454 Mild Engine Build

carl amaral · Sep 4, 2019

Hello fellow gear heads

This winter i will be putting together a 454 engine for a 1980 camaro i have. So what i am doing right now is researching other builds and getting some ideas what i will need for parts. The camaro will not be a quarter mile race car, but what it will be is a summer driven toy that can melt tires at will with gobs of fun torque. You know the stuff that makes you giggle like a little kid haha. So what i would like to do is list some parts and what i'd like to do and then get everyone here to critique it. Ok here we go

-Fresh .030 bore and zero deck block
-.039 felpro gasket to establish a good quench
-summit racing rebuild kit with these pistons
Speed Pro H426CP 30 - Speed-Pro Hypereutectic Pistons
these have a 10.5 cc dome.
- summit racing k1301 cam and lifter kit 276/280 Lift .475/.500 (no roller cam funds

)
-cast iron exhaust manifolds of hedman 1 3/4 full length header #66105
-stock cast iron intake or low rise aluminum
- rochester 750 (I love the sound of those huge secondary butterflys

)
-cylinder heads i would like to run peanut port 236 heads with manley street flow valves 2.19/1.88 or stock size valves
- I'll do some mild porting bowl work and clean up the chambers
- rocker arms will be all stock and stock valve covers, clean and simple
now im hoping to get 400hp and a but load of torque. The trans will be a built up 700r4, and the rear will be a stock freshened up stock 10 bolt limited slip 3.42 gear.

please let me know what you think guys

Grumpy · Sep 5, 2019

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K1301/
the cam looks to have a marginally different lift, in either case,
youll require better valve springs,
most stock peanut port heads max out on safe clearance at slightly under .490 lift,
and the original decades old O.E.M. valve springs won,t function well above about 5500 rpm
and almost certainly minor clearance work on the valve train ,
will need to be done too,
peanut port heads to use that cam with the new larger valves, and of course,
check the piston to valve clearance after degreeing in the cam.
the cam matches the intended use well,
youll obviously want to up-grade to an adjustable rocker valve train (look at links below)
the 700r4 and 10 bolt rear will be at risk , due too the engines potential increased torque,
if you put tires with serious traction, potential on the car.
obviously check the hood clearance, and use of an aluminum intake,
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wnd-8122wnd/overview/
and water pump,
will save you a good deal of weight on the front end.
I would certainly suggest a full 3" exhaust with an (X) pipe lay out.
anything smaller is going to restrict exhaust flow resulting in less power potential,
a great deal of the potential of the larger valves will benefit from minor port and bowl clean-up and a good 3 angle valve job,
Id certainly insist on hardened valve seat inserts,

and blending the valve seat throats into the

port.

Id certainly take the time and effort to locate, or fabricate a 7-8 quart oil pan that will fit the application,
or at least use an oil cooler and remote, mounted oil filter ,
to provide extra oil volume and oil cooling,
and use an oil pan that allows decent
(3.5" absolute minimum , under the oil pan to road surface clearance,
with you in the car) oil pan to street surface clearance.

btw if he uses the larger 2.19/1.88 valves you can easily expect at least a 5% higher airflow at any lift,
so the result would look like this on a large valve peanut port head,
assuming thats with proper port and bowl clean-up

lift...............int............ex
0.200..........132..........101
0.300 ..........202.......... 132
0.400 ..........225.......... 154
0.500 ..........269..........170
0.600..........270 ..........196

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-peanut-port-big-block-combo.2900/#post-57145

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ck-chevy-gen-v-vi-to-adjustable-rockers.4564/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ne-have-any-power-potential.12343/#post-76362

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...olishing-combustion-chambers.2630/#post-21649

Grumpy · Sep 5, 2019

carl amaral · Sep 5, 2019

Thnx for the reply i should have mentioned i was planning on running comps 911 springs and the retainers and locks to match. when i ran my #'S through the uem compression calculator i came up with a 9.4 to 1 compression ratio with the pistons and 236 chamber. The reason i bring this up is i see you suggest a bigger piston and cam, im wondering if i will lose a noticeable amount of torque by heading that direction? I also see you think ill need minor clearance work on the valve train, im not sure what you mean there?

oh i just want to also add, whats your opinion on the bigger valves for the peanut port heads. is it worth it?

