Very true on price.

Nothing like a BB reving to 7k though

Good luck and have fun with the project when you get back!

Just find a 396 crank and shove it in the 454 and instant 427.

steve-o_95_GST said:

i used to have a 73 nova ss but i had to sell it to pay for my gst

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next time sell the gst, use the money to swap in a 383 stroker, and lay ricers out all night long

Trigger Jack said:

Body's straight...minimal rust on it....judging from the undercar photos the wife took....inside will be gutted at some point....get a new paintjob, etc....but speed first, show later.
And sure, i'll take suggestions...but...considering the cost of the more rare 427 engine....be a lot easier to come by a 454. Might save a 427 for an old vette or something, if money ever allows....

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big blocks are to heavy, and you could get the same power from a 383 stroker. all you need is a 350 4 bolt main, 400 small block crank/flywheel/harmonic balancer, and slap 'em together

Rollin5stonE said:

next time sell the gst, use the money to swap in a 383 stroker, and lay ricers out all night long

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Why sell? I still have my 89 Formula that I am slowly rebuilding. The talon will be my quick daily, while the Formy is reserved for weekend and stupid power duty

Next in line is a '02 S4.. all the goodies and 4 doors.

But first a house.

badbu68 said:

Just find a 396 crank and shove it in the 454 and instant 427.

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I believe they are balanced differently and it would be point less. YOu can get more cubes for less money now adays. He could be cruisein around with a 572 or even a 620.

Rollin5stonE said:

big blocks are to heavy, and you could get the same power from a 383 stroker. all you need is a 350 4 bolt main, 400 small block crank/flywheel/harmonic balancer, and slap 'em together

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This is old school also. You can pick up a crank with 350 main journal size but with a longer stroke for 250.00 bucks. Or you can go crazy and pick a Scat crank for about 800 and it will laugh at anything you throw at it.

To me it sonds like he wants to do a budget build. A simple 454 with a decent cam and some decent heads will make it plenty fast. My buddies just had a junk yard 454 in his Nova and it went mid 12's all day long.

boostedinaz said:

To me it sonds like he wants to do a budget build. A simple 454 with a decent cam and some decent heads will make it plenty fast. My buddies just had a junk yard 454 in his Nova and it went mid 12's all day long.

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Exactly right. That, and there's a 454 available to me for $2700, that's been dynoed at 502 hp. I think that should be plenty to suffice. Unfortunately, time and money are against me, so I can't turn this into as much of a project car as I would really like.
Selling the GST was kind of out of the question, because I need a daily driver while the Nova is in the shop. That, and I'm not ready to leave the DSM world quite yet. Besides...I see a certain appeal in having one car to thrash ricers one day....and another car to play with domestics on other days....haha.

Also...more of a tech question: If i was to want to install either an aftermarket speedometer, or even the speedometer cluster from a different vehicle, anyone know what would be involved, or how hard it would be? Maybe I should put this in the tech section.....I just know the dash of the '73 nova only has a speedometer and a fuel gauge. Rather.....lacking in information.

Hopefully this won't be considered bumping...just thought i'd thrown in some pictures of the tires my wife picked up for the car.....

boostedinaz said:

I believe they are balanced differently and it would be point less. YOu can get more cubes for less money now adays. He could be cruisein around with a 572 or even a 620.

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454 is externally balanced and 427 is internally balanced. All you do is replace the vibration dampner.

Show me where I can find a stock block that can be bored and stroked to 572. You're talking about a dart, merlin, or other aftermarket block now.

boostedinaz said:

This is old school also. You can pick up a crank with 350 main journal size but with a longer stroke for 250.00 bucks. Or you can go crazy and pick a Scat crank for about 800 and it will laugh at anything you throw at it.

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You're paying way too much for the 400 crank. I have 1250 in my 385 including ported heads with 2.05/1.60 valves, scat steel crank, forged pistons/rods.

Anyway, you can't get "the same power of a big block from a 383" unless you have lots of work done (read $$$$), enough compression, and a big nasty cam. My current 454 build will have near 500lb/ft of torque off idle, with a nice straight line from 2000-4000.

badbu68 said:

454 is externally balanced and 427 is internally balanced. All you do is replace the vibration dampner.

