SDS Photography

I have a '68 vert that I own with my father. We want to swap in a 454, or 427, and are a bit over the options. It looks like most people buy a 454 from the 70s or 80s and rebuild it. I bought a set of 049 heads but that is where my parts collecting stopped. All we really want is a big block that runs and fits in the car - reliability over hp. What we really want is something we can just cruise around in, and the replacement 327 that came in the car is woefully lacking. Would our best bet just be a standard 454 crate engine or professionally remanufactured unit? Anyone have experience with a seller?

PS - we have already selected parts for the upgraded cooling system.

Thank you

Easy Mike

FWIW: any auto salvage place is likely to have a rebuildable 427/454 for your use. You do not necessarily have to go with a crate.

69Vett

you will find 427 parts expensive, ... 454 parts are relatively cheaper.
Get a good block and heads, new everything else.
if your going to build a motor you need to find a good machinist.
and work with him including complete head rebuild your looking at 8k for a good build for about 500hp. if your converting from SB to BB you have added expenses, you need all the "Corvette" pulleys and brackets. non-corvette pulley and brackets do not work without modifications.

USAFVeteran

I am in the finishing phase of my 71 LS-5 454 build in my 69 coupe. I may have done more than you want to do. But, I would buy a crate 454 for about $8-9000 if I was to go back in time. I have a little over $10,000 in this rebuild. Now, I know that I've done something that you may not, rack and pinion front end, a couple of new harnesses, March pulley system, and a few more parts that you may not do.


I spent $1700 at the machine shop alone. New pistons & rings, bored .030, new cam bearings, mains, rods, had the rods reconditioned and ARP bolts for the entire bottom end, and it was sonic cleaned to start with because I had an overheating issue that was caused by bubba, before me.

20mercury

Thought for you, unless you are attached to this particular Corvette, it might be cheaper to sell this one with a 327 and buy another one with a 427 or 454 NOM already installed.

lurch59

Mark Jones at Vortecpro sells a 467 cu bbc for $5395. It puts out a little over 500 hp. I have one of his engines and they are very reliable.

redvetracr

be careful what you buy, lots of smog/Suburban low perf truck motors out there

danthony

Check out this forum. Parts and motors come up for sale every now and then.

jnb5101

Those 049 heads you bought will produce a lot of low end torque when fitted with a mild flat tappet hydraulic cam, and still pull to 5500 RPM. A very reliable street engine. Check the local machine shops in your area, many have short blocks that they are willing to sell at a fair price. Have all the machine work done on the heads, block, connecting rods and crank, buy bearings, pistons and a cam and you'll be good to go for less than $3500. I went this route with both my 427 and 454 and could break the tires loose from a 20 MPH roll. It's not going to be a 550 HP 6500 RPM roller cam set-up, but it won't cost $6000 either.

Faster Rat

I went this route when having my original 427 rebuilt. We used a Comp Cams 268H + lifters/springs kit and kept the CR near stock. I made this graph from the data logger, which shows the low end torque. A real stump puller.

Jughead

I bought a 454 engine out of an 87 suburban from a newspaper ad. Turned out it was seized but that didn't matter as I really only wanted the block & crank. It turned out to have 4 bolt mains.

I rebuilt it myself including LS-6 piston, solid lifter cam and GMPP aluminum heads . I used all top notch parts..... mellings, clevite , moroso etc

I had it magnafluxed, align honed and balanced at the machine shop. Over all I think I have about $6,800 in parts. I love it.

cv67

Most those 454s are absolute low compression no performance turds I know I own one lol.

Vortecpro for the money cant beat it. That would be my choice

Richard Daugird

Why not save a bunch of money and just freshen up the 327?

crf311

Just buy a 502 crate motor. It will be cheaper in the long run. Get the ZZ502. It will put a smile on your face.

Scottd

Im going to mirror what a lot have said so far....please be careful if you go the economic route and buy a use 454.

When I first bought my car, it had the original 72 big block in it. I wasnt overly impressed with its performance, but like any other engine, I was SURE headers, carb and intake would wake it up. I was wrong. Some engines are low compression and have restrictive heads. No amount of 'bolt ons' will really make the engine perform like most hot rodders want. I wound up adding headers, a very specifically tuned carb, and a hydraulic roller cam along with some minor head work (while the heads were off the engine of course)

Unless you are sold on the big block, you can get a 400 HP small block for considerably less money. (my BB engine put out a paltry 270 HP in its original form)
If you are intent on keeping a big block, (and you want more than 400 HP) be ready to shell out gobs of money. Decent heads will cost you $1800.00....and thats just entry level...

tokim

John 65

If all you "want is a big block that runs and fits in the car" .....go with all non Corvette pulleys and brackets.

No, it wont look correct, but will function perfectly and you will save a small fortune.

7T1vette

The "easiest" way to go for a 454 (or larger) engine is to buy a crate unit. The "least expensive" way might also be a crate unit. But, you also need to consider the cost of other changes that need to be made to go from SB to BB.

Unless you have resonable experience with building up a Chevy BB engine, you may want to stay with the crate approach.

DABall

I contacted Carolina Street Engines and couldn't be happier with the end result. I have a 70 LS5 and they had a block from a 70 Chevelle, bored it 30 over and sent back a complete turn key engine. 9:25-1:00 compression and puts out 425 HP on the dyno. 5 year warranty and costs less than $5,000.