Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - need help with a 454 for my drag car

ok so my dad and i are wanting to start building our drag car. im in the process of finding the perfect roller firebird/trans am and im wondering where i should start with the engine. we have an old 454 out of a 79 1 ton chevy truck. i dont want to put any spray through the engine and the only power adder i would do is procharger or turbo. i want to make sure that block will hold up to 6-700 rwhp. any suggestions as to what i should do first? i dont know alot about compression or anything like that so if you know of something i could read to better understand it please let me know. thanks in advance!

oh and another question. if i get the motorplate for the car do i still have to buy the new k-member????

If it is a LT1 body or older, you can make the K member work, but engine plates are a good thing with a trans brake and 70 HP. You can get 700 HP out of a 454 with a stroker kit to 496 cubic inches, 700 HP naturally aspirated, just go with a big cam and decent heads on some 12 to 1 compression. You would have to run race fuel but if you are building a track car it doesnt matter.

I'm trying to decide between an ls1 or lt1 car. So the motorplate would be a good or bad thing to use? I want to run a powerglide transmission also. So just boring and stroking the engine would give me the strength I would need for running boost? What about a different crank? Any suggestions?

You would want to purchase the whole rotating assembly, the extra cubic inches will make more power, all forged components will assure longer life of the engine. The plates are a very good thing, they improve reaction time, and help reduce stress on the motor mounts.

oh ok thanks, where is a good place to get the engine bored around texas? and any suggestions as to where i could by the forged rotating assembly from? sorry for all the questions. lol

I do not know where you are located in Texas, i use a shop out my way but you need to look in your phone book and see if there are any performance machine shops if there are no sponsors listed here by you.


Cheaper end..

http://www.jegs.com/i/Scat/942/1-42360BI/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/Eagle/356/B11012%252B060/10002/-1



GMPP

http://www.sdpc2000.com/product/SD2991K/496BBChevyStreetWarriorRotatingAssembly.aspx



Top notch components but at a price...

http://www.compstarcomponents.com/speed_packs.htm

thanks for the help man! first thing tomorrow morning im gonna be calling alot of people and seeing how much it will run! thanks again!

Hey yall check w/hp engineering in houston also s.a.m.(school of automotive machinist) & texas speed and performance!
Oh yea if your run a turbo on that ratt get some big cheifs from dart!

I'm trying to decide between an ls1 or lt1 car. So the motorplate would be a good or bad thing to use? I want to run a powerglide transmission also. So just boring and stroking the engine would give me the strength I would need for running boost? What about a different crank? Any suggestions?

Are you going to be running a turbo/supercharger? Or are you going to stay N/A?

If you go with a turbo, are you going to use a large single or a twin setup?

If you are going with a supercharger, what style of supercharger are you going to use? Roots? Centrifugal?

Your engine build should be designed around the intended use and not an afterthought. As for the strength of the block, yes it can handle 800 HP fairly easy with the proper fastner's from ARP.

Id say find out more about the block first.
4 bolt or 2 bolt main, etc.

700HP NA on a BBC is nothing. Hell, you can get a top end kit from summit by Edelbrock for a 454 and itll put out just around 600....and thats with a weak cam and heads.

i want to start out around a 10 second car and work my way down slowly to get used to the car and what not. i was thinking about just going NA for a while and then later on i might change things up and run a supercharger.

im hopefully going to pull the engine soon and check all the internals out. i have called a few people from the surrounding area and got some pricing on boring and honing the engine and what not.

it's a 2 bolt main block, so do talk think it's worth doing all the work to? Or should I look into getting a 4 bolt main block?

do they make splayed 4 bolt caps for bbc's? if so thats what you want to do. it'd be stronger then a orig. 4 bolt block. also you'll need to have the cyl. walls checked to make sure the walls are thick enough. some of the older blocks had coreshift, and end up with thinner spots in the side walls. I havent run into this but I hear of the probs in the magazines. they call it sonic testing. for what your talkin about doin id highly recomend it.
youd need to make up your mind now if you want N/A power, or will build it with low compression , and later add the boost. big blocks can make awesome power on 9.5:1 compression anyways so your fine there. 10 sec. dedicated drag car with a large cid big block would be no problem. expensive, but very doable. then turn it into a low 9 sec. car by adding the boost later on.

depending on how serious you are about goin that fast, you would def. want to plan that out before building the roll cage. a 6 point cage has larger tubes then the 10 pt cage needs to be. so you'd be better off installing the 9 sec cage right off the bat instead of doin the 6 point, then adding to it later to make it a 10 pt.

if your goin to use a motor plate, you wont need motor mounts. but you'd enjoy the extra room the tubular kmember affords you anyways to make room for those huge headers and oil pan.

do they make splayed 4 bolt caps for bbc's? if so thats what you want to do. it'd be stronger then a orig. 4 bolt block. also you'll need to have the cyl. walls checked to make sure the walls are thick enough. some of the older blocks had coreshift, and end up with thinner spots in the side walls. I havent run into this but I hear of the probs in the magazines. they call it sonic testing. for what your talkin about doin id highly recomend it.
youd need to make up your mind now if you want N/A power, or will build it with low compression , and later add the boost. big blocks can make awesome power on 9.5:1 compression anyways so your fine there. 10 sec. dedicated drag car with a large cid big block would be no problem. expensive, but very doable. then turn it into a low 9 sec. car by adding the boost later on.

depending on how serious you are about goin that fast, you would def. want to plan that out before building the roll cage. a 6 point cage has larger tubes then the 10 pt cage needs to be. so you'd be better off installing the 9 sec cage right off the bat instead of doin the 6 point, then adding to it later to make it a 10 pt.

if your goin to use a motor plate, you wont need motor mounts. but you'd enjoy the extra room the tubular kmember affords you anyways to make room for those huge headers and oil pan.

i searched around and there is but i can seem to find where to buy it from. anybody know where to look? and i have yet to tear the engine apart but it should start happening soon. yea i was also thinking about that to. lower compression would be the best way to go for boost so im going to do some looking around and start making me a list of what i want to do with the engine. we are about to start stripping the car down to bear metal and do some body work and what not and yes i plan on doing a 10 point cage. i thought about 6 but i figured why not prepare for 9 sec car. i think my main focus is going to be on getting all the suspension stuff and body stuff done, and then the engine work will come after that.