Sounds like perfect timing to me! You're a senior, so when you graduate and go out into the work world you can come back and take their automotive classes at night! By the time you've saved for the engine you'll know everything about your car!

 

there automotive classes are like all day long,..i would love to take them though if i ever can...and also i might go to med school after i graduate so i wouldn't be able to take to take them..but i have been saving for years and have 5000 saved up already so i almost have enough to get the 454 but need another 2k

 

so i just heard back from the guy and for a complete turn key 454 with alt, starter, carb and pulleys, 3 yr warranty and shipping is 7550..

i always heard that you shouldn't go with a higher duration of 230 @ .050 if you want it to be streetable, is that right?

 

I wouldn't agree. If you get a copy of "How to Hotrod Big Block Chev's" it will give you tons of really good info that is not only useable, but proven. In this book they talk about cams for hot street BBC, and the thing they really endorse is getting the highest lift possible, with the shortest duration.
The old LS6 used a cam with .500 lift and .306/.306 duration, and that was a pretty nice street engine! The L88 used what Chevy called an offroad mechanical and it was .540/.560" lift, with .326/.334 duration. Not very good for the street, as it didn't like closed exhausts, or low RPM's. This is close to what I'm running in my 427, but mine is .540/.540" lift, and 286/296 duration.
I think this is the best darn cam for a big block street engine. It combines the maximum lift, with the shortest duration I could find. It's still pretty lumpy when it's cold, but once it warms up it smoothes out a little. It makes huge amounts of low end power, and still winds up as high as I care to twist my BBC. It will make power from right off idle to just under 6,000, but I never run it that high.
This spec can be purchased in either hydraulic or solid lifter versions.

 

oh ok i should get a copy of that book and maybe the small block version too

ok well i dont know the advertised duration of the cam in the 454 that i might get since i only got the duration at .500 lift: duration @ .050 224 int 232 exh 527 int 553 exh lift

do you know what the duration would be with the higher than .500 lift?

so do you think this small block cam would be streetable even though its lift isn't that high?
Int. Exh.
Lift 488 510
Dur.@.050 234 244

 

^what do you think?

is it possible to get 518 ft/lb tq with 465 hp out of a 383 with that cam listed above and with alum heads with 10:1cr? its just ive never seen a 383 with that much torque before

the true turn key 454 is $7400
the true turn key 383 is $5300

 

Hard to say what the duration would be with over .500" lift, as there's no way for me to tell what grind they use. Most cam builders don't give you lift at some point before max. They usually give you total lift and duration. What good are specs at .500" on a camshaft that has .520, .540, or whatever lift?
Yes, I suppose it's possible to get 518 ft lbs. of torque from 383 ci, if the engine is developing that kind of horsepower. It's all a matter of cubic inches, and stroke. Any two engines with equal cubic inch displacement can have extremely different torque. If one engine has a longer stroke, (even with equal horsepower) it will have more torque than another engine of the same CI, but doing it with more bore, and shoter stroke.
Engines with big bores and short strokes rev higher, but develope less low end torque. The opposite is true with engines that have small bores, and long strokes.
You can take any engine and build enough HP to drastically increase it's torque also, so a 383 with 465HP will certainly build more torque than a 383 with 365HP.
Hope this helps.

 

True that, you cant have one without the other.

 

oh that helps thanks
i will see if i can find out the total duration

man its soo tempting to go with the 383, cuz of the price! can't beat 5500 for a complete turn key, ready to run engine but at the sametime i kind of wanna just save and get the 454 cuz it would be cool to have a BB and probably more streetable than the 383..but the price on the 383 is tempting lol

 

ok well i found out the total duration on both the 383 and 454:

the 454 has Life INT 514 EXH 537 DUR 270 280

the 383 has Lift 488 510 DUR 303 313