gleninsandiego

I have a 71 that originally had a 454 365 hp in it.
That motor is long gone
I can now put either a crate motor such as a Chevrolet Performance
or
I can put a block from that year in, but will use more modern aluminum head.

Any value in having the date correct block in there for driver level car that also
has auto to manual trans conversion?

My gut level thinks that it would not

Thoughts?

Glenn in San Diego

derekderek

Not really. So you are giving up on the 396? Any 90 and earlier truck 454 is indistinguishable from a 396-427-454 block from the C3 era. Except by the date code and casting number. I much prefer 96-00 gen 6 blocks. Factory roller setup, all 4 bolts. Cheaper. Easier to find. But you are stuck with electric fuel pump. I still think you owe that 396 to get timing and carb right and see what it does. That 71 454 you found. Overpriced? Unless you are gonna try a restamp, casting and date code mean very little.

Richard454

I bought my 71 in 1981- LS5 4 speed vert- have the tank sticker to prove it. And the original engine was long gone - I was a senior in high school and matching numbers was not on my radar- Hell- I didn't even care if my socks matched!!!

After life- marriage-kid-divorce...I was finally going to have time and money to restore the car.

I went to the trouble to locate a LS5 engine that was in a 71 vette built a couple hundred before mine. Not a NCRS guy- but figured that was close enough.

Long story short- decided I was going to make it mine and not try to make it look "original" with some Chinese reproduction parts. Sold the LS5 and didn't look back...

It's not what someone else thinks the car should be- that my car was built to late in the production run to have chrome valve covers...and should clear lens instead of amber...

I am happy with how my car turned (or rather is turning) out- that to me- is the "value!!!"

IF you are worried about "value" - then you should not be trying to restore a C3.

Had I just put my money in a savings account and all the time I've spent on the car had been delivering Pizzas- I'd be way ahead monetarily.

If I were you- I'd do a LSX454..Just sayin!!!

Primoz

Well said!
Today I was at a car show and saw a nice C2 sell for big money that was supposedly all original!
My friend bought for half of that price big block C2 1964 with side exhaust and numbers not matching 427 engine that originally had 427 in it and it is a coupe and for me he had a better deal than the guy that bought the C2 I saw today.

gleninsandiego

That's the info I needed
and all your comments are very much appreciated.
I haven't given up on the 396 yet, but the 454 jumped up so I had to ask.
At this point the engines for both cars (the white small block) are wide open

Fun times

gleninsandiego

Double well said!

gleninsandiego

Richard454 you have been a wealth of great advice on all my questions on this car
I am very appreciative.
Glenn

ajrothm

Ofcourse you can never go wrong with a "date code correct" engine and it is definitely a selling point value....How much it REALLY adds to the value of the car, I'm not sure. That being said, you can never go wrong with a 454! I'd certainly build that before the 396. As for the crate motors, there is pros and cons to the GM performance big blocks. Typically they are under powered for the money, and for a long time they were plagued with oil comsumption issues and out of round cylinders due to their honing process. Maybe that has been resolved in the last couple of years but...

I mentioned this to you before but I'll reiterate...before you buy a GM crate, check out this guy. His stuff is leaps and bounds better quality then a GM crate and will slaughter it going down the track.

http://www.vortecpro454.com/#xl_xr_page_engines

You absolutely can not build one yourself cheaper then this and certainly won't make the power his makes... You could have him use your 71' date code correct block also.

derekderek

I am in agreement with AJ about not building the 396, but if the bottom end is good, a set of heads you are thinking of buying anyway and intake, cam, headers, carb might get you back behind the wheel of the 71 and back to your 69 frame... Everything but the cam will be good to go for the 454 worst case. And the cam probably close enough too.

cv67

^^^Vortecpro would be the best value also, no way any crate motor has the attention to detail that marks does, nor makes the same reliable power.
On LS.....the only way to go if you do is shoot for cubic inches, otherwise in most cases you can make the same power from a Gen1, youll just use a little more cam timing to get there.
They are great motors but not magic, & wont make the same torque.

dmaxx3500

put a real ''BIG BLOCK CHEVY'' ENG BACK IN IT

derekderek

Dave's auto wrecking in San Diego has a 97 gen 6 454 for 1k. Then you don't have to spend 800 bucks for roller lifters. One more reason to get that 396 right. Somebody with a C2 or Nova or SS 396 will want it...

gleninsandiego

You men are a wealth of great information

gleninsandiego

I posted the existing engine's dyno run here
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1598239922

suprspooky

Having recently completed a 427 rebuild (now 460 w/597hp single carb), if I'd known about vortec pro that's route I would have gone. I spent around $12,000.00 on my build. I'm happy with my results (good or bad it's my build), but the $ saved would have made it an easy choice. Good luck.

flyeri

I went through the same mental gymnastics trying to decide what to do about an engine. Rebuild the one I had, build my own from scratch, or buy a crate motor. Finally decided on the GM ZZ454 and sold my old engine. It was the 2nd best decision I've made on this car. The TKO600 was the best one.

gleninsandiego

What is it like driving the zz454 / tko600 combination?
What rear gears are you using?
Seat of the pants fun enough?

Thanks
Glenn

427Hotrod

Ck over in the C2 section. There's a fellow there with a '67 that has a 454 crate motor in it. He's about to freshen up a 427 to reinstall and might be willing to sell the 454 to a fellow Forum member.

JIM