Camaro Fuel Injected 454 Engine - Small Block

From the outside, however, World Products' Motown block looks just like any other small-block Chevy, and everything from headers to water pumps bolts up to the block like it was one of the General's own. Inside, however, the strengthening bulk of additional iron is seen in the 1-inch-thicker front and rear bulkheads and the cylinders' more pronounced bulge when viewed from the valley.

"All that extra metal makes the engine stronger and more capable of supporting large displacement and high horsepower," says World's Bill Mitchell. "We added material where it would do the most good."

Another plus to the Motown block is that cylinder head bolts go in blind-they don't hit water. Four-bolt mains are standard, and come standard with nodular iron main caps. A race block also is available and it comes with billet steel caps with splayed bolts.

Of course, we went with the race block and its splayed main cap bolts. To arrive at 454 ci, World Products sets a 4.000-inch crank on the main journals and complements it with 6.000-inch rods connected to forged aluminum pistons operating within 4.250-inch bores. Remember, this is a small-block!

As with all of World Products' crate engines or rotating assembly packages, our Eagle forged crank was internally balanced prior to installation. Compared to an external balance, which adds material to the front and/or rear of the crank, the internal balance procedure removes select amounts of material from the crank's fillets.
As with all of World Products' crate engines or rotating assembly packages, our Eagle forg
With the crank balanced and the block prepped, the crank was carefully lowered on to the main journals. World offers the Motown with either a 350-style or 400-style mains. For our 454-cube motor, it is the larger 400-size journals.
With the crank balanced and the block prepped, the crank was carefully lowered on to the m
Nothing but forged aluminum would do for the pistons, and they're huge! Designed for the 454's 4.250-inch bores, we had to keep reminding ourselves this was a small-block! The thick cylinder walls of the Motown block make this sort of madness possible-with a 4.250-inch bore, there's still .200-inch wall thickness between cylinders.
Nothing but forged aluminum would do for the pistons, and they're huge! Designed for the 4

We used our connections at FAST to get a camshaft from Comp Cams (Comp owns FAST). Insisting on a throaty-sounding, high-revving solid lifter cam with great idle quality for drivability's sake, they ground us a special bumpstick.

If there's an X factor in the short block, it's the new camshaft; everything else is pretty much off-the-shelf Motown 454 stuff from World. We'll see how the new cam performs once we get the engine finished off with the new FAST injection system.

Remember, you'll have to come back next month to check out the results.

SUPER CHEVY Motown/FAST 454 Short Block Specs
Block material	High-density cast iron
Deck height	9.025-inches (OE-spec)
Main bearings	400 style
Main bearing caps	Billet steel with splayed bolts
Cylinder bore	4.250 inches
Stroke	4.000 inches
Crankshaft	4340 forged steel
Connecting rods	4340 forged steel H-beam
Pistons	Forged aluminum
Camshaft	Solid
Lifters	Solid
Timing set	Double-row roller

The main caps are secured with thick 7/16-inch studs and bolts, and located with dowel pins. The standard small-block Chevy doesn't have dowels, but World Products uses them for more precise location.
The main caps are secured with thick 7/16-inch studs and bolts, and located with dowel pin
If you do the math, a 4.000-inch stroke and a 6.000-inch rod will equal engine block interference. So 454 engines, like ours, are notched at the pan rail to give the longer connecting rods the necessary room to run free.
If you do the math, a 4.000-inch stroke and a 6.000-inch rod will equal engine block inter
We called Comp Cams for a special grind to suit our large-displacement, fuel-injected small-block. The sent a solid-lifter cam that delivers a great, throaty sound but still delivers excellent idle quality.
We called Comp Cams for a special grind to suit our large-displacement, fuel-injected smal

Affordable Aluminum
World's All-Alloy Motown "Lite" Block Doesn't Weigh Much-In Your Car Or Your Wallet

In the first installment of our World Products/FAST fuel injected 454 small-block story, we pointed out that we used World's Motown small-block engine block.

Cast with additional material in strategic areas to improve overall strength, lubrication and cooling, the iron Motown race block weighs about 195 pounds. Not bad, but World now offers an aluminum version of the block which is lighter by nearly one-half!

That's right. Tipping the scales at around 100 pounds-main caps, billet screw-in freeze plugs and all-the aluminum Motown "Lite" block promises to lighten the load of your Chevy while giving it an exotic underhood appearance.

The block is made of 357-T6 aluminum (the strongest alloy available), but its most striking features are the external ribs and valley reinforcing ribs. The external ribs aid in cooling, while the valley ribs connect the cylinder banks and are drilled to cross-feed the lifter galleys with oil.

And while functional, the ribs-particularly the external cooling ribs-give the block an undeniably exotic look, especially with its telltale bare aluminum finish.