throw it up on the lathe and get busy. They'll mic it for you, clean it and make sure it's worthy of the polishing job. They might find an egg shape journal and let you know it's needs turned.

So what all is this job entail anyway? Is this just a Re Ring Job with a new cam or what? Esplain it so I don't have to go back and read over it all. Just a quick run down please. Them pics are bout to make pecker stiff !!!

 

[HotRodPC]

Ohh, and where did you get the cam bearing install tool? Buy it, Loan it from a retailer, Borrow it or what???

What cam # did you get? I want to peak at the specs.

 

[Irishman999]

Betsy likes this stuff, all the shiny parts and machined surfaces are interesting to anyone.

Rundown on this engine is its a low mile rebuild I got from a guy that owns a machine shop in Seirra Verde south of Tuscon. He acquired it and took it apart to spec everything out, everything spec'd out so he put it in his warehouse so someone could assemble it later.

The crank was micropolished by him when I got it, it had some rust on the counterweights. I should have left it alone but I soaked the crank in CLR, that just made **** worse so I did the electrolosis experiment for the first time and that worked great. All I did about the journals was get some mothers aluminum polish and a sock and polished the **** out of the journals, they actually look more shiny than when I got the crank so I think it will be alright.

Cam bearing tool came off ebay, it was 100 bucks. If you search around the internet about installing cam bearings all advice leads to just having a machine shop do it. If you read any books on engine assembling the author will just tell you to take it to a machine shop. I looked it up in my chilton manual and it just had a paragraph saying to take it to a machine shop . If you look up "cam bearing install" on youtube there is several video's of guys doing it in their garage and explaining about the oil holes needing to be lined up correctly.

Honestly the job was not all that hard, I just marked bearing with nail polish and marked the block, then just knocked em' in nice and flush. I slid the cam in and everything spins very nicely, there is no scratching on any parts of the cam so I think it will fly. Only issue I have with my work is one of the bearings got chingered somehow, I am going to order more bearings and try the one bearing again. The finish on the mandrel is a little rough, I am going to polish the **** out of it and try again or maybe just look closer at the bearing I installed because it might be okay to run.

At this point you are probably thinking I am an idiot for not taking this thing to the machine shop, there is a reason I am not. Our machinist here is backed up for like the next 6 months, I cant get anything done. The rods and pistons I dropped off for the small block had not been touched in about 4 months when I picked them up. I feel like I can get creative and use good judgment here and do it without the machine shop.

Here is the cam kit I got, nothing to serious since its my daily driver,

http://www.jegs.com/i/Comp-Cams/249/CL01-412-8/10002/-1

I have pretty much everything ready to assemble the bottom end, just need more time. Plan is to do one last really good final cleaning, hose out the shop, change the mineral spirits in my parts washer and get after it. Only hangups at the moment I have is the cam bearing I mentioned and i seem to have a slight ridge at the tops of the cylinder walls, I honed everything and they turned out really nice I am just not sure about the ridge, seeming like I might need to try the dreaded ridge reamer and make yet another high stakes gamble on my engine.

As far as the heads go, I have not even run the casting numbers or done research on what they are. They look good, most likely going to pull them apart, clean them with electricity, check everything out and put them back together. From there im going to run a single plane edelbrock intake, not sure which one yet. Fuel delivery will most likely be the stock throttle body thats on the truck now but I plan on rebuilding it before I install, right now I know the injector on the drivers side is ****** up and spraying way too much fuel.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Just sold two mirrors to a local guy with a 454SS.

 

[Irishman999]

Just sold two mirrors to a local guy with a 454SS.

Were they the little sport mirrors? Was it a black one?

If that guy put normal mirrors on his I might do the same thing, the little mirrors are very hard to see out of.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Nope, a compass/temp rearview for his 1990 (black, of course) and his 1973 Impala convertible.

After I told him about my plans for the Indy, he wants Escalade mirrors and Blazer/Yukon door panels now.

 

[Old77]

wanna see pics of the 73 impala

 

[HotRodPC]

Yeah, I knew the Electolysis wasn't going to be good on the crank journals. That's why I asked about it. Kinda dulled them out and made them ugly didn't it? Looks like you got it back to shiney though.

