Haugy, where do you start squeezing the 454 for more power?

[gogger]

My 454 is bone stock. So where is the best place to start squeezing it in your opinion? I am def going to an electronic ignition by next spring. Just curious what else you would do.

[jasun]

Me too. Me too.

[DAFF]

Cam, intake, heads and carb .... crank, rods pistons.... All depends on the budget.:p

[gogger]

I guess pretty much the same as a car. Just thought maybe there was something I was missing. I hate the carb on it. What intakes and carbs have people switched to?

[haugy]

Like Daff said, how much $$$$ do you want to spend.

First thing I've ever done to an engine to help it is make sure it can breathe easier. I don't care if your out of shape or a marathon runner. If you try to make them breathe through a straw while running, they both will not perform well.

I'd work on the intake first. The carb can be set to handle that engine with minor mods. If you change the crank, rods, and pistons you're gonna need a new carb too.
Get you a cool running good air intake, pick your name brand. I'm a fan of Edelbrock. If you want to spend the $$$ you can get new headers too. Look into the performance V-drive boats, they have some nice headers that can really let it breathe, but then you're looking at custom layouts of hose and routing, etc.

Make sure your boat has a great spark and is right on the money in timing. That can really hurt an engine's performance off the line, as well as make it a bitch to start.

If you want to get into more money, before crank/pistons, you can look at heads. Changing out the heads can really help an engine get more oomph off the line. That's why the 351w with the GT-40 heads are so popular. Other than some very minor mods, that's the difference in those engines, those heads. But they really help on the bottom end torque curve.

The last 454 I built was a custom job from the bottom up. And the builder had a nice budget. We took a standard 454 and changed out the cam, crank, pistons, etc. As well as performer heads. We put throttle body injection on it, along with a good intake. That sucker was putting out 455hp and 485ft-lbs of torque on pump gas. So these motors have the potential for insane numbers if you want them. 8)

[haugy]

Well since the forum won't let me edit a post.

I was going to also say about the spark, make sure you have a good spark and your timing is dead on. A good spark and timing will help to get a better throttle response, and can help with fuel economy as you are getting more burn from your fuel. I'd ditch the Points ignition system and go with Electronic ignition.

[sybrmike]

Electronic ignition, air gap manifold, rebuilt carb, & minor port matching on the heads/intake/exhaust seem to liven mine up a bit. Nothing too extreme since I didn't want to compromise driveability or reliability (internals looked good, but no idea how much time she really had since the hour meter was not working).

[gogger]

I know I want to switch to electronic ignition. I like the idea of changing intake and carb. I guess I will see how much money I have in the spring.

[cadunkle]

Now I'm not a Chevy guy, but the principles are all the same. Be careful what intake you change to. You do not want a single plane intake and you do not want a high rise dual plane... Unless you're turning higher RPM (5500-6500). For 4500-5500 RPM peak a low rise dual planelike the factory intake is ideal, as it maximizes torque. You're looking at basically a stock style intake, which with Edelbrock is the Performer. The disadvantage of swapping to aluminum is losing weight. I assume this is a disadvantage since if you have a Saltare you likely didn't get it to slalom. Weight is a good thing so far as I'm concerned, so let the engine be heavy. Aluminum in contact with raw water can be a problem if you leave your boat in the water.

To run a high rise dual plane such as an Edelbrock RPM or air gap you'd want to change your cam to something that makes peak power at a higher RPM, 5500+. Really you want to choose a cam first, and do the rest to match. Pick a cam that suits your application. Generally you're looking at marine low RPM cams or truck torque cams. I can't comment specifically on what works best in a 454 as I build big block Fords, not BBC (it's a greatly inferior engine to the Ford 385 series). You need to know your static compression ratio to choose a cam that will benefit you most where you need it.

If looking for a winter project consider porting your heads. Not sure where BBC heads are weak, but I'm sure there is a lot that can be done with some time and a die grinder. Also exhaust of course is a big restriction with these marine logs. Marine jacketed headers are $$$ and clearance becomes an issue.

Personally if you want to wake up the 454 I'd do some port work on the heads, particularly exhaust side, bowl and short turns. Pick a mild cam with a modern (more aggressive) lobe profile and split duration. Shoot for peak RPM around 5500 and idles 800 RPM or less. Note marine cams will usually let you know if you need to change exhaust to prevent reversion in a typical application. Edelbrock Performer if you're intake is showing wear or if the factory one won't support that RPM. Holley 750 double pumper to top it off. If you have a few extra grand get some jacketed headers. I think they make them as narrow as 33", not sure if it'll clear the doghouse.

Or better yet, swap in a 460 Ford stroked to 545. That's my plan when my 454 is worn out.