454 stroked to a 496

[Bwear]

I am needing to rebuild my 454 in a 2000 chevy 4 door. I am thinking of installing a 496 stroker kit when I do. I am going to have the heads redone. A new cam. Injectors. And hoping to have blackbear tune it. Will all of this work together with stock heads and intake? Wanting suggestions on parts and info if anyone has done it. What can I look at torque numbers over the 454? Still wanting to tow. So no crazy cams.

 

[Carlaisle]

I've been trying to talk myself into doing this for a while and haven't succeeded yet. It gets very spendy very fast. There's no point in stroking that motor unless you're replacing the heads - they're just too small. The stock intake is a great design for towing torque. You would definitely want larger injectors if you go the 496 route. You'll only see about 40 more pounds of torque from the stroker kit if that's all you do. A carefully selected cam might double that. You could also accomplish the same just by installing a carefully tuned exhaust on the base 454.

 

[Christian Steffen]

I've been trying to talk myself into doing this for a while and haven't succeeded yet. It gets very spendy very fast. There's no point in stroking that motor unless you're replacing the heads - they're just too small. The stock intake is a great design for towing torque. You would definitely want larger injectors if you go the 496 route. You'll only see about 40 more pounds of torque from the stroker kit if that's all you do. A carefully selected cam might double that. You could also accomplish the same just by installing a carefully tuned exhaust on the base 454.

Though the heads are not amazing, they aren't that bad either. Richard Holdener ran a stock head l29 to 428 hp and 507 ft lb on stock heads, 52 hp over his baseline with the stock cam. Another thing to consider if that torque production will be increased everywhere, not just at peak head flow. So i guess my point is that even if the heads limit the peak power for a stroker (with a good cam) the area under peak will still increase greatly. IMO the intake manifold is going to limit peak hp before the heads, but the low end torque with the stock manifold would be nice for the OP.

With that said, if you can afford it some heads and a better intake manifold would really top things off, but by the time you're that far in you may as well look at crate options.

https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/12568778.html

One thing I've wondered is whats the best bang for the buck, stroker or good heads? My gut says stroker if torque is the goal, and heads if hp is the goal, but good heads can increase low rpm power so maybe its a wash?

Now, in my personal experience a cam + stroker made a big difference everywhere in the powerband.

OP, what is your budget? Things definitely do add up quickly in cost, but that's going to happen whether or not you do a stroker.

 

[Christian Steffen]

Another option to consider.. rebuild with forged pistons, cam, and slap a whipple on it.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I've been trying to talk myself into doing this for a while and haven't succeeded yet. It gets very spendy very fast. There's no point in stroking that motor unless you're replacing the heads - they're just too small. The stock intake is a great design for towing torque. You would definitely want larger injectors if you go the 496 route. You'll only see about 40 more pounds of torque from the stroker kit if that's all you do. A carefully selected cam might double that. You could also accomplish the same just by installing a carefully tuned exhaust on the base 454.

You can stroke it or cam it but the best results would be to stroke it and cam it. The stroker will be able to swallow a more aggressive cam on a tighter LSA while still delivering lots of low-end torque and a decent idle quality. I am running a 218/228 @ 0.050 cam on a 108 LSA with Rhoads V-Max lifters in my 383. It pulls nearly 20 in/hg vacuum at 750 rpm at idle. High vacuum equals good part-throttle torque and efficiency.

 

[TexasAggie]

https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/12568778.html

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Will that crate engine work in a Vortec truck? Would you just swap intakes and everything else bolts up?

 

[yevgenievich]

Will that crate engine work in a Vortec truck? Would you just swap intakes and everything else bolts up?

Front timing cover and a cam gear set would need to be changed. Mostly everything else should transfer over. Have to verify type of gear on the distributor.

 

[Christian Steffen]

Will that crate engine work in a Vortec truck? Would you just swap intakes and everything else bolts up?

You're definitely going to watch to research that, but where there's a will there's a way. A guy on ls1 tech converted a mark 4 454 to run off an 0411 with CNP ignition, anything is possible lol My gut says most stuff would swap over, perhaps GM tech support could help on some of that.

 

[TexasAggie]

Are there any crate options for a direct Vortec swap?

 

[yevgenievich]

Are there any crate options for a direct Vortec swap?

Pretty much all crate options that I am aware of would be long blocks. Would have to swap vortec specific parts on to them. As long as it is gen5 block, everything should swap over.