I've done some searching and I can't find much info on these, other than not recommended for race use. I have a 494 stroker kit that I purchased back in the late 90's. I got it thru a guy that Jim Bell recommended back then. FFW to now, I still have the kit, a guy that was porting my heads ruined them, then life got in the way and never ended up building the engine. I'm wanting to get my 66 GS going and am thinking about finally using it. Has the typical offset ground factory crankshaft, but light weight Bill Miller aluminum rods, 7.100'', Aries pistons that weigh 550 grams, compression ratio should be around 10.5;1 with them .040'' down in the hole with the 10.550'' deck height block I have. I don't like the piston down like that but I'm not planning on getting crazy with this thing. I have a really early pair of TA stg 1 alum heads that I bought back when they just started making them, they were one of the 1st pairs made and I waited forever for them. The heads have minor porting, and I'm thinking of running a mild hyd or hyd roller camshaft probably low 230's @.050'' intake, and low 240's exh. Maybe 550ish hp and keep it below 6000 rpm. Have a older style B4B intake manifold that I want to run. I'm just wondering if I should use this stuff or just use my old 455 rotating assembly. I'd really like to use the stroker since I've had it all these years, and the torque would be nice with the 3.08 gears. This will be a street car, maybe raced a time or two to see what it runs or a pull here and there on the street. I'm not planning on beating on it like I used to do stuff lol.. It's actually cheaper for me to use this than the 455 stuff I have due to it already being balanced, and having the rings, bearings etc. I just don't want a grenade with a loose pin lol..
I have run a few 494 setups. My only recommendation is a virgin crank to.start with for the cut. Obviously you don't know that part but I have had no issues putting years and hundreds of passes on them. Just do the oil mods for the block and get a deeper oil pan. John jr
I've also ran my 494 for years. As long as you do the oil mods,keep good oil pressure, and keep the tune up right- no more than 32* total timing with no detonation it will last.
Gotta keep the revs down a bit with that longer stroke. They seem harder on the stock block as well......
Crank grinder needs to know what he's doing. A proper radius on the rod journals is critical to prevent cracking.
Generally speaking, the .250 offset ground crank is not a problem in a street application. Race motors eventually will crack or break the crank, it's simply luck of the draw if any particular crank will survive the abuse of a high rpm race engine, and for how long. I have a 494 crank in the shop that the front broke off in 2019 at the GS nats. To be fair, that motor was 17 years old, so I am told. But it is the only broken Buick crankshaft I have ever seen.. Seen plenty of 494 cranks with cracks in the radius of the rod jounals, but never one broken clean in two until that day at the track. For a race motor, it is the least desirable option, generally speaking. Your light years better off buying a aftermarket crank, if you wanting anything beyond a 482, with an iron block. In your application, you should be fine, I have a 494 going together here now for a 500 HP street deal. JW
That can run fine on the street. My only possible concern is that brand of aluminum rods. I run GRP pro-material rods in my street engines. Not all aluminum rods are created equal. Could yours still work? Yes,I think they could,but a few things are important. No block filler. You will need cooling at the bottom of the block and to help with oil temps. Run a good oil cooler as well. nothing wrong with .040” in the hole. One of mine is .045”. You don’t want to zero-deck an aluminum-rod build due to expansion. I also have them .010”-.015” in the hole. I like the long rod. It takes some load off the cylinder walls and changes the piston speed with a shorter piston. However,if the pistons are from the 90’s,they probably don’t have a modern ring stack and possibly have the wrist pin intersecting the oil ring,which isn’t the best situation,but that was technology back then. I’d be curious to see all the specs on the piston. Can it work? Yes. It’s a fairly lightweight assembly that will take some stress off the block and help make some power. Your top end will limit its potential,but also help it last. You will need a cam that is ground for that,since it is not a traditional 455 geometry,and one that is typically larger than what you would run in a 455,due to the increase in cubes. A cam that would be somewhat radical in a 455 would be fairly tame in a 494. I guess it depends on how crazy you want to go with your build,but you can have a great sleeper engine.
Never a problem with a 494 crank. Built a number of 494's. Some up to 800 HP. Like Bob said VERY "important" to have the proper radius on the journals or they will crack at the overlap. He is 100% right about that. Many grinders don't do them properly. The ones we have had ground, we also have the cranks gas nitride treated and even had one chromed on the rod journals. Bob Ortolani's 494 has been running trouble free for well over a decade making 600+ HP on pump gas.494 combo is one of the best bang for the buck combos.
