454 build
 

I am rebuilding my 330 hp 454 here are the parts I have 4" forged crank forged 7/16 rods bowl blended oval port heads with ss valves performer rpm intake aftermarket ex manifolds and both the stock quadrajet or a holley 850.My question before I order pistons is how much compression can I safely get away with 89 octane and what cam should I put in this thing it is going in my formula 223. Thanks for any help you can give. On a side not if anyone needs a stock 330hp rotating assembly with 400hrs on it I will sell this one cheep.

9 to 1 or maybe 9.5 to 1, no more with iorn heads,hp500 efi cam,holley 850,should be in the 500 hp range.

Are you planning on running a roller cam or a flat tappet cam?

I run mine on 89 with 9 to 1, call RMbuilder for your cam 585-654-8583, he will give you a education on engine building

I second RM builder if your going roller. I think the 850 carb is going to be too large with stock heads. I think 450 hp is about all you'll get with what you have listed. A 750 or 800 would be a good carb for your build. Is your intake for a spreadbore or a squarebore? If its a speadbore this guy can get your quadrajet setup right.
http://www.cliffshighperformance.com

The manifold is set up for both square and speadbore. Does anyone know what size the stock 330 quadrajet is

I was planning on running a hyd flat tappet

It maybe drilled for both but its only designed for one or the other. I believe the stock 330 carb is a 750 cfm.

Do a search for 330 on roids. There is a speed pro cam that a lot of guy's on there really liked. Its a slightly more powerful 420 cam. One of the guys built an engine very similar to what your doing. If you dig you'll find his dyno results.

Here are the dyno results

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...e-results.html

Thanks alot for the great info it looks like if I want to get close to the 500hp mark I will need some good manifolds or tube style headers

If you want 500 hp this is what you're going to need to do, however you need to remember that 500 hp vs 450 hp is going to cost you about an extra $3000+.
Your intake is good, don't change that, as is your rotating assembly. 9.5 CR is good if you’re going to run 93 octane with iron heads. If you go aluminum you could go as high as 10.4 IF everything is designed correctly. I was running 10.4 on my engine and never had any issues. Next you’re going to need a great set of heads. You may be able to make your stock oval ports flow BUT it’s going to cost you far more than just buying a nice set of Brodix or AFR ovals. When I was thinking about having a bare set of Merlin heads ported, valves, springs, ect I was going to have over $2000 into just that not including the cost of the heads. I ended up going with a set of AFR 265 Ovals on my engine and they were fantastic heads. Next you’re going to have to get a roller cam. Call Bob Madera at Marine Kinetics for this. Calling Bob first is the best thing you will ever do. He will save you a lot of frustration and time. Then you’re going to need a good set of manifolds. If it was me I wouldn't waste your money on tubular headers, other than looking cool you won't see any real power gains and they have a problem with leaking as they age and they’re expensive.
Another option would be to stroke your engine. A 450 hp 454 would be close to 500 hp in a 496 all things remaining the same. Remember the end difference between 450 hp to 500 hp is going to be around 2.5 mph. You could also just build the 450 hp 454, then send your prop to Brett at BBlades and have him lab it and you’ll get the extra 2-3 mph for $300 vs $4000 that you will need for all extra. Others will chime in on this, but from all the research I’ve done over the years on this, this is what I’ve been told.
Good Luck with your engine!

Thanks for the info I will call him for a cam next week for now I am going to just try to get the most out of what I have I can always upgrade the heads later my stock 330 is getting me about 55mph on gps and I am hoping to get mid to low 60s out of this new combo. I have 2 props both are rev4 props ones a 19 and one is a 21 with fuel and 4 people the 21 is to much and with the 19 it will hit 53@5000 are these decent props to be running?

Your gonna need a decent aftermarket exhaust to reap any real benefits of a cam swap, better intake, carb, etc.

I would guess to hit mid 60's, your gonna need about 450HP minimum. This might be tough out of a peanut port headed 454 with a flat tappet stick. I don't think those heads are gonna flow much above 5000rpm.

Mild Thunder is right! For some reason I thought you said you had 049 or 781 ovals. Peanuts won't make the kind of power your looking for. After 4600 +/- RPMs they start falling fast.

I have a set of mildly ported and bowl blended oval port heads with 2.19 1.88 ss valves they check out at 114 ccs the only thing I dont have is exhaust and a cam so any help would be great keep in mind I dont want it to be a slug outa the hole so i def dont want a cam thats top end only.

Well I have a set of CMI headers on the way and Bob M is going to be setting me up with the cam he thinks will work well.The only thing I am missing is a carb would a 750 holley be enough to feed this thing? I was also thinking about putting a air fuel monitor on the boat it seams like It would help me get it dialed in quicker since i am not going to be putting it on a dyno. Does anyone have any preferences with a brand.

I personally went through almost all of this last winter with my 454/330hp. I took a bone stock motor swapped the heads, cam, installed roller rockers, did 2 intake swaps (performer rpm and dart...the performer rpm responded better), msd ignition, a Holley 750dp, stainless marine exhaust, new fuel system, etc, etc.....

I posted a lot of info and recieved a lot of good info durring the build/upgrade including prop testing that might be useful. You could look it up under my username or if I remember correctly "454 upgrades".

My upgrades were done on a 89 warlock euro24 with a 454/330hp. This is what I got out of it after the motor and prop upgrades......

Stock: 62mph (w/ 4 adults in the boat) on gps
After: 74.9mph (w/ 2 adults and a teenager) on gps.

Best of luck to you on your upgrades and I hope this info might help you out.

454 build / upgrades info
 

"454 winter upgrades" and "454 winter upgrades update" is where to look for those post if you're interested in reading about it.