Thread: Part Identification Chevy Big Block 454

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There is an old hot rodder's axiom that states "If some is good, more is better and too much is just right."

You guys remind me of some of the wild notions that my friends and I had after reading Hot Rod, Car Craft and Rod & Custom magazines back in the 50's. We put all kinds of creations together in our minds that never worked out in reality and I'm bettin' that most of what you're thinkin' will never see the light of day either, but I'm willin' to play along and see what happens.

Pat McCarthy could do a much better job at this than I can, but I'll give it a go.......

If I were doing this, first off, I would be building for torque, not horsepower. That would call for some small intake runner heads, such as the peanut port BBC heads, or if you are bucks-up, a set of Airflow Research 265's. Here is a very long read from Grumpy, a fellow who is no longer with us, but who left us with a plethora of information.....
tips on building a peanut port big block combo | Grumpys Performance Garage

Cam would be a hydraulic roller, 220-225 degrees intake duration, ground on a 108 or 110 lobe separation angle. Pistons would be forged and figured for a 9.75:1 to 10.00:1 static compression ratiio. Block decks would be cut to zero to the piston crowns and fitted with a composition-type head gasket to facilitate a 0.035" to 0.045" squish/quench. Clearance pistons and ring end gaps for N2O.

Intake manifold would be a tall dual-plane, such as the Edelbrock 7161 Performer RPM. Use the Air Gap, #7562 if the car will always be operated in a high-temp environment. Lower ambient temperatures could cause drivability problems due to the cooler-running temperature of the manifold. Fuel/air mixture needs some heat to help atomize the mixture so that it will burn properly.

Built properly, this should make a ~500 ft/lb motor. Adding a 200 shot of nitrous would reach your 700 ft/lbs of torque , which should be enough to shread everything behind it.

I figured some miles per hour at 4000 rpm's (max torque) and pretty much determined that you will need to use an Atlas 4-speed transfer box with the 2.22 / 3.80 / 10.34 option. At 4000 rpm's, max torque, here is how that plays out with 48" tall tires....

Low 3, 42.49:1 final drive, 13.45 mph
Low 2, 15.61:1 final drive, 36.61 mph
Low 1, 11.18:1 final drive, 51.11 mph
High 1, 4.11:1 final drive, 139.03 mph

Now, I've never built one of these, but after seeing these numbers, I would be thinking of backing down to 42 inch or smaller tires or more gear.......OR BOTH......... 4000 rpm's, High 1, 4.11 final drive, 42" tire, 121.65 mph......... 4000 rpm's, High 1, 5.13 final drive, 42" tire, 97.47 mph.........In Low 3, at 4000 rpm's, with a 5.13 gear and 42" tire, top speed would be 9.43 mph.

The point is, you would not be building a Bonneville machine, so it does not need a high top speed.

I'd use a 10", 2500-2800 stall converter with a ton of cooling apparatus, big core, big fan, lots of fresh air......LOTS.

Here's the link to speed, gears, tires, etc.....
http://www.wallaceracing.com/calc-gear-tire-rpm-mph.php
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