Thread: P-30 Truck/RV/Motor home Chevy 454 question

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New guy here with a question that i'm having a hard time finding a correct answer for. I Have a 1989 Winnebago 33 foot motor home with a bad trans but a strong 454 and i want to take the engine out and use it in a rat rod pickup. I Keep getting conflicting opinions as to whether i should use it because some claim that the P-30 Truck motor has a longer stroke like a school bus motor and isn't the same as a 454 pickup truck motor. Some people tell me the block is supposed to be different and others tell me the heads are different. Thanks guys.

I would guess that they mean it may have a taller deck height-------10.2 inches veres 9.8 inch----------they are great engines and I've used them many times in pro stock type aplications and turned them up tp 10,200 rpm-------

Welcome to the site, nice to see you here.
If the motor runs good, use it. No-one will know any different unless you tell'em!

That sounds like to perfect start for a rat rod to me. I’ve seen a couple guys use motor home solid front axles in rot rods as well.

Yeah the engine is strong and appears to have been rebuilt although the odometer in the RV only shows 69,000 but they were pulling a huge trailer with it out west in the mountains which explains why the transmission clutches are toasted. We are going to set the RV up on blocks and build a nice deck etc. to it and rent it out to summer visitors so i couldn't see wasting a great engine. So the next big job is building a straight lift arm to weld onto my engine lift to squeeze it out of the front grill.

Originally Posted by madscotsman59

So the next big job is building a straight lift arm to weld onto my engine lift to squeeze it out of the front grill.

You're going to want to be careful with that approach! That BBC weighs in between 650 and 685 pounds dry weight which is going to be just below the fully extended capacity of most roll around hoists. Mine has a 2 ton capacity boom short, and for each 9.5" you extend the boom you lose 1/2 ton - 2T, 1.5T, 1T, then 0.5T (1000#) fully extended. Plus if you extend the boom you need to extend the bottom supports to reach at least to center mass of the engine or you'll flip it forward. Your hydraulic cylinder is going to be exceeding capacity, and you're looking at a train wreck, IMO.

I would think that the hoist, boom extended to the 1/2T point would be long enough to put the hook over the carb. If not, do you have a friend with a tractor and a rear boom pole lift? Most newer ones are 1000# capacity mounted on the rear 3-point hitch.

Roger is right, be careful! I've had a couple of engine hoist hydraulic cylinder blow out on me, lucky for me both were not catastrophic. Both went suddenly with no warning and blew fluid everywhere. As I said I was lucky the first one years ago blew with the motor was within a half inch of the floor, you would not believe how hard it hit. The second one blew about three years ago, luckily (again) the motor was already fastened on the stand and blew when releasing it.

Yea i knew about the capacity issues, i have a sliding rail system i built for something else to rest the mounts on once i get it lifted 2 inches, then i can just slide it right out then pick the whole thing up with my tractor bucket. I Just have to find two pieces of 3x3 or 4x4 square stock tubing to tack on the rail bed. Safety first. Learned that working in a shipyard and watching two men die over someone else's carelessness.

The easiest way to check to see if your rv has a tall deck is to see if it has a single thermostat housing or dual. Duals are tall deck engines.

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