PS be careful about building the 454 with high HP, I talked with some drag racers ( and my machinist that builds a lot of race engines) about my build and they talked me out of going much higher than 400hp in an application like ours. Reason being is those HP numbers usually require higher compression and a bigger cam, which takes away from its nice off-idle manners. i.e. it'll surge under load off idle, and it's harder to make good torque down low in the RPM range. So I went with their recommendations, kept mine at 8.5 to 1 compression and the cam they recommended, and they seem to be correct. This engine makes great vacuum, and is very strong off idle under heavy loads with no surging. It performs like a diesel, almost ~30% more torque than HP. I can get specs if you're interested.
