1965 impalla bbc build suggestions

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
Im thinking of building my 454 but wanted to do on a low budget,Im looking for performance around 400 horsepower hopefully any ideas?



well to start it would help a great deal if you posted the engine casting numbers and if you did a compression test to give us some idea what your working with, your compression ratio, head and block casting number and the intake would be very useful.
I build a constant steam of big block chevy engines, but without knowing what your starting with, the car its going into, the transmission, rear gear ratio, compression ratio, and your intended use or expected performance your simply guessing and starting at a distinct disadvantage!
yes most 454 engines can be improved noticeably, but theres a world of difference between, starting with a 270 hp 1974 corvette engine and a 450 hp 1970 chevelle engine as an example

Ok thanks for the help, i have a impala 65,i plan on getting a turbo 400 transmission, my casting number is 3999289, i haven't changed the gears or anything yet


3999289....454.......71-79...2 or 4 bolt, some "CE" replacement blocks had four bolt main caps
1965-chevy-impala-ss-64156.jpg


btw those are one of my favorite cars to work on, lots of room in the engine bay, congrats
heres your block,(above)
we need more info but 400 hp is certainly reachable,
if you follow suggestions and have at least a semi reasonable budget and can do most work yourself
what heads casting number?
what intake manifold?
what exhaust?(headers?)
what car? (1965 mpala)? (at least 3700 lbs)
what transmission? (TH400)(TH400 2.48 1.48 1.00) (or 4L80E)
2.48 1.48 1.00 0.75

what rear gear ratio? (id suggest nothing less than a 3.73 and 4.11:1 would be better for performance)
what does EACH cylinder read on a compression test?
the more info we have the better we can make valid and knowledgeable suggestions, but remember you can,t just stick a cam into an engine and expect it to kick butt!
yes youll need to keep costs down, but youll also need to buy and correctly install quality components!
youll need to match the converter stall speed and rear gear ratio, and most likely do some head and valve train upgrades, swap intakes ETC, to maximize performance, and yes you can get many parts like intakes and rear differentials from swap meets and off ebay.
from past experience Id suggest that 3.73:1 rear gear be matched to a 2600 rpm-2800 rpm stall speed converter in that heavy impalla,
the idea of the higher stall converter stall,and that 3.73:1 rear gear,is to keep the cars drive train constantly in the engines most effective power band, and your th400 would be ok but a 4l80e with an overdive top gear while significantly more expensive would be a better performance option, as it would allow both better acceleration and cruise mileage, the over drive transmission will be helpful,
OF course the safe and smart route in selecting the converter stall speed, would be to call at least 5 totally different converter manufacturers and to carefully describe your particular combo and application, details WITHOUT mentioning anything that the other sources might suggest to any of the potential sources, and to average the suggested stall speed recommendations and to select the manufacturer you feel most comfortable with after doing some research into their customer feed back and satisfaction, and customer service and warrantee record
http://www.tciauto.com/tc/gear-ratios

http://www.tciauto.com/tc/trans-dim
p129013_image_large.jpg

http://www.gminsidenews.com/index.php?page=trans_guide
related
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/another-496bbc.5123/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/what-to-look-for-in-a-good-engine-combo.9930/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/matching-parts-and-a-logical-plan.7722/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/468-build.11794/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/454-bbc-on-the-cheap-well-to-start.11739/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/a-mid-range-454-bbc-build.8215/


http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/cheaper-454-chevy-build.4620/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ting-big-block-chevy-454-cam-dyno-test.10181/
 
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