Small block or Big block?

[Grit dog]

12valve. Done.

 

[Wumbo]

9:1 compression 454, oval port heads, Lunati 20110710 roller cam.

Very good street manners, and 550+ ft lbs of toque.

 

[Big Chip]

I’m interested in what people think about the “sewing machine” noise you have. I’ve recently developed the exact same sound. The only thing that’s different is a new timing chain set and water pump.

That being said, go with the big block!

 

[Catbox]

Go with a Gen 6 454 and have it rebuilt with a decent cam.
It will make all that you need from it.

The Gen 5 454's still have crappy heads on them.

 

[Bextreme04]

That would be my suggestion too... get a take-out Gen VI 454 from a 1996-99 truck/suburban. A simple cam swap will wake up the engine a lot and they are already great heads with a factory roller cam, so all you would need is the cam. It's all-around a better engine than the Gen V and will make more power right off the bat.

 

[Bextreme04]

The only downside would be that there is no fuel pump boss and the Gen VI heads have no exhaust crossover for cold starts. But a standard BBC intake and distributor will fit right on and you can even reuse the carb and distributor that are on your 350 now. You'll just need to swap the gear on the distributor for the roller cam.

 

[Grit dog]

^ Yeah, not a big fan of the little puddle sucker electric fuel pump I have to run. I'm not into spending $1000 and a bunch of time and pain in the ____ to install dual in tank pumps.
Its not ideal, for sure.

 

[Grit dog]

9:1 compression 454, oval port heads, Lunati 20110710 roller cam.

Very good street manners, and 550+ ft lbs of toque.

Bone stock P-pump 12V. 3k or 4k gsk, mod the fuel plate, turn the fuel screw, 700 ft lbs for $100 and 1 hour under the hood. And 200% + better fuel mileage.

 

[Wumbo]

Bone stock P-pump 12V. 3k or 4k gsk, mod the fuel plate, turn the fuel screw, 700 ft lbs for $100 and 1 hour under the hood. And 200% + better fuel mileage.

It's a bit more involved when you're starting with a gas engine.

 

[Bextreme04]

You can convert to a TBI blazer tank for pretty cheap... or get vortec fuel sending units and pumps from a 96-99 suburban/truck that someone is parting out locally. The pump and senders will drop right into the square body tanks. You can also buy new saddle tank TBI senders and swap in the vortec pumps. You'll need a fuel pressure regulator with a good sized return line, but that shouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[Wumbo]

Or just keep it simple. MK IV 454 with a mechanical fuel pump, with the specs I posted above.

 

[Usmczo6]

I am also interested in this, however I am already starting out with a 454 (1988 carburetor) 4 spd I've been thread surfing I came across some information about putting on a set of vortech L-29 heads will bump the compression up a bit to make a nice difference, any cam suggestions for this set up?

 

[87scotty]

468 049s flat tops with hyd roller

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Wumbo]

You must be registered for see images attach

20110711 cam

 

[Wumbo]

You must be registered for see images attach

20110710 cam