The Official Vortec 454 Info thread

[nightfire37]

The edelbrock intake finally showed up. Will be going on the 454 that came out from the burban. On a hunt for domed pistons in the similar weight range as stock vortec 454 pistons

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Wow that intake looks awesome. Is it for oval or rec ports?

 

[yevgenievich]

Wow that intake looks awesome. Is it for oval or rec ports?

It is a square port. They stopped making the oval port version. Square port version will work on oval port head.

 

[BNielsen]

Finally getting around to this, got it off the trailer and on the engine stand so I could wash it ahead of putting it in the building.
This thing was NASTY, so nasty; and the fact it's a milkshake maker didn't help it at all. A few rounds of Gunk to start with broke up a lot, but not as much as I expected. Went and got some Purple Power and LAs Totally Awesome degreaser and hosed it down and hit it with the pressure washer, both of those did a fantastic job! Hit one side with Purple Power and the other with LAs. Started removing some small brackets like the coil and ICM, pulled plug wires and the broken rotor off and yeeted that in the trash and tucked the brackets in the box for parts.
I'll grab some pictures of the engine all cleaned up here shortly, but it's off to a great start.

 

[BNielsen]

Posted in my truck build thread, figured this thread needs the traction too. I'm probably going to follow the same steps a few of the builds on here took; I just hope it'll be a stump puller like I want.

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[Scottm]

I'm still putting my truck together, and I can tell you, take lots of pics and bag and tag all the hardware. I'm constantly trying to figure out what bolt went where.

 

[Road Trip]

I'm still putting my truck together, and I can tell you, take lots of pics and bag and tag all the hardware. I'm constantly trying to figure out what bolt went where.

The older I get the more I use the engraver during disassembly to leave tiny re-assembly hints
to my future self in no-kidding permanent marker form. :0)

A perfect example is all the serpentine belt-driven accessories on the front of the engine.
No exaggeration, my least favorite area of an engine build. So much beauty inside the
engine, made up for by so much ugly on the front. I use to lose minutes/hours/precious motivation while
trying to sort out which bolts go where...and that was after spending more time & effort finding what
far-flung corner of the shop that the missing hardware ended up hiding from me during the teardown.

Not anymore. One big gallon freezer bag. And as I take each bolt off, I engrave a number on the face
of the bolt, and a matching number close to the matching hole in the bracket. Bolt #1 is the first one
removed, followed by bolt #2, bolt #3, etc. Let's say that there were 15 bolts total. With 15 bolts
and 15 holes all documented, the following happens automagically.

* I know which bolts are needed first during reassembly. (Last off, first on) This in turn
helps me with sequencing which interwoven bits have to be installed first before the others.

* I have complete & positive fastener control. That is, instead of wondering if I have all the bolts or not, I can
inventory, #1 through #15, and if bolt #9 is missing, I can look at the all brackets and figure out
that it was for the power steering pump? And then go look at that and snag that bolt before it gets
lost.

* The notes can't get lost. They stay with the part no matter how much I handle them / move them around.

* My good friends know that I favor the engraver. And they bust my b*lls big time for this. But during
the (now confident) reassembly session, I always have the last laugh. (Always wanted to make
my own version of Escher's Drawing Hands, using engravers instead of pencils. I'd wear that
image proudly on my Assembly Day shirt. See attached.)

* Even something as simple as 2 arrows pointing at each other can be a huge assist in the middle
of the night when parts (like motor mounts) can seemingly go together any number of wrong
ways during reassembly. (Just an L and a R can save putting the mounts on the wrong sides
and the engine not wanting to drop in on the first attempt. And yes, I learned this the hard way.

****

Using the engraver to it's full potential allows you to build in a checksum for all your fasteners.
Having ALL the front accessory bolts in a single gallon freezer bag, but at the same time there's
zero confusion about which bolt goes where...it's motorhead nirvana.

Overkill? Maybe if you have the kind of photographic memory that I always wished I had. And especially not
anymore at my advanced age. :0) Took me a long time figure out how to make reassembly as much fun
as disassembly. And this does it for yours truly.. Takes 99% of the dread out of the assembly process.

Enjoy the build! Building a big block is leaving behind some Physical Graffiti of the highest order.

Keep the photos flowing. Better viewing than 99.9+% of any programming on the telly...

 

[Schurkey]

Engraver, huh?

Not something I'd have thought of--although I have used one to mark rods and rod caps.

But never bolts.

Now I have something to think about.

 

[454cid]

I'd be afraid that I'd end up with visible and rusty numbers on all my hardware since I scratched the coating off. I don't tend to lose hardware unless maybe I leave something taken apart for eons, but even then I tend to find everything eventually. I'll admit that I don't really know where my radiator shroud hardware is... it's one of the things stopping me from re-installing it.

 

[Keeper]

I'm a zip-loc bags, a pad of yellow post-its, and some blue painter's tape guy. My older self is continuously thanking my younger self. I've had a bad memory my whole life.... and I never trust it... it's just not how my brain works. Too many concussions as a youngster I fear. Being anally organized is the only option nowadays.

 

[BNielsen]

I'm a zip-loc bags, a pad of yellow post-its, and some blue painter's tape guy. My older self is continuously thanking my younger self. I've had a bad memory my whole life.... and I never trust it... it's just not how my brain works. Too many concussions as a youngster I fear. Being anally organized is the only option nowadays.

I've got a couple little plastic tackle box containers for lures I'm going to use, I'm planning on numbering it and writing up a guide on the back for each cell in the container.
I've used Ziploc bags before, but they always wind up getting smudged up to where I can't read what's written.