Hi everyone,

First time poster here - I've been working on a Glen-L rampage for a few years now and am finally ready to get some iron in it! Apologies if you see this exact same post on similar forums...I'm trying to cover my bases, of course. I have also done some extensive searching on this forum and others to get an idea of everything, but I'd rather get some specific feedback on my application / thoughts before I pull the trigger, if that makes sense.

Some quick background - it's a 20', 1000lb hull, with an SD-309, performance intake (shoe/ride plate), and AA impeller. See below pics on current progress. I'm pretty committed to a 454/496 - I know, I know, a ford or olds will be better to half of you, but I'm a chevy guy and already own chevy mounts / accessories. Lightning water jacketed headers as I can't run twisties on my lake, and I'd like the build to spin my pump at 5k for the next ten years on pump gas without worry...so a dead nuts reliable 550 hp is what I'm looking for. Experience wise this is my first V8 build, but not my first engine and as a mechanical engineer by training I should be a pretty quick learner.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

-454 block, 4 bolt mains, junkyard.
-Eagle or Scat stroker kit - scat only offers a 489 but if they're head and shoulders over eagle I don't mind loosing 7 ci.
-AFR or Brodix aluminium oval port heads, ~275 cc runner volume, with chamber matched to above pistons to get me around 9.5 - 10:1 CR
-Victor Jr or RPM Air Gap intake
-Holley 850 Double Pumper - likely the marine version as it's a wooden boat and I'd rather be safe than sorry, though the engine is definitely sitting loud and proud in the open.

Notably absent of course is my cam choice...I'm pretty dead set on a hydraulic roller and I need to worry about reversion from the wet exhaust (water *jacketed*, not injected, but the water ends up in the pipe down stream anyways)...otherwise I am all ears!

Please tear me to shreds and tell me I'm out to lunch - I'm not here to feel good about myself, I'm here to learn. And of course, if you guys have any questions or want to see more pics, just ask - and otherwise thank you all very much for the help!

Cheers,

Denon

Absolutely beautiful!

Is the intake set and the engine mounted?

Do you have any pictures of the keel and intake opening?

I would not waste any effort on trying to make bottom end torque.  Not only will a jet boat not take advantage of it, it could actually be detrimental to your launch.  You won't have so much trouble with a AA impeller, but...

To give you an idea, here are actual measured horsepower numbers to turn a frontside (properly) detailed AA:

3500 - 173.5
4000 - 259.0
4500 - 368.8
5000 - 505.9

Pass on the dual plane.  Optimize your cam, heads, and induction to your displacement and your target RPM of 5K.

Don't be afraid of a little compression.  Taylor your compression ratio to the requirements of the cam.  Shoot for a dynamic compression ratio in the 8.25:1 neighborhood, set your quench distance at <.055", and let your static compression fall where it may.  You can only mill so much from the heads, don't start with the wrong pistons.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers,

Joe

Hey Joe, Dan'l,

Thanks for the quick responses guys! See pics of the intake at the end of the post - hopefully I didn't screw it up    I should add that I also have "Turbine Trim" i.e. a place diverter from AT, with the red nozzle insert.

In terms of the DCR I'm guessing 8.25 will kick me into the 91 range, which is alright I suppose as I can actually get that on the lake if need be. I'm not 100% on quench distance - do you mind explaining a little more on what it does, how I control it, etc?

Dan'l, was that 8.99:1 dynamic or static? Otherwise that actually looks like a slightly milder version of my wish list in terms of heads and exhaust, though presumably it all comes down to the cam anyways. Thanks for the great comparison as that's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.

Cheers,

Denon

8.99 is race gas territory? Better tell my motor that... Always ran good ol 87 octane through it.

I had the timing at 36*  +/-, too. I could get it to ping at 38*+ .

Water temp at 130* or so.

Daniel

Hey all,

Apologies for my extremely late reply - for some reason the e-mail notifications stopped coming through. Having done a decent amount of research of the winter, I'm pretty sure I've got a good handle on dynamic vs static compression, quench, etc. The oly two questions I have left at this point are:

1) Is it better to build from scratch, or rebuild / upgrade an old 454 that's lying around cheap? I'm trying to be as frugal as possible but by the time I've changed out rotating assembly, heads, intake, cam, etc...I feel like I'll barely be saving anything by rebuilding instead of starting from scratch.

2) In terms of exhaust I've narrowed my choices down to the basset through transom water injected headers, and the lightning marine water jacketed headers. The basset look much nicer (chrome instead of flat black, way longer and curvier primaries)...but I'm terrified of reversion, and having hot headers in a wood boat. Thoughts?

Now that the ice is almost gone I should be able to start making some more progress on the boat itself, and will of course update with pics accordingly!

Thanks,

Denon

Hey Joe,

Thanks for all the advice - I've actually seen quite a few of your other posts in all of the research I've done and it's much appreciated to have someone lend a helping hand!

I'm leaning towards sticking at 30 over for now, if for no other reason than to extend the rebuild life. As I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on everything though, I'm running into a few cost cutting decisions - namely to do with the block and crank. If I run ARP studs, is a 2 bolt mains good enough? They're a dime a dozen in my area...and 4 bolt are exceedingly rare and priced to match. It'd be cheaper to get a new block right from GMPP.

Similarly, on balancing (external vs internal) and crank material (cast vs forged), the savings to be had are very real. I know I'm not really pushing things too much in terms of power or speed at 550 hp @ 5500 rpm, ish, but I do want the thing to run reliably for a very long time. Would you say I'm being paranoid / overbuilding it by asking for a 4-bolt, with a forged crank that's internally balanced? And if so, what order would you drop them in to save cash (i.e. get rid of the balancing, but keep the forged crank and 4-bolt mains, vs dropping the 4-bolt but using a balanced forged crank, etc).

Thanks!

Denon