Cascade Crew

['92 camaro boss]

so i was looking more into 1 of the motors that i might be getting for my chevelle, the guy advertised it as a 396 tho he said he wasn't forsure, it was pulled from a late 70's chevy truck that the previous owner put in as a replacement motor.

i went there today to check it out some more since he pulled it.

the number's on it i found were on the back of the motor by the transmission.

one of them was 364776 and the other was D 12 77. and next to that stamped was "Marine" so it was an old boat motor correct?

as for the numbers i looked up on multiple sites and all of them say it's a 427, but then 1 site said it was a 454. can anyone help clarify this for me and explain to me what it means by "Tall-Deck" all sites referred to to it as being one.

[chevymad]

Medium duty truck motors are tall deck. It means the sides of the block where the cylinders are are longer. Trucks used a 4 ring piston instead of a 3. This accomodates that. You can use one, but they have several problems. Worst problem is they take up too much room. It will be a tight fit into most cars. Can be done, but will take some fabrication. Next a normal intake manifold won't fit. Because the cylinders are taller the block is wider.. and thus requires a different intake, or they make spacers to go with a normal intake.. twice the gaskets, twice the chance to leak. 3d problem is because the intake is higher they require a special distributor with a longer shaft.

All this makes parts harder to find, require fabrication skill, belt systems don't fit right. Everythings built for a heavy duty truck instead of performance.

The good things are they usually have a steel crank and are 4 bolt main. But unless you're pushing a bb to really high levels you don't really need 4bolts. I would grab the crank if it was stupid cheap though.

As for web sites saying that it was a 427 or 454, the block can be used to build both. Oh, and I don't think they ever made a 396 tall deck, but they did make a 366. Yes.. a 366 big block!

Personally i'd stay away from a truck block. Too many issues. Regular big blocks are out there. Your best deal will probably be to buy a whole truck though, then toss the rest. Thats how I got mine.

['92 camaro boss]

exactly what i was looking for, thank you.

now i can scratch that one off my list. i knew the deal seemed too good to be true. but if it's a truck motor then why does it say marine on it?

guess it's between the 350s

[blue89]

[chevymad]

Pickup trucks will all be standard deck. They should say hi perf pass on them or most do. It's the trucks that are bigger then a 3500 that use the tall decks. I'm talking small dumptrucks, farmtrucks, tow trucks.. that sort of thing. I'm not as well versed in marine, its possible that all heavy duty blocks say marine, just like all light truck blocks say hi performance passenger.

Look for 70s era trucks that are rusted away to nothing with a 454 in them. They'll have the good heads on em usually even. Most of the time you can buy the whole truck for $500 cause its an eye sore that they just want to get rid of. Then you'll have a good 454 core and a th400. Plus you can get $150 a ton... or about $300 hauling hte rest to the scrap iron people.

[izcain]

Working on a Tall Deck Stroker right now for the new Drag car...... ooppppsss I let it slip...... oh ill go post pics in the garage section! Might as well let everyone know what I have been up to lately.

[blue89]

Hehe, nice. When are you going to get that thread up? I've been waiting...