Day 2 '68 Chevelle SS

[Derek69SS]

After everyone else went home, the kids and I got to work getting the L78 pulled out so we could drop this rat in its place. We'll break it in on a 4bbl, but eventually I want to put this Edelbrock TR2 on it and really lean into the car's "Day 2" flavor.

The engine is an unknown, acquired when I bought out a barn full of parts from an estate. It's a 1989 Marine (9XA suffix) 454. Forged crank, roller rockers, 074 "L88" aluminum heads, but never looked too deep into it yet. Borescope through the spark plug and drain plug revealed a few things about it. Pistons are 13cc dome, part number came back as 1971 LS5, so it will only be about 8.5:1 with the 118cc heads. 4-bolt mains and 7/16" dimple rods, and cam measured out to .525/.510 lift, so a lot milder than I expected from an engine with these heads. Everything looks fresh, heads never been run, pistons clean, and still has assembly lube on the cam. It already had a Chevelle pan on it, so we just dropped it in as-is.

Transmission VIN stamp confirmed to match the car once it came out. I could read the date before, but VIN was covered with grease.