Thanks for the replies guys, exactly what I was looking for. These old forums are so much more useful than the yahoo's on the Facebook sub forums, I'm glad they are still here. I uploaded a few pictures I have of the parts on my phone. I'll have to unpack the crank and get some pics of it. I'm not thrilled that the mains are .020'' under, and that it was cross drilled, I'd think that would weaken it a bit. My block does have some oil mods. It's been back 30 or so years ago that I did them but I drilled up thru the front main, drilled up thru the oil sending unit, and out of the oil pump to 1/2'' I believe. Drilled the oil suction gallery as well to 5/8 or close. The block is a 70 so had the small suction galley. I will put a deeper oil pan on it as well. As far as the rods, back when I bought them I called and talked to Bill Miller himself and he said they are fine for street use and that they had many customers with 10's of thousand miles on them, he said you just have to let the engine warm before beasting on it. I built a 455 Pontiac back around 2002 with similar Bill Miller Aluminum rods in it. 10 sec pump gas engine and it's still going today, never been apart. Not a lot of drag passes on it but prob has 8~10K miles of street driving on it.
Thanks for the info, I agree with you completely, with the small heads these things have I would not want extra CI for a max effort drag race engine. For what I'm doing I'm perfectly fine if the power peaks at 5000~5300 rpm and shifts at 5800. I'm doing a hotter 455 for a friend of mine. Girdled block, Ported stg 2 track eliminator heads, roller cam if we can get it. Just going to keep the stock crank and stroke, with some good rods and light pistons. He is a street racer and car needs to be all it can be. I think the stock stroke will carry the power out better, and be easier on the block and cylinder walls.
Yea I agree on the long rod, I wanted it as long as possible without getting into the oil ring. The piston is an older design but not terrible. They are around a 1.340'' CH, 18~20cc dish, 1/16/, 1/16, 3/16 ring pack. 4032 Alloy. Now days I use custom Autotecs with the .043'', .043'', 3.0mm rings in stuff. I want to just use these old pistons tho if I can. The Custom pistons now get up over 1200$ now days, it's crazy! I posted some pics I had of the piston. The pin is right below getting into the oil ring.
So I dont mean to chuckle inside here......but your willing to cut .250" off the rods.......and be it most of it on 1 side to get more stroke but worried about .020 on the mains causing a weakness??????
Absolutly correct RnR GSX. Haven't seen this mentioned in about twenty years but case hardening (Carbo-Nitride etc. surfacing) your crankshaft isn't just for wear issues. Hardening the crank surfaces to like spring steel keeps the surface from work hardening and starting a crack when being deformed slightly from the outer most surface fiber from many extra stressful revolutions from stroker combinations. You've most all have cut a piece of fence wire in half by bending it back and forth a couple dozen times, it cracks and breaks after a couple dozen bends from work hardening, the cracks starting from the surface where the most streaching takes place. Yet a valve spring can cycle bend for years with out work hardening and breaking. Seen modeled blue and yellow case hardened gun sufaces at the gun show? Isn't just for scratch protection, keeps high loads from cracking the revolver.
I would venture to say that a Stage 2 headed 494 shifting at 6000 will last about as long as a 464 shifting at 6500. Both with light rotating assemblies and internal balanced. And...I bet power would be very close.
Yea you are right, just it being .020 on mains makes me think the crankshaft has had issues in the past of some sort. Back in the day we used to turns down the 400 sbc cranks and make 383's with them, I never had any issues.
This is a stg 1 street eliminator head, and appears to be external balance. Not sure why they didn't make it internal, I doubt it would have taken much heavy metal as light as the parts are. Might of been cost issue, as it was that was a lot of $$ for me back then, and took quite a long time to get all the parts.
Good to see the pin above the oil ring. Yea,I also run .043,.043,3mm ring stacks with CP pistons,but what you have will be fine with those older ones. At least they aren’t thicker.
It's sometimes hard to find bearings for mains and rod on buick stuff at .020 and .030. My last crank had the mains at .020 and I shifted it above 6500 every pass on the track and the arp 2000 series bolts in my molnar rods is what failed......not the 50 year crank but the fancy new parts
Yes, I have some old heavy Ross 455 pistons that are 5/64, 5/64, 3/16. They call for .008~.010'' clearance. Those make these look trick lol
