350 or 454?

[bigtalljohn13]

As you may know i have a '88 Chevy V20 Suburban with a 350 and TH400, and that i also have a '86 Chevy C20 Suburban with a 454 and TH400. I bought the '86 for the engine and body to swap onto my '88. Anyways, i have been doing a lot of debating on swapping engines, I'm definitely going to swap bodies. My question is how much power is enough? The suburban will not be towing anything and will not be going off road. Its going to be completely restored. I know with the 454 i can get close to 600HP with new heads, cam, intake and carb from edelbrock, and the 350 i should be able to get over 300HP with the same parts. I want it to be a bad ass truck but i don't know if 600HP is worth the money. The 454 is a 2 bolt main and I'm unsure of the 350 as of now. both motors need rebuilt so which one should i go with? My current daily driver (i wont mention the make) has 300HP stock and seems to be decent, and i have never personally driven anything with more HP than that.

 

[4thgentruck]

That all depends on if you will be using it as a daily driver or a weekend cruiser, are you concerned about mpg. If it were me I would do 454. If it was just a weekend cruiser. And the 350 for my daily driver.

 

[MrMarty51]

NEVER PUT A mouse where a "RAT" CAN PRESIDED.THATS MY MOTTO AND I`M STICKIN TOOIT.

 

[Kapdin]

GREAT MOTO

 

[bigtalljohn13]

LOL i like the motto. im not concerned about fuel mileage, it will be a weekend cruiser/ show truck. and i love the idea of "too much" HP. the only thing that concerns me about the 454 is that its a 2bolt main. from what i have researched it should be fine since it will never go beyond 5500 rpm. id love to be able to do a 4 wheel drive burn out lol

 

[4thgentruck]

Love the moto. If your not concerned about mpg. Put the big boy in there and have a sure enough cruiser. 4 wheel burnout would be cool. I wouldnt be conserned about the motor as much as i would be the trans and rear end breaking. Im doin a 400 sb in my resto.

 

[bigtalljohn13]

454 it is!!!!!!! i think im gonna go with the edelbrock top end kit 2095 $2700 from Jegs and Summit, and new transmission $1591 with torque converter (handles up to 950HP) and transfer case $1075 both from Monster Transmission. I still gotta figure out which axles and gear ratio i have. Oh and why im here, does anyone know if someone make a disc brake conversion for my 88, i can only find some for 1/2 ton.

 

[4thgentruck]

If im not mistaken and if i am someone can correct me but you can find a gm 14bolt rear axel they are pretty indestructable. You can find a late 90's 3/4 or 1 ton truck and they also have disc breaks already. Sounds like your gonna have a beast. Great choice.

 

[bigtalljohn13]

i will look into that, thank you. It is going to be a beast for sure. i have a build thread on here with lots of pix too. i think the last post on it was back in september maybe.

 

[MrMarty51]

i will look into that, thank you. It is going to be a beast for sure. i have a build thread on here with lots of pix too. i think the last post on it was back in september maybe.

wELL,drag that thread on up here,Weee wanna seee.

 

[Beatdown Z]

Bbc!!!!

 

[bucket]

I was just thinking about you yesterday, wondering if you were getting anything done on your project. Good to know it's still happening!

Good choice on the 454 too!

 

[bigtalljohn13]

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4428

That link above should be to my build thread/introduction if i did it right. I have been doing a lot of research and planning for my project since it is asking for money i don't have right now lol but i i have my 3rd interview coming up wednesday at a local food distributor and if it goes well i will have plenty of money just not time (go figure lol) Anyways i haven't done any work on it since the last post on the build thread but hopefully i will get rolling soon. i wish i was able to drive it at least but the 350 is rolling smoke out of the left bank like its nothing and has no power.

 

[Jims86]

If im not mistaken and if i am someone can correct me but you can find a gm 14bolt rear axel they are pretty indestructable. You can find a late 90's 3/4 or 1 ton truck and they also have disc breaks already. Sounds like your gonna have a beast. Great choice.

That will take care of the narrow wheel track in the rear too.

 

[bigtalljohn13]

About how much wider are the newer rear ends? and should i consider replacing the front too so it matches?