Rebuilding A 454 Big Block For The Grocery-Getter Wagon - Horsepower S1, E11

We fix up the grocery-getter and re-build the 454 big block with a trip to the machine shop and our own shop with a high-performance re-build kit. Then, we fire it up on our live engine test stand. Then we show you some Horsepower mishaps with behind the scenes bloopers.
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[@MrBoondocker247]

I sure do miss Chuck and Joe as a team.

[@kinotransam]

So many memories! This was the first episode I had seen when I was just a youngster. It's amazing how long this show has lasted over the years.

[@Towardrisk]

Me too, something inside me recently wanted to hear the optimistic cadence of their instructions, see the bright-clean-spacious shop, and completed projects

[@tkskagen]

I swear that I have been enjoying this show originally on national syndicated TV since the early 1990's. Reruns just allow me relive those early days!

[@TRACKMKIII]

This brings back memories! I have been watching this show in one form or another since the 90s.

[@BigUnk85]

Would've been cool to see a dyno session from that 454 😎

[@user-qs4ti1bh6e]

Used to watch these guys every Sunday morning back in the 90's. Thanks for the video, vood stuff indeed!👌

[@Aduskett]

Haha i love these older videos. They painted the exhaust ports!

[@VinceGuzman]

Glad that i get to rewatch the episode of horsepower tv that i never saw on tv

[@joshuaasbill3131]

I loved how these guys always had clean hands but were always wiping them with a shop rag.

[@mcesarey]

Chrome engine parts were so cool at one time....so awesome to have a chrome oil pan!

[@sethmaki1333]

Holy crap, the old The Nashville Network. Before it became SpikeTV.

[@alertgasper]

thanks for that, I couldn't remember the original name

[@josephmayotte8879]

Now, that is what I called a station wagon with real power

[@tonyt8805]

Joe and Chuck was the show back in the day! 😎 💯 😎

[@andrewgalindo6959]

The outtakes would have been better if the sound wouldn't have disappeared.

[@Scubasteve22]

You can tell by how hard chuck is banging on that piston, those rings are as thick as coke bottles! lol

[@juanlanda2441]

Is this what is known as peanut ports?. . And im glad to see that you can build good power from stock heads and rocker arms 👍

[@bruceperron3796]

Spent 1100 bucks having a set of heads for my 68 427,my K kit came from Summit came with springs,retainers,keepers,hat the shop get my valves,had harded seats installed,surfaced,if I had it to do again I would have bought some heads.

[@randallflagg3729]

Man I do miss these guys

[@kevinhutton103]

Hello all, I have always wondered how things like how the engine gaskets and baring's are made ?

[@DayRider76]

I built my first engine when I was 12. Learned it from a VHS. 69 boss 302. My uncle set up for me. Now I build the engines that put food on the shelves. 48 years old, and I still haven't built my own engine?

[@davidhimeback9087]

The add clips are nice, glad they decided to redo an then add the voice..

[@kleimbach77]

So they put on stock rocker arms? Roller rockers don't cost that much

[@barryhebert5839]

So was the rings pre gaped or do you not have to gap rings that come in a rebuild kit

[@Hyprmtr]

They didn't put any lube on the new cam lobes.

[@jimmieroan9881]

great video, but i see the biggest mistake most amateur builders make. i was lucky enough growing up in the car world that my best and oldest friend was one of the best engine builder in the area im from. when he agreed to build my first race only engine years ago, and teach me, the first item he had me buy was a set of engine cleaning brushes. every step on the engine from machine shop to bottom tapping to chamfering holes etc that block was washed with hot soapy water, every opening and hole was washed over and over. one of the most important parts of good engine building or rebuilding is clean, the room should be as clean as a paint booth. you would be surprised what a speck of metal dust will do to a bearing or piston. i have several friends in the engine business and several of them rely on the hot tanks and dipping, but a pro builder will always clean by hand with brushes, make a call and ask one if you doubt it. this will add lots of mileage to any engine.

[@Shade_tree_garage01]

Old wives tale, you don’t need a spotless place to build an engine, you just need to be clean when building it.

[@albertgaspar627]

Respectfully to both of you...if NASCAR uses clean shops to build, they must be doing something the right way. a messy engine will hopefully disgorge its garbage into the oil filter when there's enough oil pressure, but honestly it's not hard to assemble an engine in a clean garage if you own one. At least these guys aren't sanding down the bearings, people "monkey see monkey do" and sand away because someone told them, but are obviously clueless how a bearing works--its soft enough to absorb debris to avoid scratching the crank, and here they are sanding away at it. If you want to remove shipping chemicals, use another chemical. I've had plenty of old timers sneer about "how they did it", and then we get to talking and they talk about how often an engine they built "Went down"...but of course, it was never their fault. it was the machine shop, the cheap parts they bought, etc. and don't clean with gasoline either--if you ever pull a carb and still smell the gas, that's residue you're smelling and guess what...that means it's not clean. that said, the big mistake i see here is, stab your cam in before dropping in the crank. it's a lot easier to reach into the crankcase and guide it past the bearings.

[@pelonDmZ]

Lol hey you got ahead of me 😂 That no challenge lol Slept 🛌 the look on his face

[@WOODSIDEtheGUY]

Where it all started for me

[@maynardreed4036]

Chuck and joe were the best.

[@motakitty]

They didn't bend the tabs on the bolts for the camshaft.

[@reginofung6028]

1.35 minutes. The old engine has square port intake gasket on round port heads ???

[@joe-hp4nk]

I wouldn't have those guys work on my engine ever, good lord.

