Introduced in 1970, the Chevy 454 — affectionately known as the Rat Motor – was the largest displacement Chevrolet engine to enter the big-block engine showdown of the muscle car era.

While a forged GM crank for a 454 could cost as much as $400 today, a forged 396 crank sells for about $75. And a rebuildable 396 short-block will usually only set you back less than $200.

Our Gen-IV 454 pulled from a one-ton work truck was ... While we hoped to simply install the new cam, heads and intake on the used short-block, it looks like this particular motor required a ...

We then multiply by 454 and come up with 533 hp ... The truck is tubbed with a 3.90 gear, a short-block, hugger headers, and air conditioning. Joe Busch's shop built the truck for this guy ...

However, Chevrolet only produced its short bed, single cab Silverado ... In the 454 SS, the Mark IV 454 cubic inch big block V8 delivered a modest 230 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque.

With its bold black-on-red color scheme and legendary big-block V8 ... Powered by a 454 cubic-inch V8 delivering 230 horsepower and a monstrous 385 lb-ft of torque, this short-bed truck was ...

The numbers are legendary: 454 and a trio of 455s ... both motors had the same short block, but the Corvette used the open-chamber aluminum heads from the late ‘69 L88 Corvette engine.

You'd be hard pressed to find a BBC short-block for that price ... but our plan was to secure a suitable (running) 454 truck engine, add the necessary (cost-conscious) performance components ...