Thread: You are gonna have some fun with this one

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Originally Posted by happydaze

Hi everyone
Quick intro,
Im from England (UK) and due to the fact we build small engines, over the last year I have got a 454 chevy engine and ancillaries a TH400 gearbox and a 10 bolt axle, I have now purchased a 1971 Ford Capri and That little lot is going to go in to it, After stripping the 454 I have found the crank to be in poor condition I would say it was re-shelled as it looks like its knocked out rod number 3. So this my friends is where I need help, As soon as I say 454 chevy in England I get a lot of funny looks, What Im looking for is this.........What would you do, you guys have been tuning these things for years so If I can benefit from your experience that would be great.
Im Thinking this
Stroker kit
Oversize pistons
Camshaft
Balance
Supercharger ??????
Inlet manifolds
Exhaust manifolds i think you call them headers
I want to buy all of the stuff from the USA unless advised otherwise.
Its gonna take me quite a while to build my little project.
So give me some help from the people that know
Thanks in advance.
Happydaze

The TH400 is the toughest 3-speed auto you could bolt onto the 454, although it has no overdrive, so choose your rear gears carefully according to what you will need on English highways and byways. If you build the motor fairly mosestly, you will have all the torque you need to haul that little car around and won't have a need to buzz the motor, so gears can be kept reasonable. I don't think the 10-bolt is a very good idea with a big block. I wouldn't use it behind a hot-rodded small block, so I surely wouldn't use it behind a BBC. Narrow up a Chevy 12-bolt or a Ford 9 inch or a Ford 8.8 inch or a Mopar 8 3/4 inch or a Dana 60 or some other substantial differential would be my best advice.

As far as the motor, there are others on this board who know a whole lot more about building a BBC than I do, but I'll kick in how I might do it. I'm going to assume that you have fuel that will support a 10.0:1 static compression ratio. I'm not telling you how you should build yours, I'm just saying that this might be how I would build a street motor that was going into a '71 Capri. This swap is really, really going to need aluminum heads, intake manifold, water pump and radiator as well as some weight removal from the front (move the battery to the extreme right rear of the car, drill some holes in the front frame/chassis, do away with or seriously trim some components in the bumper supports, aluminum or fiberglas bumper and hood, etc.). I don't know what the front crossmember looks like, so can't comment on what kind of oil pan you will need. Get on the phone and talk to Milodon.
Milodon, Oil Pans and Performance Engine Components
I'd be thinkin' at least a 7-qt. pan with some doors for oil control. Talk to Hooker or Hedman about the headers.
Hooker Headers, mufflers, complete exhaust systems
Hedman Hedders - HEDMAN HEDDERS- Performance Hedders (headers), exhaust systems and tips
When you are setting the motor in initally to check fit, bolt the headers on and drop the motor into place. Cut out anything that is in the way of the headers, then build it back in later, modified to fit the headers. Never let ANYTHING get in the way of a good set of long tube headers. If the steering is in the way, move the motor to the passenger side of the car or raise it a little, watching for clearance at the driveshaft tunnel. Just keep the crankshaft centerline perpendicular to the differential housing centerline.

I was just lookin' through some parts and will list them here.
SRP #212157 forged pistons, +0.060", 18cc dome, 1.270" compression height, use SRP #J100F8-4310-5 rings. These pistons are for use with 4.250" crank and 6.385" rods. This small dome will match up great with 119cc open chambers to make +/-10.0:1 SCR.
BIG BLOCK CHEVY - OPEN CHAMBER - BBC SMALL DOME PROFILE - JE Pistons
http://www.cnc-motorsports.com/product.asp?ProdID=8659
Scat #26385 Forged 4340 I-beam rods, 6.385"
SCAT Engine Components 26385 - Scat Pro Stock I-Beam Connecting Rods - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Ohio #44544250 Forged 4340 steel crankshaft, 4.250" stroke.
Ohio Crankshaft
This "stack" of parts equals 9.780". A stock BBC is 9.800" on the block deck height. Either check the deck height of your block with a 12" dial caliper or have the machinist check it on all four corners to see if the block is standard and also to see if either of the block decks runs uphill/downhill. If they do, then you will want to cut the decks to square before going any further. You will probably also want to align hone the main bore. If the block is square, then you will want to use a composition gasket at about 0.040" compressed thickness to give you a squish figure of 0.060". You can run a tighter squish on a SBC with the smaller bore and usually using hyper pistons, but I'm suggesting forged pistons, which rock a little more in the bore due to the increased piston to wall clearance required and the fact that the bore is bigger. I would shoot for 0.050" to 0.060" on the squish. Just be careful about the head gasket and run only the gasket recommended by the head manufacturer to prevent brinelling the head. Use whatever aluminum head that floats your boat. I used Canton 310's, Edelbrock RPM intake and 850 carb on a DynoSim and made 604 hp with 595 ft./lbs. of torque. I used this cam and 10.0:1 static compression ratio...
11-460-8 - Magnum
Canton is out of business, but choose heads that flow about the same and you should make about the same power. Here are a few photos of the Canton product....You might find a set used....
Team Chevelle Classifieds - Canfield 310 BBC bare heads for sale