ok so im looking at getting a 454 block to bore and stroke well over 500. My problem is i dont know where to go for a block that im not going to get ripped off, especially since i dont know what a resonable price would be for a used bare block.

 

craigslist... $500 for a good block is about the best you`d find normally

 

You can often buy a whole junk truck with a 454 in it, for less than you can buy a 454 for. I guess the difference is the price you pay somebody to pull it for you and throw away the peanut-port heads too.

 

Large truck/motorhome wreckers will have them as well, and probably ones with the better HD stuff, like 4-bolt block, possibly steel crank, etc etc...

 

You're not going to easily get a 454 block over 500 CID. A 4.250" stroker crank and a max bore will get you 498. You're limited by the small 4.250" bore block. Although it's possible to put a 4.500" stroker crank into it, by the time you get all the machining done for clearancing, you might as well buy a better aftermarket block.

Finding a factory 502 block will give more potential but the castings are not all that great.

I use a Dart Big M short deck block with 4.500" bore for my 540. I could easily bore it out to 565 and still have thick cylinder walls. A bare block is around $3000 but it's far superior to a factory casting.

Even then, the block is still the cheapest part. By the time you add in big heads to feed a big engine, the rotating assembly and all the machine work involved, it doesn't take much to spend $10,000 on a 500+ CID engine.

The only thing thats factory on/in my engine is the alternator and the oil filter mount. I figure I have roughly $20,000 invested in just the engine, parts and labor. I've also broken a lot of factory and performance parts over the years.

 

yea listien to stephen he knows his stuff when it comes to BBC. anyway i got my motor (454) from a junkyard complete from oil pan to throttle body for 400 "plus tax" i was about to make a trip to Virginia before i found it to buy just a block for 4xx something, i dont remember the exact price now. although i wont use much of anything of the motor it still made me feel better shelling out 400 hundred and something dolllars for a complete motor than about the same for just a block ( some say im cheap)

 

just need to find an old truck. We pulled one out of the field for an auction, 87 chevy 3/4 ton. been siting in the field for 5 years. Came to find out to have a 454, spent two hours and with direct fuel feed instead of gas tank and truck and battery charger to jump start it, it came to life. After about a minute of running, it started to make clanking noises or knocking i am not sure. i don't remember if it got sold yet, but it will probably go for $500 or so

 

My neighbor has a complete 454 engine it was in a 70s model camaro he used to drag race the car. he pulled the motor to paint and the paint shop wanted to buy the car so he sold the body and kept the motor. its been out for about 4 years. he told me he would sell it for $550 its in albany, Ga That was a few weeks ago I think he still has it. if your interested call me 229-669-2060 cell phone ill get you the contact info for him.

 

To Da Grim Reaper:

The real question (I couldn't ask because your other thread got locked, heheh) is how much for your 301?

If you're replacing it with a 454 (why?????????) then what will you do with it?

 

The 301 runs good we thought about trading the motor and transmission for a nice transmission for the 454. The 301 needs a new carb. The carb on it is a q jet and it looks like hell. The carb has a spacer on it and it is cracked so that makes it run kinda bad at first. If you know anyone that needs the 301 let me know. Why are we going with a 454! we are just trying to make this car a torque monster and put it on our local drag strip.