Grumpy · Sep 5, 2019

due too clearance issues, you generally can,t just swap the new valve springs onto the stock heads and use the new performance cam,
yes your listed combo is close to 9.4:1 and the larger dome pistons boost that too closer to 10.4:1
you would not lose torque, you would gain torque and hp, over the whole useful rpm range ,
from about 2600 rpm and above,
there would be little/no reason to do the mods if you lost torque,
keep in mind if your engine rpms are under about 2600 rpm youll still have very good torque but your obviously not trying to accelerate or pull a heavy load so the 400 plus ft lbs available from about 1800rpm-2600rpm, should be more than adequate.
the calculator I used shows about a 25hp/ 25-30 ft lbs benefit from the higher compression and longer duration cam, keep in mind that theres always a cost vs benefit compromise,
being made in every part you select., and at times it really does not cost a great deal more to make a couple changes and take advantage of some potential benefits.
you tend to gain about 2%-to-4% more torque for each step up in compression between about 8:1-12:1 IE if your combo makes 400 hp at 8:1 compression it should be expected to make 412hp -415hp, at 9:1 and about 428-430hp at 10:1 compression, etc.
but obviously you must keep the dynamic compression below the range where detonation occurs due to lack of octane in the fuel used.
the minor extra cam lift and duration provides the extra air flow potential to feed the higher demand,

perhaps someone with a DESKTOP DYNO program,
can run both combos and post results

you may find this info helpful
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...e-springs-and-setting-up-the-valve-train.181/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/valve-train-clearances-and-problems.528/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/checking-piston-to-valve-clearances.399/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/dynamic-vs-static-compression.727/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...mble-and-swirl-quench-squish.4081/#post-12283

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-peanut-port-big-block-combo.2900/#post-57145

Grumpy · Mar 17, 2020

9.9:1- 10.1:1 compression
a decent roller cam
https://www.crower.com/camshafts/ch...hydraulic-roller-cam-236hr245-late-model.html

https://www.crower.com/camshafts/ch...hydraulic-roller-cam-236hr245-late-model.html

https://www.airflowresearch.com/300cc-bbc-oval-port-cylinder-head/

https://www.jegs.com/i/Brodix/158/2...MIlZj9va2i6AIVoINaBR0NXQ_pEAQYBSABEgLnJvD_BwE

Indycars · Mar 18, 2020

Grumpy said:
perhaps someone with a DESKTOP DYNO program,
can run both combos and post results

Sure, why not !!!

Just help me out and give me all the info in one place!

Dynomation 6 Input Variables

Bore & Stroke:
Displacement: cubic inches
Rod Length:
Heads Make/Model with flow numbers: Flow (CFM) at several lift points.
Combustion Chamber Size in CC’s:
Dome Volume: For a domed piston use a (-) negative number.
Valve Relief Volume: For a piston with valve reliefs or dish, use a (+) positive number.
Deck Clearance:
Head Gasket Bore:
Head Gasket Thickness:
Valve Sizes Intake/Exhaust:
Intake Manifold Model Type: [Single or Dual Plane]
Model #:
Carburetor Size or EFI (CFM):
Blower/Turbo Make/Model:
Belt Ratio:
SCR & DCR: Or the info to calculate SCR & DCR [ http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...comp-ratio-cranking-pressure-calculator.4458/ ]
Header Tube Diameter: Small, Medium, Large (1-5/8", or , or)
Cam Card: Need all 8 valve timing events at seat-to-seat and at 0.050” & lobe lift or valve lift. [Do this for any cam you want the results for]
Rocker Ratio - Intake/Exhaust:
Cam Installed per Cam Card, or Retarded or Advanced:
Fuel Used: Gasoline, Methanol, Ethanol, E85 .....

454 Mild Engine Build

carl amaral

New Member

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

carl amaral

New Member

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Indycars

Administrator