454 spun a bearing, need some advice

[PonyKiller87]

Last night we took the truck out for a test run to see if everything was ok, seemed better, got on it pretty good and then when I got out of it it it started knockin a little. By the time I pulled over it was knocking more... it was pretty bad, shut it down and towed it home.

So now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it

Before anyone says it, I have no intention of swaping to any LS motor, anything that goes back in with be BBC with the stock vortec intake on it.

So here are the options that Im looking at:(pretty much in order of cost)
1. Get a high mile junk yard motor and do a basic rebuild(bearings, rings, seals...)

2. Get a low milage junk yard motor or a reman.

3. Get a Wheeler power products short block. and swap all my parts onto it. Never heard of wheeler before, but I could get thier sportsman series, forged / stroked 496 short block for about 3 grand.

I'm kind of leaning twards option 3 because I do want to go with more performance eventualy, so I don't want to stick a ton of money into another motor that I can't use later.

Any thoughts, suggestions? I guess total budget needs to stay around 3 grand.

[wrath]

Which 454 do you have?

[PonyKiller87]

Its the L29 or "J" VIN code, all the same from 96-00

[wrath]

Ah, you've got a gen6/genfix. Still didn't fix the oiling at high RPM problem as you found out.

I'd rebuild what you've got. Scat makes a decent crank for it. The ZZ502 cam is quite popular for it and the heads can be molested with a die grinder. If you can handle not having it for a bit I'd just watch the nearby powerboat guys for parts castoffs. Nice thing about BBCs, all the boat guys run 'em and when you're talking about people that are fine with gallons-per-mile in their sport you can score parts for cheap.

Unless you're planning on making a lot of power (read: buying aftermarket heads) the stock block is fine. Plus, you know what yours has been through.

[PonyKiller87]

Yeah I though about rebuilding what I have but that gets to be almost as expensive as buying the wheeler short block.

Got any links to sites where the powerboat guys try and sell stuff?

So would the marine Gen6 short block work for me? there seems to be alot of those on ebay.

[wrath]

Same block... different accessories/intake/pan depending on whose it was (Volvo, Mercury, blah blah blah). Nice thing about the marine stuff is that it was set up to spin at 5,000-6,000 RPM for extended periods with varying temperature water in its veins.

Seems like for not much more than $3k you can get a GMPP shortblock and you get to keep your block.

Lingenfelter liked to use marine stuff in a lot of their swaps in yesteryear, not sure about these days.

I'm not much of a boat guy and I don't know anything about the area when it comes to boating... my guess is there are a bunch of FIBs on forums nearby. Seems to be no shortage of F450 FIBTABs around here.

I guess when I think about it, you should be able to find a whole truck for $4k. I've seen several 8.1L trucks go for under $5k in the last few months.

[PonyKiller87]

yeah I though about just getting another truck and using one or the other for parts. I have a bunch of money into this one already, so I dont know. And buying another truck puts me in a similar situation as a junk yard motor, don't know how it was taken care of or how long its going to last.

So are the marine engines like the L19 with the forged internals so they can spin up to the higher speeds?

[wrath]

The nice thing about buying a whole truck is that you know what it came out of. If the truck looks abused and neglected then the engine likely was too. By the time the junkyard hooligans get done powerwashing and crating/shelving an engine you have no idea how it was treated.

Somewhere around here is an actual giant engine rebuilder, Jasper maybe? I swear I've seen it somewhere around Brookfield/Wauwatosa.

I've been burned by engine rebuilders before so I won't touch 'em. I either have to buy it as it was off the assembly line the first time around or see all the parts that go in it at rebuild time.

As far as the marine engines go... it depends on who they were for. I know the Weak Sauce 454 marine engine GM offered was cast. I know the HO Mercury 454s were forged.

[NitrousPig]

What are you looking to spend? I have a 496 genIV block that is a great little engine. All forged Eagle stuff with SRP pistons. Let me know. Buy it intake to pan for $4200 or Short block for $3000(includes pan and timing chain cover)

Chip
262-745-4880

[PonyKiller87]

What are you looking to spend? I have a 496 genIV block that is a great little engine. All forged Eagle stuff with SRP pistons. Let me know. Buy it intake to pan for $4200 or Short block for $3000(includes pan and timing chain cover)

Chip
262-745-4880

Gen IV, thats non roller cam right? I guess if its setup to work with a roller cam and my stock heads will bolt to the short block I might be interested?