Achto 27,510 #251 Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, tom2p said: back in the day had one 396 that sat for a while Most people don't realize that a 396 was only 396ci the first year of production. After that they were bumped up to 402ci. GM felt that 396 had a better ring to it, so the kept the call numbers. Edited July 5, 2021 by Achto 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tom2p 2,394 #252 Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) I thought the big block Chevy was underrated for its torque I had two big block Olds - including a 390 hp 455 ... another kid had same 390 hp 455 ... friend's boat had Olds 455 next door neighbor had a Buick GS 455 and another friend had a GS 455 the Olds and Buick 455s were known to have gobs of torque - and they did but I thought the Chevy 396/402 was right up there with them - so I can just imagine the torque of the 454 Edited July 5, 2021 by tom2p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tom2p 2,394 #253 Posted July 5, 2021 fav Chevy big block - L78 396/375 solid lifters - sounded like a diesel lol this was my friends L78 - he still has this car today .. years ago he sold it and got it back 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,805 #254 Posted July 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Achto said: Truthfully your big block is just a victim of emissions. A good set of heads, a little more squish in the cylinders and a good cam would wake that engine right up. Mine Dan? It is a vortec engine... wasn’t that one of the better flowing head designs for pre-LS engines? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,510 #255 Posted July 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, pullstart said: Mine Dan? It is a vortec engine... Heads should be fine then, but it is still choked off. There is plenty of un tapped power there yet. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,805 #256 Posted July 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, Achto said: Heads should be fine then, but it is still choked off. There is plenty of un tapped power there yet. Cam and intake you suppose? Exhaust seems pretty free flowing for the time being. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,510 #257 Posted July 5, 2021 Cam would help. If you could bump the anemic 8.2 : 1 compression up to about 10 : 1 would be a big game changer too. Should be able to run 87 octane at 10:1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,805 #258 Posted July 5, 2021 I’ll stick a tube of JBWeld on each piston. That aughtta bump the compression! 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,163 #259 Posted July 5, 2021 31 minutes ago, pullstart said: I’ll stick a tube of JBWeld on each piston. That aughtta bump the compression! It'd bump a LOT of things. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,510 #260 Posted July 5, 2021 4 hours ago, pullstart said: I’ll stick a tube of JBWeld on each piston. That aughtta bump the compression! A bump stick with a different profile can build more static compression. Taller deck on the pistons. Shave some off from the heads. Or some thing that might really appeal to you, BOOST. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,805 #261 Posted July 6, 2021 Today, I made the horn work. It works very well! 1 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 41,039 #262 Posted July 6, 2021 Somewhere an ice cream truck is missing it's horn! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
