Latest Find: Chevrolet 454

[Curlz]

I was in my local pick and pull and I stumbled upon this in a 1998 3/4 ton truck. I pulled it for a whopping $220+tax(too good to pass up). I plan on putting this in my malibu. It's a 1998 vortec 454, 4 bolt mains. Anyone have any experience with them in the g's? I plan on putting some kind of stand alone EFI set up, any thoughts? I could go carb but i'm thinking better fuel mileage in EFI. I'm planning on just a reliable street cruiser, nothing wild, I'm still running the 7.5" with a posi out back. One thing for sure, I'm going love opening the hood to a RAT 😀

 

[85GPLef41]

sounds like a good plan! From I've read the 96+ vortec BB heads are the best stock flowing heads... subscribed as one day I hope to build Malibu with a rat power! never owned one before and hope to build a nasty one! Good luck and keep us posted! 8)

 

[GuysMonteSS]

That one should be a Gen 6 big block,heres some info;
"Gen 6: GM recognized that it did not make any friends when it designed the Gen 5, and so they chose to revise the coolant passages again when designing the Gen 6, allowing the older heads to be used without coolant seepage problems. The boss for the clutch bracket returned, but was generally not drilled and tapped. The non-adjustable valvetrain remained, as did the one-piece rear main seal. Some but not all Gen 6 454 (and not 502) blocks regained a mechanical fuel pump provision. Production engines installed in pickup trucks got a high-efficiency cylinder head, still canted-valve, but with a modern heart-shaped combustion chamber of about 100cc. The intake port has a "ski jump" cast into it to promote swirling of the intake air flow. All production vehicles with a Gen 6 used a 454 version, but over-the-counter 502s are available. The Gen 6 is sometimes referred to as the "Gen Fix" because it fixed a number of issues that disappointed enthusiasts when the Gen 5 was released. As an added bonus, most if not all Gen 6 engines use hydraulic roller lifters."

First thing you may want to plan on is a stronger drivetrain.The 7.5 is,IMO,a ticking timebomb when you start making power.I blew one up many years ago,put a 9 inch in and haven't looked back.Your stock front coil springs might not be up to the added weight of a big block,app 100-120 lbs extra up front.Extra cooling capacity might be required,I have a 4 core rad,high volume water pump,HD clutch fan and a full shroud,it never overheats,even on the hottest summer day.Also,the heater/AC "suitcase" may need to be modified for clearance.If you live somewhere where you don't need heat or defrost,I would suggest you take the whole thing out and dispose of it.
Anything you can do to lighten the front will be a good thing,I have aluminum heads,which takes app 80 lbs off the big block,and mine has no ac,no emissisions,no hood insulation,no washer bottle,etc,so I may be getting pretty close to the weight of a fully loaded 305.
Headers are also tricky,swap ones are quite expensive,but "A" Body ones can be made to fit.Heres my blog on that subject;
http://guysmontess.blogspot.ca/2011/10/ ... -body.html
Guy

 

[Curlz]

Thanks for the info, my 454 doesn't have provisions for a mechanical pump. So i'm going to be running an electric for sure. When I bought the car I did all new suspension parts at all four corners. I always new I'd put a rat in it so i went with Raybestos heavy duty front designed for big block weight( pain in the *ss to compress!! car sits high with my 350). Everything I have read is the engine is great engine so i'm happy to devote some time and money to make the swap. The 7.5" is not the strongest for sure, I'll live with it in the mean time until something breaks or I find one locally, it's my summer daily driver, so I'm not doing 5K launches or anything extreme haha.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

Just did the swap myself. I found the toughest part was the headers. I did some research and bought the Hooker 2455s for A Body cars and had to do some modding. After I did the modifications they went right in! Im not too sure on the vortec heads but I do know the casting numbers to look for when buying factory heads are the 781 and the 049s. Those are about the best factory ones you can still find.
engine in 1 by bwollens1983, on Flickr

 

[Curlz]

That looks mint! Thanks for the info, did you have to do anything fancy with your engine mounts?

 

[-83MONTESS-]

That looks mint! Thanks for the info, did you have to do anything fancy with your engine mounts?

Nope just solid Moroso mounts. Any sbc/bbc mounts would work but if using the stock style mounts you would have to trim the sides of the mounts to fit the headers. I have awesome clearance around this thing. The checkered flag tape you see in my pic behind the header is where the transmission dipstick goes in. I can fit my hand on every bellhousing bolt from the top as well. Theres a lot of bad info with people saying that it's really tight but as you can see it's not.

Edit: the only tight spot I have is the power steering. I had to use the higher mount March bracket kit which is like $125. The 2 big braided lines are for my remote oil filter setup because with the 2" primaries on these headers the oil filter clearance is tighter than I like. The other lines are for hydroboost.
radiator1 by bwollens1983, on Flickr

 

[Curlz]

What rad are you running? Was there any mods that were needed? I want to try and stick with a clutch fan if possible.

 

[GuysMonteSS]

[/quote]
I can fit my hand on every bellhousing bolt from the top as well. Theres a lot of bad info with people saying that it's really tight but as you can see it's not[/quote]

You are making an inaccurate comparison with that statement.
You don't have a heater/AC box,no inner fenders and no brake booster,and possibly no big cap distributor.
Add all those things back on,then tell us if you can still reach those bellhousing bolts, LOL
Guy

 

[-83MONTESS-]

I can fit my hand on every bellhousing bolt from the top as well. Theres a lot of bad info with people saying that it's really tight but as you can see it's not[/quote]

You are making an inaccurate comparison with that statement.
You don't have a heater/AC box,no inner fenders and no brake booster,and possibly no big cap distributor.
Add all those things back on,then tell us if you can still reach those bellhousing bolts, LOL
Guy[/quote]

Guy, I have a stock size distributor cap and the inner fenders are in. I can still reach every bolt fine. I had my heater only box in but took it out in favor of the flat panel. Either way there is plenty of room. Im not saying its a lot of room but people get the notion that big blocks are huge and barely fit, thats simply not the case unless we are talking f bodies :lol:

To the OP: I run a 2 row all aluminum Griffin. I don't have the part number but the tubes are 1.25" each. I feel like the cap is going to hit the hood though. I might have to mod the radiator support some. You can kinda see the cap height here
radiator 2 by bwollens1983, on Flickr