Thread: 454 Advice

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I'm rebuilding a 454 for a friend for his 69 Camaro and wanted to pick some brains before I spend his money. He wants to go with a stroker and I don't know what would be better, a 496 stroker or going the 502 route. He has a great set of heads that have had extensive work ( 118cc ) and a Crane roller cam 595 615 lift and 238 246 duration. How much work is involved with the stroker in regards to clearance issues and what compression ratio should I shoot for to stick with pump gas? Car will be street driven 75% of the time and it has an auto in it. Is this too much cam for a street motor?

I build mostly SB Chevys . But I have rebuilt 396s and 402s . To me it was like working on a big SB Chevy . But there was a guy I worked with . And he had a 496 built for the strip . I know it had Brodix heads and a Edelbrock victor intake with a Holley dominator carb . The cam was around 615 lift and it was a sold flat tappet type . He had this engine in a all steel 1968 Pontiac LeMans with a TH400 4200 stall and a 456 12bolt . That car ran high 9s and smashed the oil pan one time doing a wheel stand .

I do think that the 496 is a bit to wild for a 75% street car . Build an iron head 454 30 over 461 . That will get the job done . COOL

I would say, depends on what he is going to do with the car.A 496 will make plenty of torque, and decent HP but for a street car i would go with a 454. i built a 468 with big compression roller cam and AFR rec port heads. My motor made 708 Hp and 622 tq on the motor only. On nitrous it made 1006 HP. I have a mini tubbed camaro with 31x16.5 ET streets, and i have a hard time trying to get it to hook on the street.

If your going oval port heads, buy an Edelbrock RPM performer intake as well.

Originally Posted by bucklowe

I'm rebuilding a 454 for a friend for his 69 Camaro and wanted to pick some brains before I spend his money. He wants to go with a stroker and I don't know what would be better, a 496 stroker or going the 502 route. He has a great set of heads that have had extensive work ( 118cc ) and a Crane roller cam 595 615 lift and 238 246 duration. How much work is involved with the stroker in regards to clearance issues and what compression ratio should I shoot for to stick with pump gas? Car will be street driven 75% of the time and it has an auto in it. Is this too much cam for a street motor?

If he wants a stroker then go with the 496.
The cam will work fine in a 496 with around 10 to 1 for a comp. ratio.
I would run a stall speed around 3,000 to 3,500 rpm's and a 3.90 to 4.10 gear.

you just can`t beat cubic inches

Tango, I see your from Chicago. Were you talking about Ray Gustafusons Camaro from Portage, Ind?? Sounds JUST LIKE his setup and the oilpan "thing" started becoming "common" on that car!!! His started out as a 509 ci, but he decided to go back down to 496 for whatever reason. He used to drive that car to Blue Top drive-in on the weekends with us. Man, that was a blast!!! Pulling in there with 2 big tired bigblock cars and 2 10" tire smallblock cars on BIG spray!!!! Those were the days...

Good morning, we had the 454 in and went with a 468, good street motor yet it still breaks them loose from a 30 mph roll. for christmas we are treating the 468 to a little N02 so if you need a 75% street car,we like the 468.

Originally Posted by maxxmuscle

Tango, I see your from Chicago. Were you talking about Ray Gustafusons Camaro from Portage, Ind?? Sounds JUST LIKE his setup and the oilpan "thing" started becoming "common" on that car!!! His started out as a 509 ci, but he decided to go back down to 496 for whatever reason. He used to drive that car to Blue Top drive-in on the weekends with us. Man, that was a blast!!! Pulling in there with 2 big tired bigblock cars and 2 10" tire smallblock cars on BIG spray!!!! Those were the days...

This guy had a 1968 Le Mans it had the 496 . Every one called him Al PRO his car had 10.5 tires and was not tubed out . It was a 9sec out law street car . Now he is building a 1955 Chevy This one is set up to run 8s when its done ?

Originally Posted by tango

This guy had a 1968 Le Mans it had the 496 . Every one called him Al PRO his car had 10.5 tires and was not tubed out . It was a 9sec out law street car . Now he is building a 1955 Chevy This one is set up to run 8s when its done ?

Is that like ALL PRO like the cylinder heads??

Originally Posted by erik erikson

Is that like ALL PRO like the cylinder heads??

No AL like ALAN PRO like Provinsoly

i have built many 496 and bigger for the street not hard at all the 4.250 crank will go in easly if you use a cap screw rod if you go with a stock rod you may have to trim a very small amount out . not a big deal i have used the 4.375 cranks in them to with a stock gm short9.800 deck this works good to