350 sb? or 454 bb?

[snowmangaggift]

im faced with a difficult decision for my engine swap. Im looking into either a chevy 350 or 454 CI for my 81 monte.
Any advice? im looking for the most power clearly and gas mileage doesn't matter lol

 

[chevy2480]

Well im a small block fan. But you can go faster for less money with a big block all day. Put a cam and intake on a bb and your pretty much in the 11's with that alone. A small block will require a little more $$$ to get there. Also a bb looks cool under the hood.

 

[dream on mcss]

Well that depends, if you go with the 350 you better have some cash to dump into the bottom end because your gonna have to rev the piss out of it to get on the power band. If you go with the 454 its the perfect setup for a fun street car that can still tear up the strip. Like chevy2480 said, you're gonna end up dumping alot of cash to build the 350 to the same power you could get out of the 454 if you only spent a few bucks on it. If you're looking for power and don't care about fuel economy, go with the 454.

 

[Blazenlotus]

Big Block for sure.

 

[1984-monte-carlo-ss]

small blocks wind up quicker than big blocks, i like big blocks but the heads for a 454 are going to cost alot of $$$ and theyre perfect for superchargers if you want to put one on...i say go big block, too many small blocks around lol

 

[kornball426]

Stroker small blocks have gotten very reasonable to build... 383 with Vortec heads, a decent cam, intake, carb, and headers and you can make close if if not 400hp for sure. If you're happy with 400 ponies or under, I'd go that route it'll be a lot cheaper than a big block.

If you're trying to make a goodly portion more horsepower (550+)... I'd say go with the big block. You can make a very powerful small block these days I'd venture to say almost everything that a big block can do, so can a small block if you throw enough cash at it. Only the small block will be a more peaky less fun to drive engine, while the big block for the same or just a little bit more money will make the same if not more power, make lots more torque and won't have to rev as hard to go as fast. And they can run cheaper gas, someone on here told me their BBC make 550hp and runs on 87 octane, that's the sh*t right there... There's no 550 horsepower small blocks running on regular gas I can promise you that.

This is only true once you get into high dollar parts though, once you're buying good heads and rotating assemblies the cost difference isn't really all that big between BBC and SBC. The cost difference is more apparent at the mild build level, stock or mild upgrade BBC parts can cost sometimes 50-75% more than the equivalent SBC parts... But once you get into the high dollar stuff like you're spending a couple grand on heads, or forged internals what's an extra few hundred bucks when you can be talking about as much as a couple hundred more horsepower.

 

[Crazcnuk]

im faced with a difficult decision for my engine swap. Im looking into either a chevy 350 or 454 CI for my 81 monte.
Any advice? im looking for the most power clearly and gas mileage doesn't matter lol

There is no replacement for cubic inches. The more cubic inches you have, the more power you can make.

You can build a smallblock to the ceiling and it may be right where a decent starter big block starts.

A fairly stock 454, with a cam, intake and headers will eat a fairly stout 350.

Throw away all the preconcieved notions about 'oddball' engines that were really hot. 302's, some 327's and the LT-1 350s were only better than thier brothers because they were hopped up.

Thre is nothing that drops the smile of a small block driver than the rumble of big cubes.

 

[GuysMonteSS]

A big block will likely need a bigger cooling system,mine has a 4 core rad,HD clutch fan and a high volume water pump and it never overheats.The front coil springs may also need replacing.Swap headers are expensive,although "A" Body Chevelle headers will fit.A beefed up transmission & rearend will be needed if you plan on a performance oriented big block.But,on the + side,they look right at home;

Guy

 

[78MC-BBC]

i have had quite a few small blocks in the Monte Carlo and im on my second big block, and the only thing i would give up my big block for is a built LS motor with fuel injection.

with a well built big block its had to beat something that has over 500 torque at idle and the hp at tq curve is a nearly straight line up to 6500rpm

 

[MonteCarloSS]

Do it the way Chevy should have in the first place drop in a 454 BIG BLOCK!!!