Thread: new to the site, and need some suggestions for my 454

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i have a stock 1984 454(peanut port heads) that i pulled out of a bus with 70k on it and dropped it in my truck. i did the normal stuff to it, all new gaskets and seals and stuff like that. i took a look at the bottom end and it looked fine. i replaced the two piece rear-main seal and that crank journal looked fine, no i did not mic anything. its totally stock other than a set of headers. but i found a set of 049 heads(got them checked and they are perfect, ready to be ran)and an edlebrock performer rpm intake for a steal. in the next few months, i'll be doing heads, cam, and intake on it. but what would be a decent cam to run with those heads? it has the factory flat tops with one valve relief so it has 8to1 C/R if im right. i want to squeeze as much power and torque out of this thing but not lose any driveability due to too big of a cam for my low C/R. looking for mid-range, but not a dog on the low-end or high-end either.

Also, what kind of power increase am i looking at by just the heads/intake swap?

and its in a 84 k20 that weighs ~6000lbs if not more, on 38" tires.th400, 1800 stall and 4.88 gears.

Thanks in advance for any input.

On my 84 crew cab with 454 , 4.10 gear pickup pulling goose neck race car hauler, I changed the metering rods and turned the aircleaner top upside down to let more air in---no headers, no aftermarket cam--just changed the plugs and oil now and then

anymore suggestions?