Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - pricing for 454 motor?

i am looking into buying a 454 motor for my chevelle ss. the guy that i may get if from does not know where it came from. It is bone stock block, has not been rebuilt and will need to be, not sure if it runs or not.

1970 CGV dated I 2 9. is the only info i got on it. He wants 1,000.


Price high or low? if high, what should i offer him?

Price seems abit high to me, especially if it needs to be rebuilt. At that price, you could just buy a block and rebuild it yourself with nicer parts and probably be out around the same price DEPENDING UPON WHAT YOU WANT. It sounds like you have some leeway to talk him down a little though...if you're not sure that it runs and needs to be rebuilt, I wouldn't pay anything more than for the price of the block itself. No sense paying for stuff that is possibly broken.

i am looking into buying a 454 motor for my chevelle ss. the guy that i may get if from does not know where it came from. It is bone stock block, has not been rebuilt and will need to be, not sure if it runs or not.

1970 CGV dated I 2 9. is the only info i got on it. He wants 1,000.


Price high or low? if high, what should i offer him?


If it is a complete running motor that just needs freshening up, then 1k is not bad. If is just the block, then no unless it has the engine codes you are after.

My Chevelle book doesn't have anything for CGV, so I doubt it is out of a Chevelle. That leaves Impalas/Caprices/Vette or possibly a Monte Carlo as the source of the donor car. I do not believe they put 454's in trucks until the middle 70's, like '74.

Is it a 2 bolt main or 4 bolt? A '70 is likely to have some pretty good flowing heads, stock BBC heads back then flowed really well. If the crank is still good, you can recondition a cast stock one to hold up under 500 hp no problem, same goes for the rods. If the thing is not junk and is complete, then a 1K is reasonable price. (Have you priced a decent bottom end of BBC, not cheap).

If you are just after the block you can sell off the other pieces and make most of your money back.

That's a lot of cash for an unknown block. You might be buying a 1,000.00 boat anchor. I wouldn't buy until it has been torn down and inspected.