Show me where I can find a stock block that can be bored and stroked to 572. You're talking about a dart, merlin, or other aftermarket block now.

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dont forget the flez plate or flywheel, those will be different from external and internal.

I never said he could do it with a stock block. It wont have the deck height or bore requirments for those sizes. Depending on how big he may need to raise the cam location also. Eithery way he already said he is going budget.

badbu68 said:

You're paying way too much for the 400 crank. I have 1250 in my 385 including ported heads with 2.05/1.60 valves, scat steel crank, forged pistons/rods.

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Im not actually becasue I would never buy a 400 crank. That is what my post was saying, you can buy a decent crank that already has the same size journals as a 350 for cheap. That and the Scat crank I was talking about is forged not cast.

badbu68 said:

Anyway, you can't get "the same power of a big block from a 383" unless you have lots of work done (read $$$$), enough compression, and a big nasty cam. My current 454 build will have near 500lb/ft of torque off idle, with a nice straight line from 2000-4000.

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With torque like that and such a low redline, it sounds like an old 472/500 Caddy motor. If I can ever finish the Talon they I can get back to putting a 500 cube Caddy in it.

So...considering that there's a lot of different generations of 454s and 2 bolt/4 bolt versions, is there a certain one I need to be looking for, or certain benefits?

boostedinaz said:

dont forget the flez plate or flywheel, those will be different from external and internal.

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Actually no they are not. And besides, you can internally balance a 454 as well.

With torque like that and such a low redline, it sounds like an old 472/500 Caddy motor. If I can ever finish the Talon they I can get back to putting a 500 cube Caddy in it.

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That was not the redline, I'm just saying the torque curve is a nice flat line from 2000-4000, then it starts to fall off. It can rev to 6500, but it won't need to go over 5500.

Well...the wife decided to start talking to me again, and sent me some pics of the new tires, installed....just if anyone was interested in an update. I think they turned out pretty good, for me not being there to do any measurements or anything

badbu68 said:

Actually no they are not. And besides, you can internally balance a 454 as well.

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They are different. If you buy a felx plate for an externally balanced motor it wqill have weight on it. If you buy one for an internally balanced motor it will not have the weight.

New project is dead before it took off. Family just hit some financial problems (mixed with an impending divorce) and so the nova is off to the chopping block. Selling it, that is. Going to put it on craigslist...maybe ebay...see if anyone wants it....or feels like supporting a Marine. Guess i'll have to wait till another day, before I get some crazy muscle car.....
Just thought I'd put in a final update, for whoever had been interested in this. Thanks all, for the suggestions, maybe I can put them to use some other time.

well thats too bad. i LOVE chevy Novas. SEXY cars... But if i were to own one, id go with the 454 big block, and a 671 blower. now THATS a car. I love trubo's and DSM's, but there is nothing like the torque of a muscle car.

Well....as previously mentioned, a 454 was going to go in it. Maybe whoever picks it up will get the same idea and have fun with it. Just so long as i don't run into them and get smoked.

Rollin5stonE said:

next time sell the gst, use the money to swap in a 383 stroker, and lay ricers out all night long

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My pops my bro and I built up my dads 73 malibu, 383 stroker, and a .500 lift cam.... almost dies when it idles. He put down 445 horse in the lead sled. It's sitting in the back though, my bro crashed the front end bad when he got nailed by a drunk off duty cop. My dad is swapping out the stroker for a 504BB and a ATI procharger 18s up front and 20's in the back, bagged and shaved (this is his plan, he started new body work yesterday, so it'll be done in 3 years) I was throwing the 383 in my datsun Z but I sold the car instead.

Anyways Have lots of fun

the first picture it looks like a truck. Nice find and ride.

I'm glad I'm not the only DSMer who also likes domestics. I have quite the odd couple: A 98 LS1 Z28 H/C/Nitrous, and a 96 GS-T that is basically my showcar.