What do you guys think about the TA 494 stroker kit. I just finished taking apart my 455 engine and its at the machine shop. I'm looking to create a street/strip car. I want it to be as fast as possible at the drag strip as well as retaining streetability and durability. Is using the 494 stroker kit a good way to go? I'm really looking for durability and the ability to drive easily on the street. Keeping my 1/4 mile times as low as possible is also important but I do wanna be able to drive it.
Even though this has been discussed before, I'll jump at it again. The 494 is a good way to go if torque is what you want, it's the nature of a stroker motor. The heavier the car, the more torque needed to move that hunk of metal from a stand still. One thing I noticed was the need for cfm's on the heads and carb ( loves to take very larhe breathes ) What you need to determine is how fast you need/want to go, what money you will invest now and later. The major fault of the buick, if you want to race them is the heads. If you budget only lets you build a strong motor but you plan on upgrading later~ built the 494 and add aftermarket heads as the money rolls around. As far as the added cost of doing a 494 compared to say a 464 with good rods, the price is withen a couple hundred bucks. Good pistons cost $$$, so do decent rods. The added cost is of set grinding the crankshaft and the time it takes to balance the whole mess. I know I am simplifing some of this, but ask around some more, call TA, Jim Wiese,or Jim Burek for other options and prices.
Please tell us what car you have, trans type, what mods you will do such as gear change, suspension, carb, intake, etc...
Well, I have actually been disuaded to get the 494 from what I heard in this topic and especially by Brian at Earick racing engines. Not that its a bad kit but rather it doesnt acomplish the goals I have. I'm thinking now that for what I want, a 464 is the way to go. I have a 1967 Buick Skylark that the engine will be going into. I want to make a street/strip car out of it but it will spend most of its time on the street. I'm going to use a TH-400 tranny and probably something like a 3.55 rear end. This will also likely be on street slicks and if not that probably street tires rather than full on slicks. I really only wanna make a bit over 500 hp and while torque is important to me, insane numbers of it arent. I want to get my Q-jet either reconditioned or get a slightly bigger new one. I deffinitly don't think I wanna go with the stroker kit now.
I have a 494 kit that I bought years back. It's still in the boxes in the attic. I currently have a 462 pump gas motor in parts that I'll build for starters that hopefully I'll get into to the 10's with. The only weak point is reconditioned stock rods. The 494 kit will be a high compression motor (if I ever build it). I have to get the rods narrowed to fit the crank as I've already had the crank done but didn't realize that the crank had to be widened to fit the rods. Option 2 is a new Bulldog block. I had considered selling the 494 stuff for a high compression 464 kit, but I'd be right back where I am now, a kit paid for just sitting waiting to be built(plus the cost of heads).
Torque is still needed. Go with as much compression you can. Aluminum heads allow about 11:1 with 94 octane. Slightly to big of a cam will bled off some compression from the motor ( I love the sound of a nice big cam ) Look in parts for sale and see if anybody has stuff you can use. 3:55 gears are nice street ratio. Once again, a well thought out package out performs a bunch of 'go fast' parts anyday.
Honestly, today, it's so easy to build a 500 to 550 horse 455 using alum heads. In my opinion, the heads are way more important than almost every other aspect of the motor. You could build a nice short block with forged pistons, even stock rods(prepped) and put on a set of alum heads even out of the box and obtain over 500 horsepower and plenty of torque. You can stay conservative on the cam and keep street manners tame and have great dependability. Jim Burek
Thanks for the help guys, I think I'm gonna just make it a 464. I need to bore it out anyway. But, I deffinitly won't be stroking it. Alumininum heads are deffinitely a go and hopefully I'll have the car where I want it in no time.
