Author Topic: 454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help  (Read 3118 times)

Offline Shsportsfan12

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 3
  • Newbie
454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help
« on: September 16, 2016, 04:50:47 PM »
Hey All,

I have hit a road block trying to figure out the "right combo".

The motor is a 454 out of my 1980 C30 dually. Currently have an Edelbrock 750 carb, long tubes, 2.5" exhaust pipe, into a generic summit chambered muffler - true duals, MSD cap/rotor/wires, and that's pretty much it.

When towing my life from California to Texas, I ended up having a drivers side head issue to the point it needs to be rebuilt. Instead of rebuilding it, I picked up some heads off of a buddy who had them on his 454. Serial number 346236.They were machined and rebuilt to 2.25/1.88, new valves/studs/seal, and dual springs up to 660 lift.

I am planning on picking up the Edelbrock RPM intake manifold 7161.

Now - here's really where I'm stuck. The cam. I've never understood cams and can't seem to figure this part out. Yes, I do tow with it but not all that often. When I do it's a car hauler with 7k pounds maybe. Off the line, the truck scoots, but dies almost immediately after. I just want something to help her get up a go and preferably choppy.

In addition to gaskets (which I didn't see any on summit that matched the above machining??), oil, coolant, what else am I missing? Maybe a timing chain at the same time? This is my first time doing anything of the sort. I'm really good at taking things apart, but putting them back together....well that's a whole nother story.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Offline SouthernBrandt75

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 47
  • Newbie
Re: 454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2016, 10:11:26 PM »
I have no idea  but... you nailed that shoot and I also have a 454 that id like to amp up a little. So I also look forward to the answers.

See you're new also. My name is Trey and these guys are awesome. Best forum I've ever been on for anything. Very knowledgeable and nice.

shoot baby crying...gotta go and welcome from Washington. 😎

Offline Rattler12

  • Registered Users
  • *
  • Posts: 219
  • Old Geezer
Re: 454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2016, 10:43:10 PM »
Those 236 heads are peanut port heads meaning small intake ports. They are great for low rpm torque. Any performance cam would probably make your truck perform poorly because those small ports can only move so much fuel mixture and really fall off as you get into higher rpm range. I took them off mine and replaced them with 781 oval port heads......
83 C-10 shorty 454, 5spd, 3:73 posi

Offline Shsportsfan12

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 3
  • Newbie
Re: 454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2016, 02:56:24 PM »
Those 236 heads are peanut port heads meaning small intake ports. They are great for low rpm torque. Any performance cam would probably make your truck perform poorly because those small ports can only move so much fuel mixture and really fall off as you get into higher rpm range. I took them off mine and replaced them with 781 oval port heads......

I think they were peanut ports, they've definitely been worked over and now oval port. But this comes back to the point where I can't find a gasket that fits the machining. They're now 2.25/1.88 and seem pretty open. I can get some pics up later.

I have no idea  but... you nailed that shoot and I also have a 454 that id like to amp up a little. So I also look forward to the answers.

See you're new also. My name is Trey and these guys are awesome. Best forum I've ever been on for anything. Very knowledgeable and nice.

shoot baby crying...gotta go and welcome from Washington. 😎

Thanks man. I've always watched threads on here and loved it. Hopefully I can get this all sorted out pretty quick so I can get the ol girl up and running.

Offline zmanabba

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 21
Re: 454 Cam/Head/Intake Manifold Help
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2016, 11:25:26 PM »
Take a look at the Lunati Voodoo 10110702. I am running this in my 1977 K10 and it is a great cam, especially with the low compression that these truck 454's have.