BBC build help

Hey all,  im new to the forum and a first time BBC buider.  I have a few questions bouncing around in my skull that I can't seem to find answers for.  I have a 454 i purchased from a co-worker,  all machine work complete,  most of the pieces are there,  and bored .060.  I checked the casting # online (10114182) and turned up '92 Gen. V 4bolt main.  I checked a couple sites,  some listed it as tall deck,  others did not.  Any ways to figure that out myself,  and any advantages or dis-advantages to the tall deck?  The heads that came with it had a casting # of 10101140,  turned up '91&up oval,  closed,  Gen. V  366tall deck & 427tall deck...leads me to believe the block is a tall deck.  This is an old industrial motor,  probably the reason for the smaller heads.  Will these heads make good torque down low,  or should I look into something meant for the 454?  This is going into my 1967 C-20,  with a TH-350 and 411 gears.  My goal is a cruiser,  expecting tow and haul,  with of course occasional strip runs.  I'm looking for a nice torque curve in the lower end of the rpm range,  and not expecting more than 5000-5500 rpm at max.  I am looking at summits cam lineup,  undecided on the intake,  the carb i am thinking about a q-jet (have a friend who re-builds them in his spare time so they will be cheap and easily available)  Any help is appreciated!  

I would more than likely go with something other than a g-jet. Maybe a holly or demon. And the torque might be to much for a TH350, a TH400 will be better. and the heads should be good, you could open the ports up and gasket match them.  

already begun to gasket match and radius the short side turn in my spare time,  i have a pretty new edelbrock performer 600cfm but thought that might not take in quite enough airflow,  another reason i was looking at the q-jet was for the small primarys to save a little mpg's when im just crusing,  (ya I know thats an oxymoron with a big block) i know a well tuned q-jet will make good power...there is a TH-400 in the bed of this truck with a shift kit already instaled,  needs 2nd gear rebuilt though...my dad threw 2nd showing off the 350 in there with a full load in the bed 19years ago  

ok before you start the carb wars with your self and tost a motor like I did my first time there in a formula to go buy when selecting a carb.
(cid * max rpms / 3456) * VE% = carb CFM  This will help chose your carb
What I come up with is a 750 CFM carb. I dont think the Q-jet will cut it. But may by with 2 Q-jets and a duel carb intake. And you can have the bast of both worlds. I tried that on my first motor and ended up toasting it. with what your talking about doing to it anyway with the 4.11 gears, it going into a truck, with a 3 speed trans, and an other than stock cam. You might get about 10 MPG 12 on highway. Thats what the factory SS Silverado's had in the late 80's.

the 400 trans is the ticket. you can get replacment parts everywhere for them. the shift kit is a plus.

best of luck to you  

Giving the information I listed above,  you see I have a 454 bored .060 giving me 468 of cid.  I also stated 5000-5500 max rpm's,  so I run up your equasion...468*5500(being generous)/3456 now we need to multiply by volumetric effeciency...745cfm is all that this shows for 100% ve,  and you are telling me a gasket matched set of 427 stock heads are going to produce 100%ve in a 468ci motor?  Run the carb formula for a 350,  i know you have seen magazine articles strapping a 750cfm carb to a 350 and pulling good results,  they wouldnt put it on there if the 750 wouldnt make them power,  according to that equasion the 350 would need to be running 7500rpms to need that 750 at 100%ve.  I can believe they are running 100%ve or close to it,  but 7500rpms is a push,  more often then not the dyno results show 6500.  You don't think the q-jet wil cut the 750 cfm you came up with?  Take 15mins out of your day to look back in time here,  research the q-jet and you will find in its stock form the smallest q-jet placed ontop a small block was 750cfm...SMALLEST.  Doesn't make sense to you why they would put a 750cfm q-jet on a stock 350 that maybe needed 500cfm to get around,  if it was lucky... vacuume secondaries.  The q-jet was built with small primarys to improve mpg's,  they made vacuume secondaries so you can stick them on a little 305 and the secondaries will never open so the motor is never over-carb'd.  You could stick the same q-jet on a 454,  the secondaries will open when they are needed by the motor,  so the 454 will not be under-carb'd.  In the future please learn about something before telling me its a bad choice.  

almost forgot,  considering my 350 ran in the same truck with the same tranny and rear end and tires and weight and aerodynamics at 10mpg on the hwy,  i dont think the 454 is going to get 12,  but hey what do i know anyways after all "i love my chevette"

mpg isn't a big concern,  obviously,  but i'd like the most mpg i can get for the power i want  

you can put a lower gear in it and make up for the MPG if you what and still get good performance.  

I think the q jet carb is a great idea that is all I use on every thing from 502 down the small primaries keep the air moving fast at low speeds. Most important is to have it professionally calibrated for your engine. I use shean merphy induction he builds all of my carbs and i have had exellent results. If you have a tall deck the off the shelf intakes will need spacers, and you have to have a special distributer otherwise it is not a tall deck. With a big block the lowest gear you need is a 3.73 because of the massive torque BBC make.  

well corcor67 seems like you know everything why do you need us. was just trying to help.  

that does sound a bit rude when i read it back...well a bit rude is an understatement,  more like the d word...pretty sure you cant say that on here...working 80+ hrs a week with an idiot for help and a newborn at home must be getting to me,  i know you were just giving your opinion,  and to each their own,  i appreciate the advice and i apologize for being so harsh with my words...

the truck already has 411s installed and im on a pretty tight budget right now,  i have decided on a fairly mild roller cam,  483 lift and 224@.050 duration i believe,  i was wrong on the tranny,  its a th400 i have been using too (havent seen her in a while) so i have an operational th400 for current use untill i can afford to repair the one with the shift kit,  i might have to get different pistons to up the compression a bit,  the ones i have are dished,  considering a 496 if the crank isnt too expensive but the original is still useable if needed...thanks for the advice guys...  

hey do you have any pics of the engine i can tell ya if its a tall deck or not i just built one. with the water pump on it will be almost flush with the top of the cylinder block if its not a tall deck but if it is a tall deck it will be just under 1/2 an inch away. hope this helps  

i just heard about that last night,  measured it its 1/8" from the deck so it is a short deck with tall deck heads