HOW TO: MAKE 300 HP, 400 HP & 500 HP WITH PEANUT PORT BBC HEADS (HUMBLE JUNKYARD GEN V 454 )

CAN YOU MAKE 500 HP WITH PEANUT PORT BBC 454 HEADS? CAN YOU REALLY MAKE 500 HP WITH THE WORST POSSIBLE JUNKYARD BBC HEAD EVER PRODUCED? MAYBE THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT QUESTION, BUT CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO ON THE DIFFERENT BBC 454 (468) COMBOS I USED TO MAKE OVER 300 HP, OVER 400 HP AND THEN OVER 500 HP USING THE LOWLY PEANUT PORT HEADS. AS ALWAYS, THE BIG BLOCK CHEVY COMBINATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS, BUT IT'S ALWAYS EASIER WHEN YOU START WITH A BIG BLOCK!

[acemobile]

The middle combination would make a cracking fun street motor. Torque for days right where you need it.

[shootermcgavin]

As a Big Block Chevy fan, this is a treasure video. Much knowledge to take in about the bad talked peanut port heads. Over 500hp without porting confirmed 👍🏻

[mikebell]

This was an eye opening video. I've read that peanut heads are no good for "decent" power (whatever that might be), but I don't recall seeing any definitive testing done to determine how much CAN be made. If you can get 550# ft with a set of peanut ports, why do you need to buy new heads? Depends on the desired application, and that one would be great in a truck that needs midrange power. Thanks for testing.

[raisinracinbrealynn]

I got a 90 454 bored . 030 over, peanut port with port job and milled, flat top pistons, Comp 280h cam, long tube headers, torker2 intake( I think.) Sadly it's never been fired up yet. Started raising a grandbaby, niece and helping the in-laws out. Got several projects that stopped or slowed down. Can't wait to get the Ole Rat in Something. Great Video.

[jakewade]

Now this is my kind of content! Glad to get a break from turbos even if they are cool.

[armandomendoza]

That torque at 3500 rpm makes a difference when towing up a hill. That combination is nice. Thank you Richard.

[TheFarCobra]

It would be interesting to see the AFR’s with the 268H. To see if the peanut ports (or how much) are holding even the milder cam back. I agree with you that it would also be interesting to see a peanut port head with some work and the 268 ... maybe even an “amateur” porting job vs “pro” ... but really it would probably be more interesting to just see the “what you might do in your garage” porting (some bowl work, maybe some short turn and radius work* at the gasket.

*Vizard did some work on this, just radiusing the port inlet vs. port matching.

[jeremyjmailloux]

Would love to see a "ultimate tow pig engine combo". Something that makes gobs of torque from idle to a redline of like 4500rpm. 👍

[speedytech]

Great timing Richard, this is exactly the setup I'm currently building right down to the cam grind (Comp 268), I've hand ported the peanut heads and I'm having a bottom end build with .030 over pistons to raise the compression to 9.3:1 (since I want boost later on without running exotic fuels).

[shadvan]

I am running a slightly different combo. mine is a 396 with the large factory oval port heads. 9.4
: compression. 2.19 intake 1.88 exhaust. Mild bowl and chamber clean up, to match the bigger valves, but no real port work. 2inch headers, performer rpm intake, I a, running the old comp cams extremely marine 276HR cam. Runs 11.8 on drag radials in my 71 camaro 4 speed. So i figure is pushing 520ish HP. But It’s a hell on street tires. It will melt my 265/50r15 bfg’s all day long if you are not light on the throttle in first gear.

[derrelcarter]

Nice, I remember a build that Bryce Mulvey did for Someone at Westech with a C2 Corvette. 480ish inches, his fully ported 049 big valve heads, a fully ported old school (stealthy) C396 spread bore intake and a built Q Jet from some former Super Stock racer he worked with at Carrillo(?) Made around 640ish hp and 589ish tq. Very Impressive for such an outwardly Stealthy street combo!

[stevefranklin]

Thanks! You just gave me the combo info I am looking for for my Gen IV 454 ! I'm going for the 450 HP combo!

[bluecollarhotrods]

Pretty much said what I was thinking at the conclusion. The last combination with a slightly smaller hydraulic roller, and put the dual plane back on... should still make 500 HP, and get back a bunch of low speed TQ. I hit a few road blocks with my Gen 5/6 hybrid, cracked cylinder head, but I have a replacement on the way. Hopefully get this thing together over the next few months. I need to find valve springs to work with my mild hydraulic roller cam swap. That's the next problem I have to solve.

[novaguy]

My nova has a bbc in it, swapped from a truck and it has the peanut ports. I put a jegs dual plane on it and im thinking of having the heads ported to match the intake for better flow and a good valve job put on it. Not sure what cam id like to run yet, id love to have a chop monster cause that sound is the best thing in the world! The car isn't used for much, occasional car cruise, burnout contests, but id like to be able to take it down the strip as a "Street car" as well. Not to concerned about drivability, enough I can get it to town (8 miles, further than that it'll get trailered) but with burnouts and some strip use the motor is gonna live most its life in the upper 5k rpms probably. Just trying to not spend a bunch of money, racing for me is the enjoyment, not trying to win.

[HOCKENBERGER]

NICE!!! Bitd my step-dad had some great cars, and I was fortunate enough to drive them. One was a 66 Vette vert with AC and full options. Factory side pipes 427/390 & 4 speed. At the same time he also had a 13k mile 66 Hemi Satellite 4 speed. The lowly oval port hydraulic cam Rat SMOKED that Mopar like it was parked. The Vette would spin the redlines in first through 3rd like it was nothing. I've always been more of a torque guy since then. Yesterday I scored a pair of 90 454 peanut ports at my local u pull junkyard. Last month my friend Joe gave me a 73 454 4 bolt std bore block and 427/396 steel crank. I'm most likely gonna look for a 4" crank but if not I'll do 390 horse pistons and that 268 grind. Then, I need an 65/68/69/70 Impala or maybe a Nova for it. Rat power Forever!!!

[stlchucko]

Eat a peanut every time he says “Peanut”.

[JAK]

I appreciate this info so much being that im building both a Gen5 and Gen6 454 . The Gen6 im stroking out to a 496 and shooting for 700-800hp for my 94' C1500 build. For the Gen5 i wanted to build it up but on a smaller budget as I wanted a more streetable ride for my 01' Sierra single cab since im going to be using it daily. I think the 380hp/485htq combination matched with the heads of the Gen6 would be perfect for what im trying to achieve with it. Richard is definitely my "go to" when im trying to figure out what the hell im doing lol. Thanks for the time and effort you go through to give us these great ideas/combinations .

[jimjungle]

I found the BBC Stealth intake to actually have runners too large to flow well and the BBC Performer RPM does much better, but on a Ford 5.0 / 302, the Stealth flows better and the RPM runners are larger than ideal.

[msh]

Hogging out the peanut ports to match a large oval gasket might be the answer. A fair amount of material would need to be removed but, might allow the high torque numbers to be retained. Would also allow a slightly bigger duration cam to be used. Maybe 230 @ .050 or slightly higher. Keeping a tighter LSA would help maintain higher torque too.

[monty]

Casting numbers 049 and 781 are considered to be among the best flowing oval port BBC heads. With port work and big valves (2.19/1.88), these heads can easily make over 600 hp on a 454 with low compression. Of course, that's dependant on getting the right roller cam and induction set up.