If not for bad luck I'd have none....finally got boat working and Big block goes boom

How did I miss this thread?

I love hearing how people ignore sound advice, blow things up and then blame the people who are trying to help them.;) Pretty bold to take on @ttmott, @techmitch and @scoflaw and throw insults their way. I may not always agree with them but I would trust them without hesitation if I needed advice on an engine build.....no better bunch of gearheads.
Show me where any.of those guys offered any actual advice prior to my rebuild......I'll wait.

Scofflaw did agree with me when I was refuting another member who didn't think I will get more RPMs.out of the rebuild. Other than that, there was no real advice offered to me on how to go about this rebuild. That was fine, I took it upon myself to do a lot of research in other avenues. I simply came back here to give a update a s of course now after the fact and my motor is done all these people.have opinions on what should have been done lol, it's comical!
 
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All good pirate lady, you already acknowledged being a bit out of line, it's all good. I'm pretty sure I never said I had money to burn. I value my money and I have plenty of it to spend, I just don't like to do so foolishly. In my opinion, I was able to get over 100hp gains vs stock by only spending an extra $300 or so. That's great bang for the buck.

If this works out well I am going to the junkyard and buying every 454 I can find and opening up a shop because I got this done for way less than. All of the online outfits. The reason they give 3 yr warranty's from Michigan Motors is because they charge 3x as much as the rebuild costs! Lol
Good luck with finding a 7.4 from what i hear, i baby mine. Used are impossible to find, so i hear. Been told Jasper cant get them.
 
Hawk, you may be old school but you are one of the only people that offered any actual information in this thread and then when faced with something you werent' sure about you acknowledged as such and even went so far as to apologize for possibly misconstruing information. I can respect that.
But the others chimed in questioning me and I thought it was a fair question so i gave an honest answer and still was met with more snideness. I simply don't understand where any of that came from and sorry but I run hot and take kindly to people talking shit and giving me an attitude. The fact is that there is NOT a lot of information on the internet about this stuff. There is a lot of people asking the same questions repeatedly but not getting any actual valid answers. I'm trying to make this thread be a small bit towards adding to the knowledge base.
I get pretty heated myself sometimes. Good thing is, it's the internet. Who really gives a shit? Good luck with whatever you wind up doing.
 
Good luck with finding a 7.4 from what i hear, i baby mine. Used are impossible to find, so i hear. Been told Jasper cant get them.
Nah. You just have to know where to look. Junk yards are still full of them. Certain 96-01 Chevy vans will have one for instance. Same motor, but would need a cam for starters. I have two long blocks sitting in my garage that I picked up for $500 with an extra set of 290 heads. I'm going to build them just because.
 
Show me where any.of those guys offered any actual advice prior to my rebuild......I'll wait.

Scofflaw did agree with me when I was refuting another member who didn't think I will get more RPMs.out of the rebuild. Other than that, there was no real advice offered to me on how to go about this rebuild. That was fine, I took it upon myself to do a lot of research in other avenues. I simply came back here to give a update a s of course now after the fact and my motor is done all these people.have opinions on what should have been done lol, it's comical!
Well, here's on for ya. Tom told you the pistons that you installed are designed and manufactured to meet best clearance specs. when hot. Guess what? Boats run cold comparatively speaking... for more reasons than you can waste your time "researching"
 
Nah. You just have to know where to look. Junk yards are still full of them. Certain 96-01 Chevy vans will have one for instance. Same motor, but would need a cam for starters. I have two long blocks sitting in my garage that I picked up for $500 with an extra set of 290 heads. I'm going to build them just because.
But GM 4 bolt main blocks are getting rare. However, you can still purchase a new World Products Merlin BBC block which are actually a stronger casting than what GM offered. Close to $3K but if you are going to invest in a solid basis the right way to go.
http://www.pbm-erson.com/Catalog/World-Products/Blocks-WP/Big Block Chevy
 
But GM 4 bolt main blocks are getting rare. However, you can still purchase a new World Products Merlin BBC block which are actually a stronger casting than what GM offered. Close to $3K but if you are going to invest in a solid basis the right way to go.
http://www.pbm-erson.com/Catalog/World-Products/Blocks-WP/Big Block Chevy
I hear people say that, but I still see them all over the place. I have four Gen 6 L29s so I'm all stocked up for now thankfully. One in the boat, two in the garage and one in my 69 Camaro.
Merlin would definitely be a nice way to go if you needed to!
 

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I hear people say that, but I still see them all over the place. I have four Gen 6 L29s so I'm all stocked up for now thankfully. One in the boat, two in the garage and one in my 69 Camaro.
Merlin would definitely be a nice way to go if you needed to!
Truck blocks? Grab em and hold on to em - they are rare around here.
 
Just popped into the marketplace and did a quick search. This would be a great deal for somebody...

View attachment 116372
It's worth noting for others that many parts cannot be exchanged between the Mark IV and the Gen V and Gen VI BBC engines. Crankshafts are different, seals are different, and there are challenges swapping heads......
 
It's worth noting for others that many parts cannot be exchanged between the Mark IV and the Gen V and Gen VI BBC engines. Crankshafts are different, seals are different, and there are challenges swapping heads......
Heads are a non issue now. You just need the right head gaskets if you want to put Mk IV heads on a Gen VI 454. Gen VI motors just have a far superior block. Not to knock Mk IV, but that's just how it is.
 
Heads are a non issue now. You just need the right head gaskets if you want to put Mk IV heads on a Gen VI 454. Gen VI motors just have a far superior block. Not to knock Mk IV, but that's just how it is.
You are right about that!
 
Well, here's on for ya. Tom told you the pistons that you installed are designed and manufactured to meet best clearance specs. when hot. Guess what? Boats run cold comparatively speaking... for more reasons than you can waste your time "researching"
1. He made that statement today also known as AFTER my motor rebuild has already been completed.
2. It's horseshit advice. He talks as if there are no marine engines with forged Pistons! There are thousands of them!!
 
1. He made that statement today also known as AFTER my motor rebuild has already been completed.
2. It's horseshit advice. He talks as if there are no marine engines with forged Pistons! There are thousands of them!!
This is what I wrote regarding this, what is so absolute about it? No one here cares about what you are doing or how you are going about it; you asked for advice, and you received it. I acquiesce.
"Forged pistons wouldn't be my first choice for the simple reason they are fit very loose and must be up to temperature before the engine is run under load; they have to expand to the bore. I would have gone with hypereutectic cast pistons (Mahle) which avoid the loose fit and are almost as robust as the forged."
 
the motor is running fantastic and sounds amazing. Boat has yet to go to the water becauuse we are ironing out every last little issue. last one is a bad shift linkage in the bravo 3 which we replaced only to find out that the new lower shift cable has a wonky end to it, must have got a bad one that didn't pass quality control. Hope to have her on the water for a true test early next week.
 

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