[@nolimitmaster7600]

Used to love this show when I was a kid but the way he dropped that crank in made me cringe so bad

[@COBRO98]

@@nolimitmaster7600 He didn't drop the crank at all.. you armchair mechanics exaggerate so much

[@crawford323]

Suggestion along the lines of this video: I have a '73 LS4 454 Corvette. I do not want to remove the engine but I do want to upgrade the cam with a roller cam of moderate performance. The hood clearance limits the height of the intake but a modern intake and a new carb is on the list. This car was born October 9, 1972 and has no air pump nor EGR valve. It slipped in before the regulations but fell the low compression of 8.5:1. Not looking for a lot of horsepower but 275 is anemic but the torque at 390 is plenty. So what can we do modernize this engine while in the vehicle? I will be replacing the radiator and adding electrical fan cooling. Suggest away please oh car wizards.

[@hayden6056]

I personally if doing and in car top end would either just get the heads milled for extra compression with correct springs and leak checked. Or preferably ally. On milled heads , stockish gears and not too nasty converter a cam around 220-230 @ .050 .520-550 106-110 LSA. It'll tree stump pull and be good for 5500 rpm. 230-240 108-110 LSA .600-650" lift if manual with gears or willing to put a bit of a converter and 323+ gears. Pulling to 6-6200 Measure up to see if an rpm air gap will work with a drop base cleaner. Mid range rockers would be good too.

[@crawford323]

@@hayden6056 Fantastic information. Thank you very much.

[@crawford323]

I will have to tip my hand and admit no knowledge of the "air gap" you speak of.

[@hayden6056]

@@crawford323 edelbrock does two rpm manifolds the air gap has a gap between the base and the plane for cool air to get through and it breathes a bit better up top. There site states doesn't fit under corvette hood though just looked. Neither does their standard performer so I can't help you on what intake manifold to run as they're normal performer isn't that tall. It looks like they do a torker 2 , LS 6 remake and a new brodix pancake that can fit with stock hoods.

[@crawford323]

@@hayden6056 yes I didn't expect an intake aftermarket to fit. Thanks for the explanation.

[@cromaticdragon5079]

Those guys giggle more than little girls and flex their eyebrows like lifting weights

[@396375a]

Gunpowder & Gasoline, HorsePower TV, what's next??? Same old videos!!!

[@edwinjamessutphin3361]

84 454 c4 corvette

[@pelonDmZ]

11:43 😂

[@mikewhite8170]

That’s still under $2000 that not bad..

[@scottray666]

Why oh why didn't they put the blower back on the car

[@bmstylee]

You really don't want to put boost to it right after a fresh build as a general rule. Break it in then put the blower back on.

[@chumplinz4920]

Outtakes with the audio kind of take away from some of them.

[@dylancoppola349]

I may be retarted but wouldn't you cut the main bearings after you grind the crank to get the new size or do you take off so little it doesn't matter

[@augustoescobar50]

You use over sized bearings to take up the space 👍🏼

[@kmg-vn5zj]

No sound

[@jamesbronson8713]

I wouldn't let these guys rebuild even my lawn mower engine...

[@techs1smh13]

The out takes cussing because parts don't fit or dropped tool hit there head 😂😂😂

[@eatmorechicken1064]

This engine must have been worn out. The 454 only made 330whp with a blower.

[@dasboot9471]

$500 in machine work 20 years ago

[@markusgentry1548]

no need to change the valve seats all big block chevys had hardened valve seats

[@jimjoe9945]

60's big blocks didn't have hardened seats.

[@markusgentry1548]

@@jimjoe9945 396s did

[@markusgentry1548]

never seen any that didnt , have a all original 66 396 at the house had never been opened up n it had hardened seats

[@jimjoe9945]

@@markusgentry1548 have a set of 390hp heads. Seats not hardened. Unleaded fuel didn't show up until the early 70's.

[@markusgentry1548]

@@jimjoe9945 must have a dime a dozen

[@blown572hemi]

Typical Chevrolet rod knock

[@cadillacblunt]

Damn these guys change there name more than I change underwear calm down with the rebranding every 2 years its not doing you any favors

[@dirtysoufracing6029]

Can't build big block for 600 dollars now

[@jimjoe9945]

600? They spent $1300.

[@dirtysoufracing6029]

@@jimjoe9945 still can't build one for that too

[@chriswilson433]

I still love this show, but after watching Pat, Mike or Frankie carefully clean and assemble an engine, it is hard to watch Joe and Chuck slap parts on.

[@chriswilson433]

The same goes for the machine shop they used.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

According to Babvvo and Tebbvo laws from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in entire EU and Scandinavia :-( In Germany the Green Peoples Party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on by reducing petrol stations to only one state operated central gas station per city. From 2027 on in the EU certain car spare parts will be banned too....as exhaust systems, turbo chargers and even some engine and gearbox oils...California and New York will do the same from 2027 on.... So no investments should be done in oil burning vehicles any more....:-((

[@jimjoe9945]

Germany is going back to coal due to the natural gas shortage......

[@Schlipperschlopper]

@@jimjoe9945 yeah but they force all car owners in electric

[@jimjoe9945]

@@Schlipperschlopper they are trying to force germany to go 100% green energy. How is that working? That was my point.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

@@jimjoe9945 well they force everybody with a piece of land to build a wind generator or a solar farm everybody with a house has to update the roof with photovoltaic most cant afford that those people will have to pay hig environment taxes for thei land or sell.

[@Muddinguy]

$500 on machine work? Even back then I'm not sure that's possible 🤔

[@MrThunderCunt]

I hate this channel. ALWAYS MESSING WITH THE SOUND

[@tdah8334]

Hey Check it out! This has to be the COOLEST LS and body swapped RustOmod Wagon of all time! You'll love it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3SloJ5prL2mrsk