Chevy 454 rebuild with 8v71 blower

Picked up the 454 and 8v71 today, the 454 has been fully rebuilt and honed by the previous owner and just needs new rings on the pistons before it can be assembled

It comes with fully reworked, ported heads on both inlet and outlet sides, not had a chance to look at the valves to see if they've been enlarged too but should be a good set.


The block comes with a polished crank, new bearings, HD bolts, HD duplex chain and gears, oil pump, Fel-Pro gaskets for the heads, Mr Gasket set for inlet and exhaust, new HD push rods and a whole host of other goodies

Plus obviously the 8v71 blower which is actually polished but some tool has painted it silver after it was orange.....you can see where the paints been rubbed off to show the polished ally underneath


Anyway heres some poor pics, the surface rust has been greatly exaggerated by the flash on the camera. All thats needed before assembly is a new set of standard rings.

This engine is an 8.35:1 compression ratio and will happily run about 4psi with the blower in order to get about a 10.5:1 or I can use larger head gaskets in order to further lower static compression and run more boost if needed

I think all of that wants cleaning and making very shiny!

8.35:1 & 4psi boost...? Go higher!

I could drop the compression down to 7.35:1 and then run about 8psi to get to 11:1 I think


Would mean new pistons though and I don't want to buy new ones The block is going to be painted black, chrome rockers, polished blower, silver inlet, chrome pulleys and twin holley carbs up top

Don't really need more boost anyway more than enough power as it is in NA form!

Plus it would mean I would have to run high octane fuel all the time if I wanted to run 11:1 ish, 10.5 is about as high as I want to go

6psi would be the highest I could run at the 8.35 I think, let me just work out the ratio


No 4psi would give me a 10.6:1 on the 8.35:1 static ratio so thats probably as high as I can go without having to run 100 octane

I SO DONT UNDERSTAND YOU......

how many engines? not meaning to slag you off, cos thats truly not what intending to do...but why keep changing mind?why not just finish one??

anyway...cr in relation to psi boost calculations dont work..ie i run 10.5 cr (at 0psi) and 10psi..with no problems..

its all about stopping predetonation..thats using decent fuel (av gas is good, or lpg) ecu's knock sensors, meth/water injection etc..cr dont really come into it unless running prehistoric setup...IN MY oppion (maybe not yours..we all are different after all) i would be selling an engine or two and buying injection setup or atleast megajolt etc..that way one can really release the power..
what you recon??

This is the final incarnation of the series engine change, I've sold all other engines in order to fund a BBC

Will not be running LPG or injection as I like the simplicity of the carb set up


Basically I changed my mind because if I'm building the series from the bottom up I may as well max it out, it'll be on a galv chassis now so want to get it as I want before swapping the bits over


If I'm running standard pump petrol 91 octane I think ? Then I need about a 10.5:1 as max, however than said a standard 8.35:1 454 gets mega power as it is

ps..av you got rich parents??cos i was a student..and i was truely poor!you must be spending a fortune !

NOT that i am critising....just bemused...

rhinks standard pump is 95...shell v power stuff i need is 99..

try lpg...108 ron....advance timing= more boost befre pinky pinky bang and more power than petrol...

zen said:

ps..av you got rich parents??cos i was a student..and i was truely poor!you must be spending a fortune !

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I buy stuff cheap and tend to flip it for a profit, got caddy engine and built it back up with the new gaskets and starts.....£350, sold for £500

SBC bought for £600 sold for £720

Bellhousing for gearbox, £200 with gearbox, kept bellhousing sold unwanted ZF box for £225

List goes on, supercharger I swapped for this one......£200 paid, traded in as £400 against this one

zen said:

try lpg...108 ron....advance timing= more boost befre pinky pinky bang and more power than petrol...

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Don't want to run LPG unfortunately, if not I'd consider it


Would rather save up and replace pistons with machined ones at some point then ramp up boost more

Engine will be NA for a while until I can afford the blower nose for it from the states so not in a huge rush

re maxing out....one can make it virtually undrivable if go to far...mines on the limit..and thats with lsd;s etc..one cannot point and poke in the wet, damp etc..

when you get it done..assuming you dont go for another enginechange .(lol).PLEASE be carefull...i can see dead/broken doc here..its in a series after all...

why no lpg???it loves boost..and 64p litre

Yeah, I've got a dana 80 axle on the way to me in order to take the extra power in the drive train, that also then has massive brakes on it (vented discs), new chassis is having roll cage mounts on it, being made thicker (5mm) so its stiffer and just generally beefed up. Will look like a standard series chassis just thicker and with the mounts for cage already on it so it can be galved in one go

idea is to make the series semi safe enough to drive I know you said about doors too so I'm making my own replacement ones up instead of the original flimsy ones, reinforcing the tub with some steel bar down the side and then the new doors can go into that just so they cant open easily etc

zen said:

why no lpg???it loves boost..and 64p litre

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minimal space in rear tub with radiator and petrol tank, plus not readily available where I live, only one station which is 10 miles away from mine

any good luck..want to see it drive...bet i beat you at the pod!

Most probably would! I only have three usable gears! First is a granny 7.05:1

Dr_evil said:

minimal space in rear tub with radiator and petrol tank, plus not readily available where I live, only one station which is 10 miles away from mine

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Bitch please , my nearest LPG ststion is 160 km away

Yeah but this isn't ozzyland

I've just noticed in my pics that the valve springs are dual ones excellent

Thems is expensive from real steel like real expensive!

They need removing for the cam to be broken in properly though so I may put in the used cam and cheat........its the same cam as the new one, its just been used for a couple of thousand miles so may sell the brand new one or keep it as a spare.


Anyway breakfast time then I'll go get more pics and make a start

bet you change your mind on engine before it runs..lol