Need help with building a budget 454

[Running_on_Empty]

I recently bought my first v-drive too.....1976 sanger bubble deck....unfortunatley it did not come with a girl......and/or a motor. I just bought a 1976 454 today from a local machine shop. I am having him build the heads...and bore it out to a 468 or so. I'm taking it apart tomorrow to be hot tanked. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to build it up to about 450 horses for a reasonable price. What kind of pistons do I want? What kind of compression? Looking to make it a really nice lake boat. Thanks!

[Sangerboy]

ROE, you should be able to make that kind of power easily without breaking the bank. I don't think you'll need to put in forged parts at that power level. A cast crank and even 2 bolt mains could be made to live if you don't abuse it too much. I would stick with oval port heads, but do spend on the exhaust valves. I wouldn't go with anything less than severe duty valves. Hypereutectic pistons should work just fine, I would keep the CR between 9.0 and 9.5 to 1 so you can run pump gas. A split plane manifold with a carb around 750 cfm would be good. I would spend a little on ignition, I like MSD's stuff it's always worked well for me even on some more extreme packages. I would stay with a hydraulic cam for that power level, I'll let others chime in on cam specs as I'm not that versed on what is best for your package. Hope this helps and gives you a starting point. The bubbledeck in my sig pic is a 1975 Circle Runner

[Running_on_Empty]

ok.....i am going to bore to 468.....they guy at the engine kit place told me not to do much more than level out the heads ....so pretty much stay stock valves....use comp cam # xm278H......i NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN MARINE PISTONS AND CAR PISTONS. WHICH ONE IS BETTER....??
THANKS YOU

[QuickJet]

ok.....i am going to bore to 468.....they guy at the engine kit place told me not to do much more than level out the heads ....so pretty much stay stock valves....use comp cam # xm278H......i NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN MARINE PISTONS AND CAR PISTONS. WHICH ONE IS BETTER....??
THANKS YOU
Find out what the stock valve size is. It's most likely a 2.06 intake which is pretty small for your 468. What casting heads are they?
The "Marine " piston is stronger and a little heavier. They are built to sustain higher RPM's for longer periods of time. Cruising the lake at 4,500rpm takes it's toll.

[Running_on_Empty]

I can't get to the numbers right now, but I am pretty sure that this 454 came out of a light duty truck. 2 bolt main. What would you do with valves if they were those numbers?

[sangervdrive]

The heads are probably those truck ones with really little ports and valves and 96cc close chambers. They suck but they would be sufficient for your application. As far as cam just look at the list many companies have marine or towing specialy cams they will be fine. I would use the stock cast crank and truck rods, that stuff is fine as long as you don't rpm it which I"m guessing you won't.
The thing that gets me is once you pay to have you rods reworked with arp bolts and stuff you could nearly buy some new H beams but then you're just seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes!

[Running_on_Empty]

so if they are 2.06 does that mean they are the truck heads.....and if they are the truck heads should i make them bigger???

[fc-pilot]

I agree with most of the stuff that is being said. You can build a basic motor that will last for ever without breaking the bank. As far as ignition goes, I would run a rebuilt or new HEI to fire it. It is basic and can be set up to work well with that combo without much coin. The other thing is it takes just one wire to run the dang thing (easy way to keep it simple). I always kept an extra module on the boat so of course I never needed it. A basic unit will run to 5500 without too much of a problem (at lest they always would for me). I like the oval port, 9 to 1, hydraulic cam setup. With the right heads, cam, compression, and a well assembled engine that thing should squeak out 450 HP and last for ever.
Paul

[QuickJet]

so if they are 2.06 does that mean they are the truck heads.....and if they are the truck heads should i make them bigger???
No, they could be the desired 041. They too came with the small valves. They have the runner volume though to support a bigger valve.
If your head is stamped "truck" in the valve train area, then they are the small peanut port heads. If that's the case I personally wouldn't dump ANY oney into them. You can find good heads out there. There is a set of 990's in the spam section. Yes they are square ports but they will deffinatly work. I ran a set of those on my Bahner jet. With a mellow cam and a tunnel ram the thing ran 82.7 mph all day long. Short block was out of a Suburban. If it ran that in a jet think what it would do in your Sanger v-drive............... .

[Running_on_Empty]

1976 chevy 454 big block - 500
hot tank and block check - 75
(oval port heads) re doing of heads - 150
bore to 468 - 100
cam and engine kit (sealed power hyper pistons and comp cam)- 500
polished dual plane intake manifold 150
i already have a 750 demon
ok now my machine guy is going to do my heads....does anybody have an idea of what I should tell him to do with the heads? As far as valves....and valve job?