good piston/cam combo with headwork?

[shaun]

I'm building a BBC 454. The block is at a local shop right now getting diped/checked/honed/etc. I have not yet droped the heads off because i'm not really sure what i'm going to do yet.
The heads are stock GM heads as far as i can tell. What kind of combos can some of you recommend(head work/piston/cam comobs), i dont think i will be buying new heads unless of course the price is right and the work on these heads costs the same as new heads.

[HOSS]

Well you first have to decide on a few important issues. First one is what type of fuel do you wanna pump in the bitch. Next would be wether or not you want to build for longevity and durability or balls to the wall. Then how much bread you wanna throw at it. Finally, how fast you wanna go, how much horsepower you wanna make, and do you wanna run juice. Yeah, you answer all those questions and you`ll know exactly what you need to buy/do.
Keep in mind that after you answer these questions the 10 million different ways of doing it will be thrown at you. No way in particular is going to be better, just an opinionated way of doing it. Welcome to the world of hot rodding.
Buy a comfortable chair for your work bench. Might I suggest Tractor Pull for a good read?
:cool:

[shaun]

bahh, i rewrote that stupid responce above so many times i removed all the important details...
Needs to run on pump gas (91)
I dont plan on running NOS.
it's going to be a NA build.
I'm mainly looking to get some good power out of the motor but at the same time i want it to be reliable. What kind of compression can i get away with on a BBC, i know its much lower than i'm used to. What are some good brands? JE? Keith Black? Crower?
Is it worth it to do head work to the stock cast iron heads?
I dont have a ton of money for this project as i have alot of other areas i am going to have to spend money on. I cant really give you a exact amount of money i plan to spend because i dont really know.

[HOSS]

Lets see what you got already. The piston maufabs mentioned are all great. See what you have first. You may already be there.

[shaun]

What i have already? As far as i know everything on this motor was stock.

[h2ojet001]

what is the casting numbers on the heads?

[shaun]

These Numbahs?
http://www.reitanfamily.com/albums/MotorDisassemble/IM000798.jpg

[disco_charger]

Those are newer style truck heads. Open Chamber Ovals 86-88, mortec says. I'm not sure about the castings, if they're thick enough to really grind on. If you can't afford heads, maybe cutting those for the big valves wouldn't be bad. However, they'll work fine stock. It just depends...Do you need to try to be the fastest, or are you just putting this boat together to run decent?

[HOSS]

Didn`t you already mention domed pistons in another thread? By the looks of those retainers the motor has been gone through,,,recently.

[HOSS]

Why are you taking this thing apart again? Where did you get it from? Was it running? No juice, pump gas, NA (?) build,,,,,,sounds to me like a good cam, intake, carb and your in business.

[HBjet]

1) How much power do you want to make?
2) How much to do want to spend?
Head work is always worth it, just depends on what will work best for you. If you want to build 700hp single carb N/A motor with your 454 block .030 over running on 91 octane with no nitrous, you can do all the porting you want to those heads, you won't make that power. So, it just depends on what you want to make, and how much you can afford.
HBjet

[schiada96]

Head work is not worth it on peanut port heads.

[HBjet]

Originally posted by schiada96
Head work is not worth it on peanut port heads.
That is true... those make better anchors!
HBjet

[shaun]

Hoss, My dad bought a long block for his truck way back, then alot of shit happened over the next 5 years or so. the motor never ran for more than 20 minutes but it sat outside for 2-3 years. Pulling it appart to make sure everything is ok. The domed pistons your are refering to... maybe you read a thread where i was talking about the 396 that used to be in the boat.
disco_charger, If the cost of making modifications to these heads and the cost of new heads that will make way more power is close in price then i might as well buy some heads. I'm not really looking to be the fastest or to have the most power. I just want somthing thats reliable and has some balls when i feel like getting on it.

