Can’t find a 454SS, so I’m building my own!

[Supercharged111]

Sub'd.

 

[Nick_R_23]

if building the big block up and need to fix the crank and rods for the bad bearings just STROKE it to a 496 or bigger and be done with it .

love the idea here on the whole thing will be watching .

Thanks guys!

I know I’m going to get flack for this, but I’ll actually be staying with a true 454 for multiple reasons, mainly focusing on making the engine happier with the turbo. (Yes, a 427 would be more ideal, but then it wouldn’t be a 454ss now would it? )

#1 reason, keeping the reliability as high as possible. Turbos significantly increase cylinder pressure, which means I want to keep as much cylinder wall thickness as possible to maintain structural integrity as well as a better sealing surface. Gen VI is known for having less wall thickness available, so I’m really hoping I have little to no cylinder wear in order to minimize any boring requirements.

#2 is rod ratio. Whether 6.135 or 6.385 rod length of the 496, either is worse off than the stock 454 ratio. It’s not extreme, but it will take some side loading away between the piston and cylinder wall, and will result in slightly less wear and vibration. Cylinder fill speeds aren’t a concern since we’re involving positive pressure. Plus, less crank material is less rotating inertia!

#3 is that I don’t want a “mod” piston. When I say that, I mean a piston that has the wrist pin moved up into the rings, or a dome/crown milled down to clear the deck due to the rod and stroke changes. This can lead to ring instability and overall weaknesses in the piston design - definitely not an ideal situation under boost!

Sub'd.
Here's a picture of a blacked out newer front end on a Tahoe Limited I used to own.

Nice! At first I was doubting myself, but the more I see the “new” grille on the black front ends, the better it looks!

Subbed. Really interested to see how this turns out. There was a 454ss maybe 10 minutes drive from me that I always looked at as I went by, disappeared a few months ago. not sure if the owner just moved it or it went to a new home. If it went to the yard it's better I not know for sure lol. Maybe one of these days I'll go over in the middle of the night and look around. Might take a hoist with me just incase

Never know, it can’t hurt to ask!

I scored again today, I snagged a pair of perfect condition front fenders on a Suburban sitting about 20 feet away from the 454 donor Suburban, for $150!

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[Supercharged111]

If you're going to boost the thing, displacement is way less important. That said, if you only want 8psi/600whp cylinder wall thickness is not remotely a factor. These motors are damn stout in stock form.

 

[Nick_R_23]

Bingo. It’s more of a gasket sealing issue that I don’t want to potentially contend with, but no reason to chance any factor of reliability for a negligible increase in CI.

 

[Drunkcanuk]

This is going to be awesome!!!! Can't help but think you would get more traffic/views in the "street build" section instead of this one, I just happened to stumble upon it, don't usually hit this section up.

 

[Nick_R_23]

Alright, it’s been like 3 days since I’ve bought anything and I needed my fix, so I found a verrrrry interesting pair of 454 valve covers for $120 shipped! Does anyone recognize these? In case you’re not aware, the L29 (your typical Gen VI Vortec 454) had a fairly unknown twin, the L21, which came in the medium duty chassis trucks for a short period. These 454’s came with some interesting LS-like features, such as a 24x reluctor wheel instead of the typical 4x, coil-near-plug system including the unique valve covers, and a capped, gutted distributor for the 1x cam signal. It ran off an early 97-98 LS1 PCM. Pretty interesting and rare setup!

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And this is the L21 in the wild. Note the staggered coil mounting under the throttle body for clearance, which differs from the 8.1L.

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[618 Syndicate]

L21 has forged pistons and crank too....

 

[MrPink]

Subbed for sure. Looks like a good build.

 

[Jesse_Wenting]

These 454’s came with some interesting LS-like features, such as a 24x reluctor wheel instead of the typical 4x, coil-near-plug system including the unique valve covers, and a capped, gutted distributor for the 1x cam signal. It ran off an early 97-98 LS1 PCM. Pretty interesting and rare setup!

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Really interesting to learn about this, but I'd probably take the proven L29 over what seems like a big mess of trying this and seeing if that works lol

 

[Rumorz1]

Nice! I'm in the process of doing the same thing with my 92' gonna make it a 5 speed though. I think it will be more fun. Keep posting pics of the build.