Help with 454 decision, picking up today.

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metal tech

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yes gotta search by vehicle that came with bbc. If you use year 1980 C30 and select engine, it should give you a menu to pick from. Then pick your area, I use Southwest as it covers Oklahoma, then pick $$. Once you hit search it will also show other years related to a 454. You have to search the GMT 400 trucks (1988-1999) separately. You need to narrow down which version BBC you want MK 4,5,6. For me either 4 or 6 as the MKV has some quirks to it.
I didn't see where in the US you live so I can't help search.
 

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yes gotta search by vehicle that came with bbc. If you use year 1980 C30 and select engine, it should give you a menu to pick from. Then pick your area, I use Southwest as it covers Oklahoma, then pick $$. Once you hit search it will also show other years related to a 454. You have to search the GMT 400 trucks (1988-1999) separately. You need to narrow down which version BBC you want MK 4,5,6. For me either 4 or 6 as the MKV has some quirks to it.

The 88-99 trucks had TBI big blocks right? I'm wanting to stick to carbureted. Or were the blocks all the same? How do I know what MK version a block is?

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metal tech

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https://www.mortec.com/bbc.htm

this list has MK IV, Gen V, Gen VI. GM changed the MK designation to GEN designation, what is important is IV, V, VI.
TBI to carb is a manifold, carb and fuel pump change away. I think Gen V has no provision for mechanical fuel pump. You need to research which MK/Gen is best for your goals.
 

deve05

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yes gotta search by vehicle that came with bbc. If you use year 1980 C30 and select engine, it should give you a menu to pick from. Then pick your area, I use Southwest as it covers Oklahoma, then pick $$. Once you hit search it will also show other years related to a 454. You have to search the GMT 400 trucks (1988-1999) separately. You need to narrow down which version BBC you want MK 4,5,6. For me either 4 or 6 as the MKV has some quirks to it.
I didn't see where in the US you live so I can't help search.
I live in Apopka FL, just north of Orlando FL.

As for the website, I don't see a c30 option listed for 1980. There is a suburban 30 option but it comes back empty.

Here's some pictures, so you can tell me if I'm doing something wrong.
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metal tech

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going farther down the list you come to "Chevy Truck 20 series (1988 down)= Squarebody trucks, 30 series truck is the 1tons. "select part" = Engine
 

deve05

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going farther down the list you come to "Chevy Truck 20 series (1988 down)= Squarebody trucks, 30 series truck is the 1tons. "select part" = Engine
Dude you are awesome. I got it now. My dumb ass didn't think to keep going down the list and search for "truck" I assumed they'd be alphabetically ordered by model, so I was looking for "C30" by the "C" lol thank you, several results came up.

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deve05

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going farther down the list you come to "Chevy Truck 20 series (1988 down)= Squarebody trucks, 30 series truck is the 1tons. "select part" = Engine
These are the options I'm seeing close to home. That top one from a motor home looks appealing, but I'm assuming I'd have no way to know if it's a 2 bolt or 4 bolt, or if it's a tall or standard deck, or if it's damaged without going and taking it apart right?
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metal tech

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last tidbit for today. MK IV was made until 1991, then came Gen V 1991-1995/6 (has no mechanical fuel pump provision), Gen VI started in 1996 has mech fuel pump and roller cam stock. This came from Wikipedia, so put eyes on part to verify what it is, as you have experienced some folks be clueless. Don't forget Pull-A-Part if you got one in the area. If you pull the plugs and can rotate crank with breaker bar, it's not locked up. Usually the more severe the application the more likely the 4 bolt main. I check the oil when I shop, if it's like chocolate milk it's had water in the oil? cracked block, cracked head, or hear gasket. I would expect to have to redo everything inside the engine. The tall truck blocks have extra metal above the water pump, if you do a google search I'm sure you can find a pic showing the dif.
 
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bucket

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454's we're standard deck. 366 and 427 were tall deck and found in the 50/60/70 series medium duty trucks.
 

HotRodPC

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There is such thing as a standard deck 427 also. Same block as a 454 actually. Like the Large journal 327 being the same block as the 350.
 

bucket

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There is such thing as a standard deck 427 also. Same block as a 454 actually. Like the Large journal 327 being the same block as the 350.

Yeah, but you aren't going to find a car 427 on car-part.com, lol. If you do find one in a junkyard, it would be wise to play the lottery that very same day!
 

HotRodPC

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Yeah, but you aren't going to find a car 427 on car-part.com, lol. If you do find one in a junkyard, it would be wise to play the lottery that very same day!
That part is certainly true. If you're die hard hell bent on a 427, you'd have better luck using a 454 block and sourcing an aftermarket crank.
 

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Why not a 396 or 427 crank?
 

HotRodPC

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Why not a 396 or 427 crank?
Yes, a 396 or BBC 400 aka 402 crank is the same stroke as a 427, so if you put that in a 454 block, you'd have a standard deck passneger car 427.
 

metal tech

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all good points guys. I only mentioned how to visually recognize a tall deck block from std deck, as in his original post the seller had 2 "454's", one of which is clearly a sbc, look at the lifter bores on the orange block. You just don't know who has swapped what into anything, you need to know what to look for to hopefully prevent a bad buy.
 

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