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I did the swap over a year ago in my 76. Love it. BBC springs, 3 core aluminum radiator, tuarus 2 speed electric fan. The motor is a stock 454, bolted it right up to my th350. Had to change the flex plate to the universal one which has two set of holes. All the accessory brackets are mid 60s BBC, eazy peezy. Also adding a BBC rear sway bar. Also a high rise hood till I get my L88 hood done.
What is your 454's horsepower?? That must be a beast on such a light car!
Diesel
For you guys that made the swap already, what is your overall opinion of the results? Did it make a dramatic difference? What about any difference in the handling?
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
Originally Posted by Super6
For you guys that made the swap already, what is your overall opinion of the results? Did it make a dramatic difference? What about any difference in the handling?
I'd wager that had I not done the BB swap and stick conversion I probably wouldn't have held onto my '78 all these years. I like it so much that if the compliance ***** ever clamp down here, I'd rather dedicate it to track days than to ever go back.
It sould go without saying that I've had to re-sort the chassis tuning, but with what I've done so far (note that I do NOT have a stock spec BB suspension setup) my shark definitely handles and corners far better than it did from the factory.
I'm about to venture down this road myself...car is a 73 L82 4 speed, 3.70 rear with no options so i don't have to worry about accessories
going to use my M21, Bellhousing, Motor mounts, Starter, carb(Cliff Ruggles mods). Rad was upgraded to Dewitts , Suspension has heavier front/rear sway bar and 460lb springs, 2.5" exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers.
Bought the 454 short block for $150., was a pickup motor that ran on propane its entire life.
Tanked, Line bored, decked, bored .030 over, crank turned .010/.010, rods resized, Speed pro pistons 34cc dome, using ARP Crank Studs & Rod bolts, Crane 272 cam, Procomp Large oval port heads, 119cc combustion chambers, 305cc intake runners, Comp cam pushrods, guideplates, roller rockers , Edelbrock performer intake (using stock hood) Qjet, 2" Headman headers..hopefully everything all comes together...
They came from the factory with them so not a big deal , all parts are available
I am very very happy I did it. I like the way it sounds, looks, and drives.
The torque and how it moves with barely touching the gas. The motor is stock except for headers. Soon I will be installing a performer manifold and try a couple carbs to see whats best. In no way is this stock truck motor a power monster, but it has more than the 350 that was originally in it. So well worth the swap. The handling feels better that could be that I have replaced all the bushings and front springs, plus I added the spreader bar. Still trying to install the rear sway bar to finish off the suspension, so we will see if that changes anything.
Thanks for the responses. I'm a big block guy with 30 years of 427/468s in Vettes and now a 540. You don't have to look far to uncover the rivalry between small blocks and big blocks and the accompanying statements that "you can make just as much power in a small block" and that "BB Vettes don't handle". I've never driven a small block C3 for any length of time, so I don't have personal experience with a 350, but I've had a number of 350 owners in my Vette and their comments on the low rpm power have helped form my opinion. I thought it would be interesting to see what you guys who have started with a small block and done the swap to a BB would say. Doesn't seem like anyone is disappointed.
I have a thing about big blocks. I have a 455 Pontiac in my ’67 GTO and my ‘81 Camaro. A 500 Cadillac in my rock crawler and my tow rig. I just love the low end torque.
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
Forgot to mention that while my '78's original L82/auto combination typically got ~9 MPG, one of the 427/stick setups I've had in it (9.8:1, 3x2, HFT) averaged ~14 MPG whenever I was able to keep my foot out of the secondaries; same 3.55:1 FDR.
Whatever works ! 