I am planning to pull my 454 and have it freshened up and would like to add some RELIABLE horse power. It would be nice to see 500 hp but not the biggest of my concerns. I'd like to run more power but it needs to be turn key reliable. Anyone who has built a motor like this please let me know what parts you used and what kind of power you got out of them. I DO NOT WANT TO SUPERCHARGE.

This thread may give you some ideas.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...5&page=1&pp=20

A few ideas..... I am really looking for specific parts. Carb ? Intake? Cam ? Are the stock heads worth using? Just a few questions I have....... I want to get as much info as I can before I dig into this project. I really only want to build this engine once.

Change the block to a 502(genIV) and add je pistons ( you are going to buy them anyway) Hyd roller from crane 226/234deg, good exhaust, Holley carb 800 pri 79 sec 89jets depending on exhaust and PV, roller rockers inconel exh valves. easy 500. If you want to keep the blocks than stroke em to 496, again easy 500.
If you really want to do it once go for the added displacement and good exhaust, it is worth it.

I kept the 990 heads, stock GM aluminum intake and Q-jet and made 509hp. Is it the route most people would like to take? Probably not. I'm an old super stock drag racer so I have a lot of time invested in Q-jets and know many of the tricks (and don't mind piddling with them). They now have velcro instead of screws for easy adjustments on the fly. Following is a "short" list of the mods.

1) .030 JE pistons. raised compression to 9.5 from 8.75
2) EMI Thunder exhaust
3) Custom ground hyd cam 236 @ .050 and .561 lift
4) Balanced entire rotating assys
5) Crane Hi-6 marine ignition
6) 990 heads with Ferrea valves (upped the intakes to 2.30)
7)Crane gold roller rockers

The motors were turning 5500 with 23 Mirages on a 311 Formula. Right at 72mph. I was happy with them but if I were to do it over I would probably go with more displacement. The 496 ci rotating assys are a good way to go if you don't want to buy new 502 blocks. Remember, there's no replacement for displacement.

I already have roller rockers and Stainless Marine exhaust. The last owner bought those. I was thinking of some light head work for better flow and to raise compression, a better cam, carb and maybe a different intake. ALL of this after the bottom end is freshened up. I don't really want to spend the $$$ for a stroker setup or to get a bigger (502) block. What kind of $$$ is it to bore the stock block a bit and get a set of good pistons??

If your going to bore the engine you are going to buy pistons anyway. For another $600, $250 for crank and $350 for rods you can have a nodular cast stroker crank and a set of 6.385" I-beams. For 500 HP a nodular crank will run for hours. Now you have 496 inches and 500HP will be a breeze. You can run a smaller cam and have no issues with docking or idling.

Chris

Try this thread http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...1&page=1&pp=20

I see now that you want to keep block and crank, still, there is some good stuff in that thread.

You may want to avoid taking your compression up much. You should be able to make that power and still run 87 or 89 octane max with good heads or good head work.

I have some left over stuff out of my 500hp motors if interested .Gen 6

What kind of power do you guys think I would have with the head work to bump the comp. ratio to 9:1, a bigger cam (maybe a 731) and a Holley 800 or 850 DP?
Is that too big of a cam?
I an running the stock ignition so I don't know how high I can rev the motor. Does the thunderbolt ignition have a limiter? I really don't want to rev it too high anyway. (5200ish)