[disco_charger]

It's true if they're small ovals it'll be tough to make good power. However, as I just learned, finding a set of old 990's or 188's that aren't cracked, screwed up, or hogged out by a guy with a dremel who didn't have the faintest idea what he was doing is getting tough. Those heads are 40 years old now! I lucked on a set, but was seriously looking at new ones. Do yourself a favor, and find a reputable machine shop near you and tell him what you've got, and what you want to do. Jet boats are all about set up. Just throwing expensive parts at it isn't always the best way. It's good that you're asking. Remember that bigger isn't better. I would think that a good set of Rect port heads with the big valves 2.30 and 1.88's plus a nice cam in the .600 neighborhood with maybe a nice Air Gap/Performer/Stealth or even Victor JR. (the victor might be overkill depending on your impellor) and an Holley DP will give you decent performance. You should be able to make that work pretty good. Spark is important, so if your distributor is junk, at least step up to an HEI if you can't run an MSD or something similar. If you're doing this on the cheap, You can go to a junk yard, find a late eighties GM with a V-8 and rob the distributor, take it to a good speed shop and tell them you want to go put it in a jet boat. If he doesn't know what that means tell him all in by 2500...
Now, I put my crank out there, let's see how many people come jump on it to tell me how I don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about

[Jordy]

Originally posted by disco_charger
Now, I put my crank out there, let's see how many people come jump on it to tell me how I don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about
Hey DC, you have no idea what you're talking about... :p :D
BTW, do those headers have water lines with them? I was looking at a Bassett catalog and there is a dramatic difference between the o/t's and the t/t's. Just wondered if I should plan on ordering a set? :D

[cstraub]

Cylinder heads are potential power, what you have doesn't have a lot of potential. I would look for a set heads and get a good matched camshaft. By the time you add portwork, good valves, springs, retainers, and keepers you will have more invested in those and no real power potential.
Probe makes a nice BBC pistons now and they are very affordable for forged stuff.
Chris

[shaun]

cstraub69, Thanks for your input, i'm thinking about just getting these heads cleaned up and putting them on for a while. Heads are easy to change and i can always do that in the future.
I notice that a lot of people/places out there recommend AFR heads. Whats a good set of heads to buy? are they going to require any additional work done to them? I'm still in need of suggestions for a cam and compression.

[disco_charger]

Originally posted by jordanpaulk
Hey DC, you have no idea what you're talking about... :p :D
BTW, do those headers have water lines with them? I was looking at a Bassett catalog and there is a dramatic difference between the o/t's and the t/t's. Just wondered if I should plan on ordering a set? :D
Got the lines and the T valve...I mean YOU have the lines and the t valve coming with them.

[HBjet]

If you want to find a set of GM 990 heads, I would try calling GT Performance, Teague Custom Marine, Paul Pfaff, GS Marine, or any other "big" boat shop that works on motors. I'm sure those guys get customers that have stock Mercury motors (Like 500HP's) who want to do a cylinder head swap when upgrading the motor. I would call some of those places, and let them know what you are looking for, and to keep your name and number incase they run across some. I got my GM 990's from a Merc 500HP that only had 20 hours on it. Big valves, and they where in perfect condition. I was able to get them for $450 bucks!
HBjet

[cstraub]

AFR, Canfield, Dart Pro 1s, Brodix, all have good heads. Where most go wrong is they "overhead the engine" and they cam it like an old BBC. Velocity is key, it makes power. So smaller runner volume on the intake side will make more power. A 454 is easily sustained RPM wise by a 300 cc head. Most cam engines like old BBC and favor the exhaust with duration and lift. Aftermarket heads have great exhaust ports with some of them reaching the 80% mark of intake. Closer attention to single pattern cams with less exhaust lift will make more power in these situations.
Camshaft is delegated by the heads you choose. So if you use what you have then when you change later it will require a camshaft change also.
Chris

[shaun]

HBjet, Actually a guy not to far from me pm'd me saying he has a set of 990 heads, wants $500 for them and $100 for the cam and lifters. Here's the specs (what he said to me.)
'heads poss lg retangular port heads big valves 500.00 '
'cast iron 990's ls7 heads 1.88 ex int2.19 cam 110/556/594 lift dur262/273@50 cam and lifters 100.00 i had it in a 454 990 heads tunnel ram 2 660 hollys 11.0 comp 600+ hp reliable 6500 rpm all day'

[Dave C]

leave those heads alone, freshen them up and slap em on.
Otherwise, go aftermarket or 990's depending on how much money you got.

[shaun]

Will i need new headers with the 990 heads or will everything mount up? Any other modifications that would have to be done for 990 heads to work?