I see why you wouldn't take to the machinist if he's that backed up. Just be sure to mic everything or hope that guy you got it from is not shooting you some ********. DO Plastiquage EVERY crank Journal. Mains and Rods. It only takes 1 journal to be off and mess up the whole build.

That's not a bad cam at all. Pretty close to the one I think I'm going with when I change my intake on my C20 with the 454. I've got it running pretty good now that I timed it, changed plugs and wires, dizzy and harmonic balancer. Fugger will **** an git a little now, so now it's time to wake it up a bit. I'd have gone a little more wild with it, but being it's still Piss Port Peanut heads, I'm staying mild. Just going with a cheap Summit Cam on 114 Lobe Separation Angle for more bottom end since that's what the Piss Port heads are designed to do, so maybe it'll be a good match I'm hoping.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-1301/overview/make/chevrolet

I wish my damn C20 wasn't so heavy. If it wasn't I'd tow the K1500 out there to spank your K1500 and Spank you ass again with my C20, but weighing 6000lbs with me and fuel, I won't race my sled against the SS. Now when I get heads, and a different cam swap and some other work, yeah it's ON !!!

 

[Irishman999]

Yeah, I knew the Electolysis wasn't going to be good on the crank journals. That's why I asked about it. Kinda dulled them out and made them ugly didn't it? Looks like you got it back to shiney though.

I see why you wouldn't take to the machinist if he's that backed up. Just be sure to mic everything or hope that guy you got it from is not shooting you some ********. DO Plastiquage EVERY crank Journal. Mains and Rods. It only takes 1 journal to be off and mess up the whole build.

That's not a bad cam at all. Pretty close to the one I think I'm going with when I change my intake on my C20 with the 454. I've got it running pretty good now that I timed it, changed plugs and wires, dizzy and harmonic balancer. Fugger will **** an git a little now, so now it's time to wake it up a bit. I'd have gone a little more wild with it, but being it's still Piss Port Peanut heads, I'm staying mild. Just going with a cheap Summit Cam on 114 Lobe Separation Angle for more bottom end since that's what the Piss Port heads are designed to do, so maybe it'll be a good match I'm hoping.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-1301/overview/make/chevrolet

I wish my damn C20 wasn't so heavy. If it wasn't I'd tow the K1500 out there to spank your K1500 and Spank you ass again with my C20, but weighing 6000lbs with me and fuel, I won't race my sled against the SS. Now when I get heads, and a different cam swap and some other work, yeah it's ON !!!

The electro-magic actually was not to hard on the journals, the CLR really made things look ******. Im talking like minimal polishing and they have a mirror like finish.

Crank is good, before I even screwed with it I got a micrometer set off ebay and everything spec'd out beautifully right where it should be. I set the crank in at one point and plastiguaged all the mains, they were all right where they should be except for one that was a little tight but it should work. Still needing to check clearance on the rod bearings but all the journals were correct when I measured them.

As far as your heads go, just go find some of these gen VI heads and do a port job. Dave Vizard has a book out that explains how to build a flow bench and do a good port job. I was planning on porting these, I still might do it but mostly just want to get my truck running right so I can focus on other stuff like the fact it has no front brakes, no drivers side window and some front end issues, ohh and the transmission acts funny. I need to go through the transmission after my brake/ suspension job.

As far as your K-1500 puttin a whooopin on my truck..... lets meet at Firebird buddy! This truck should be considerably quicker with this motor but I think the biggest downfall will be traction, Its going to need some wider rubber for sure.

 

[HotRodPC]

As far as your K-1500 puttin a whooopin on my truck..... lets meet at Firebird buddy! This truck should be considerably quicker with this motor but I think the biggest downfall will be traction, Its going to need some wider rubber for sure.

HUH? WTF you thikin? My K1500 vs your 454SS? NOT. I was talking my K1500 beating the K1500 your dad has, then wear your SS out with the C20. But, my C20 is to heavy, I won't take that race.

 

[El Camino Man]

Kinda makes me wanna build a 454 lol. Iv got a bare block back in the shed, already bored .060 over. But I don't think I could swallow 9 mpg after dumping several grand into it lol

 

[foamypirate]

Kinda makes me wanna build a 454 lol. Iv got a bare block back in the shed, already bored .060 over. But I don't think I could swallow 9 mpg after dumping several grand into it lol

I'll trade you my 305 for that thar' 454. It gets great gas mileage!