475-500 HP Budget build 462, 464, 470, 482

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by matt68gs400, Jun 23, 2019.

  1. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    What’s the best way to go with a budget build to get around 500 HP, 12.0 second car that appears stock? I want driver reliability too. Pump gas, would like to use 91 octane if possible. Not sure if I want to port out iron heads or just get aluminum and paint them red. Just brainstorming right now. I don’t have a set budget, yet at the same time, I don’t want to invest everything into a motor.
     
  2. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    Just get a good set of heads and install on top of what you got and you'd be right there!

    Unless your bottom end needs to be fixed, if not why spend the $$ on something that's not broken when you can reach your HP goals with a good set of aluminum heads? Get the stage 2 heads and add headers and be a little over 500 HP!

    In a couple of years you can build a better short block to add the heads you have if you think you want more power.:cool:
     
  3. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    I thought about that.... but part of me wants cast iron exhaust manifolds for a sleeper look.

    My block is likely all stock, not decked, and with 1970 cast pistons. It has a crappy comp 268H, even duration cam in it. I have a second motor torn apart in the garage. Just sitting there doing nothing.
     
  4. BennyK81

    BennyK81 Well-Known Member

    ha I am thinking about the same...have my beautiful Gardner exhaust and I do like cast manifolds.
     
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  5. BennyK81

    BennyK81 Well-Known Member

    I was thinking about getting TA stage 1 heads but can you use them with stock rockers?
     
  6. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Yes you can
     
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  7. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    As hugger said you can just might need different pushrods length.

    12s should be very easy to get. Do you need power brakes???? Ig so this will limit your cam choises
     
  8. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    Yes sir, I have power brakes.
     
  9. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    If you had manuals I would give you specs we ran on our 430 sti bottom end with good iron heads thst wrnt 11.30s, but at only 5" of vacuum.......it ent world unless you run the brakes some other way
     
  10. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    If doing a from scratch bottom end it doesn't make any sense anymore to not do 482. There be 750bucks different between it and a 464, and that would reusing stk rods and wiesco pistons. Nothing wrong with those pistons......there are in my motor, but they are cheaper than the 482 pistons.

    Most iron heads fully ported come out close to a similar flow level as the as cast aluminum and most of time you will have close to at least 1/2-3/4 the cost of aluminum.......unless you get a deal on a good used set.
     
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  11. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Your goals are not attainable without good heads. Bite the bullet and buy a set of Stage1SE's with entry level porting. You can still use your exhaust manifolds.
     
  12. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    So with your specs and a different cam, is mid to high 11s possible with power brakes?
     
  13. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    My specs.......nothing really special or secret.........it was a bone stk 430 bottom end right fron gm with 38k

    Heads were irons converted to stage1 valves and ported. 280ish intake and 200ish exhaust

    Intake was ported sp1

    Carb 1000 cfm 4150

    Gears 4.56

    Converter about 4000 flash utimate 10"

    TA large tube headers

    Cam was a custom ground crower with just a little over 500 lift.........but as said lots of overlap.

    No clue what manifolds, sti intake and other carb will take right off the top.

    Not sure how much stk appearing you want to go.

    But the better the heads and bigger cubes will make your goals easier.

    I would guess if you painted ta heads most would have no clue that didnt know
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2019
  14. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    As previously mentioned good heads are the key. My engine made 532hp/567ft lbs. I have edelbrock heads (E-GADS!!) with a relatively lousy 9.3:1 compression. Using a 288-92h cam. Power brakes work fine. A few caveats being I am using headers and a single plane (SP1) intake. But with a proper ~10.5:1 cr and good heads, 500+ with a dual plane and manifolds is doable while using pump gas and power brakes. If going at face value, I'd do TA stage1 heads (paint em, Id paint mine if I did it over) as I only went with Eddie's because I got a good deal (and then had Greg Gessler go through them).

    Knowing what I know now (minus any good deals that I couldn't pass up) I'd do a 482 with 10.5:1, TA heads and custom ground Scotty Brown cam. It'd be tough not to crest 500+ with those components regardless of intake and exhaust manifolds (within reason).
     
  15. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    Hope this works, video pulled from my cloud of 430 with custom cam, cold idle.

    Video was clearer when I took it, but got grainy in the down loading process

     
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  16. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    There is also the economy 482 option as well using 6.658" 5.4L Ford aftermarket H-beam rods and a custom piston would probably save you around $500 vs a traditional 482 build using the made for a BBB 482 pistons and IIRC the made for a BBB 482 stroker 6.80" rods.
     
  17. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    Ah.... sweet music!
     
  18. matt68gs400

    matt68gs400 Well-Known Member

    What’s wrong with using stock rods and a custom piston? I don’t want a 600 or 700 hp motor
     
  19. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    Would you still save that much with a 1 off custom set of pistons.....we had to have a set made for a 460 we did with afr heads......they were close to 1000 for the set from diamond........no one else would even take the order
     
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  20. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    I have stk length molnar rods and wiesco pistons, our block had been cut once and is now sitting .010 above deck. I went with molnar rods over redoing another set of stk rods..........but I ran stk rods into the 10.90s.

    My opinion now after having a better set of rods is, I will gladly spend the few hundred extra on them. Seeing the quality of them, the way the are made, it's an area I'm will to drop a little extra for the protection.

    My stk rod motor had over 2500 passes on it, most in 11.10/11.0s.

    I bought my stk length rods from molnar b4 they were making the 482 rods.......I tried to return and swap them, but because I bought them from an online store that was going belly up for a drastic discount, the couldnt exchange them.......I understand........

    Is better rods required for 500hp, no. It's cheap insurance. I think to have stk rods redo e with arp bolts would be close to 300ish. I think molnar for stk drop ins or 482 are about 600. you can get a set of weisco pistons with pins and wrings for 450 on ebay.
     
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