454 SS Truck engine
 

I know this thread is for marine application. But I have just bought a 1990 454 SS C1500 Truck and I can´t find any information about modifying this engine. Factory spec.is only230HP and 385 Tq@1600 rpm. it Is a TBI engine. Any suggestion how to make 400+ Hp and more tq.? I don´t use the truck to tow trailers. Just want better acceleration. Any suggestion how much power the 3 speed automatic transmission can hold? I think its a´3.73 differentiale.

230 hp for an SS, hel the merc/chevy 350 makes that...

Thats true, but it makes it all from 1600RPM, but i dont need that. I want to make it a tire schredding fast beast:drink:

I had one a few yrs back and had to go through the motor. Put a new cam in, don't remember the specs other that it was an off the shelf rv cam i think, cleaned up the heads and put a edelbrock intake on. Ran incredible, you could hardly take off without smoking the tires. They have turbo 400 trannies in them which are very tough. Congrats.

I think edelbrock makes a head/cam/intake kit for that engine..or they did...made some great power in a dyno test..Rob

I just reread this.. a 1990?? your probably down below 200hp by now. rebuild, cam, new/reworked heads, cool air intake, headers and reprogram. just a valve job would help.. Im betting deposits have decreased valve flow by 40%

I found that Edelbrock has #3764 TBI manifold and #2162 cam 218 228 .500 .500. They also have headers and high flow cat. But will the stock TBI (50mm) flow enough air? and how much power will this comb. make?

It looks to me that a mild tuned truck engine is close to marine spec.
I have a 1995 low hours mercruiser 454 magnum EFI/MP 385 propHP How about using this engine? does it pass emissions test etc.? All good advises needed:rolleyes:

I had a 1990 ss that I completely redone from frame up.. The block and rods and crank are great in them all forged and 4bolt main block. The heads are junk( peanut ports). I used a hp 500 efi cam with latter large oval port heads. It was a fun truck. Also the transmission is a turbo 400. The converter in it is very tight, if you upgrade the motor do your self a favor change the converter and the drums so that you can get more clutches in them, and you will have piece of mind. Any questions feel free to ask

SS454.com forums here:
http://www.454ss.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

Smart azz LOL

fhb,
One thing to keep in mind is that the hp is "net" horsepower, not the same as flywheel horsepower. That engine probably makes closer to 350 "real" horsepower, its kind of hard for a 454 to make much less than that. You can do a cam swap, but be prepeared to do a lot of work on the heads to accomodate much more than the stock cam. You need to remove the valve rotators and do some machining on the guids.

Other than that, its no different than any other engine ... make it breathe better and it should make some more power. Its only around 8.5 to one compression so there is only so much you can do :(

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

Smogger heads, bad camshafts, bad blocks............
I have four letters for you.....














F O R D

My friend has one of those SS trucks and it is a turd!(looks nice but that is about it?) My "bone stock" 351 Bronco can outrun it, outpull it and outclimb it! and I don't spend as much in fuel!!!

i work for ford & you're smoking crack or your friends truck has something very wrong with it!!!

I believe that is the cam and intake that I used, Along with headers and a new set of dual exhaust. The TB actually worked just fine. You can't believe how much different it was. Everyone needs to get over the HP ratings, It's the torque you fell when you push the pedal, and you will only get that with a big block. Wish I still had it, very fun truck.:ernaehrung004:

your friend's SS must be loaded down with buckets of gumbo or something...My roomate in college had one and we used it to pull boats around...I've also borrowed other guys broncos with 351s, no way they had more power than the 454 ss...nicer interiors and thats about it.

We used to take those things in on trade when I was in the car business.

That is the engine that they put in the dually that year. Suck gas and make torque in the very low end.

I would agree with most of the advice on this thread all ready, but here is my .02 anyway.

I built a low budget engine for a guy that was mud racing from one of these engines. Threw the entire top end in the trash, Put a 3-6000 solid flat tappet cam. Big oval chevy heads,no special valve work etc. tall single plane intake and 10.5:1 piston in it and it will pick the front end off the ground now. Might be a little more than you want to do, but at the least, get rid of the heads onthat thing.

Good luck. THe good thing is that there is a ton of used parts out there for 454's that can be bought right.

Should be a fun truck when it is finished.

Put a whipple kit on it and be done with it. I had a couple of cutomers with that generation of truck and they were a blast.
Nuff said....Mike

These guys have the experience with this application:

http://www.tpis.com/

Call them,

Jeff

getting it to hook
 

All very valid advice. I had one back in 1993 and out of the box had the heads ported, a little more cam and fuel delivery re-programming and a K&N box. This all made a huge difference in torque and power but.......The truck just couldn't launch. Ya gotta build a multi link for it or no matter what you do, off the line will make little or no difference with big street tires. If mid-range acceleration is what you are after then that's all fine but chances are that isn't what you are looking for.
Also, although bullet proof, the Turbo 400 3sp killed me on the road. Back then there wasn't a whole lot you could do with the 4 speed automatics to make them strong enough but today is a different story.

On another note; I currently ownd a 454 dually with a wipple charger and it will burn the 4 rear tires until they melt, LoL

I had a 94 dually with the same motor,it was a turd and drank gas then I bought a full banks exhaust/power kit for it that made night and day difference,without even cracking into the actual motor I got about a 50% hp/tq increase and 20% better mileage. It went from being a slug off the line to smoking the duallys so bad I had to put in a detroit locker,Smitty

Thanks, I will go for Vortec heads as they are 100 cc for higher CR and about 230 cc . Edl TBI manifold, headers, dual exhaust etc. I am still considering what cam to use. The EDL cam 218, 228-.500 .500 are hydraulic flat tappet!.I would prefer a rollercam . I vill start a new thread with that question..