Just purchased a 1969 Camaro Z28 with a 454 crate engine for my first Chevy bb project. The engine Cast# is 10237297. Was looking to put 500hp to the rear wheel naturally aspirated while still streetable. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can put on the engine minus taking the block out? I was looking at some of the edelbrock top end kits and a quick fuel carb. I figured someone might have a better idea for a cam/lifter/head combination or better manifold to put on it. It has a 4" cowl hood and plenty of room for a bigger manifold.

This is what the car has on the engine:
Holley 650 carb
K&N Filter w/XTREME top
Poweraid throttle body spacer
MSD HEI distributor & 8mm plug wires
Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold
Hooker Competition headers

Everything else on the block is bone stock. It currently pushes 280/350 to the rear wheel through a th400 backed up by 12 bolt 3.73 gears with positraction. The gap on the plugs is .045 through acdelco copper plugs and I'm running 93 octane on it through an electric fuel pump.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Tom

 

Hey, sounds like a nice ride. I have almost the same drive line in my car. One weak point I see is the HEI distributor. In particular, the coil inside the distributor. Maybe MSD made some improvements but, the coil in those things are inherently crumby and produces weak spark over 4000 RPM. I had a HEI way back. I upgraded it with a MSD conversion kit which adds a regular external coil and a 6AL box. Boom! nothing but power! Buttttt.... the rotor in the HEI can't handle all the extra sparking power and the contact from the cap to the rotor routinely burnt up . So with the burnt rotor problems added with the tight firewall clearance, I scrapped HEI for a MSD pro-billet.

For the note: If you add a MSD box, keep the battery charged at all times. A 2amp trickle charger is a smart move. Jumping completely dead batteries is the MSD box's grim reaper.

What kind of heads do you currently have, Ovals? Whats the intake runner size? BBC heads have 3 common intake runner sizes ovals-290cc, square-310cc, and square 360cc. The 290's are a nice balance for driveablity and power. The 310cc are on the ragged edge of streetable. 360's are out-of-the-box; they idle at 3000+ rpms.

Dual plane intakes are better for driveablity and low end power. I like the Performer RPM Air-gap manifold. I don't have it because my heads are too big so, I'm kind of stuck with the Victor Jr. (again, 310 = ragged edge of streetable).

I just purchased a Quick fuel 850 with vacuum secondaries to try to add some low end driveablity. I'm was impressed by Quick Fuel products when I dynoed my engine. It's a basically a holley with improvements.

Hope this helps

 

juggernaut,

The heads it has are completely stock. I believe they are oval ports. I wanted to base the cam/heads/manifold off of the Edelbrock power package that boasts 540hp of a 396-454. But, I was thinking I could get a more aggressive cam and heads. Wouldn't I need to switch to roller rockers instead of hydraulic lifters? I know the bigger the cam the bigger the stall speed for the converter as well. But would I be able to do another manifold like a victor jr to go with the cam, or would this be taking away too much drivability?

 

I'm going to throw out a disclaimer here before I get any further into this discussion. I'm not a professional engine builder. I'm just offering my opinions based on my personal experiences.

With that said, I'm always sceptical of Off-the-shelf claims when it comes to highly marketed package deals and this isn't just limited to performace car parts. Who has a new vehicle that actually gets the gas mileage posted in the window? No one I know. Those cars are tested in a Air conditioned box under ideal conditions. Same, goes for performance parts companies, their parts are tested under ideal conditions. I think the 540hp package is going to be a little lackluster when put out in the real-world. I'm going to venture and say 425-450 rear-wheel hp once the transmission gets its piece of the pie. (see disclaimer) Consult a professional engine builder and get real numbers from an engine that dynoed with the Edelbrock package.

What kind of Drivablity are you looking for? For 500 rear-wheel hp you're going to need 575-600hp at the flywheel. A 454 making that power isn't going to purr like a kitten. Mostly likely it will wake the neighbors, be a pain in the *** to start, need warm up time before it idles, load up at red-lights, and maybe a little overheating.

A complete roller valve train will most likely be needed to get the cam lift required for 575 hp. Go with Hydraulic lifters, setting valves every month sucks.