As a lot of you may know, 427 Carl had talked me into more cubic inches in my 72 Lemans . Based on the install thread that Ratboy has already posted, I will show some of the issues I ran into on my install. I don't have all my pictures here but the engine swap was the same as Ray had posted previously. I am sure when 427Carl reads this he will add some of the photo's he took. Thanks in advance to Ray for the inspiration for the swap and the help along the way Here we go.....
Here is the 86' RV 454ci engine bought from a wrecking yard last fall.
Here is a couple pics of the problem I found once I removed the oilpan, I learned to drain some oil out while at the wreckers to check for problems!
Yup...not pretty!!!!! So with Dad's help (427Carl) I removed the crank and he sent it away to get turned and ordered new bearings. I enlisted the help of another famous CP'er (Carl Stevenson) who gave me the factory bearing tolerances for the crank. This was all new to me but with the information he gave me plus some advice I learned it's lots of patience, lots of assembly lube, double check what you are doing and when in doubt over check the torque on everything while you are in there......I think I verified everything 3-4 times before I bolted on the new oil pan. I guess Carl really does know his way around a BB, Thank you very much for the help
Had to install a new oil filter adaptor as the RV had a longer one with cooler lines running from it, this is a MR Gasket unit
Next was on to install....if you've read Ratboy's swap, mine was no different. I swapped the factory '72 style sbc mounts over to the BB and it dropped right in, I even had a helper that day and he brought along his bosses 12V hydraulic engine hoist...it was very slick!!!!
Bolted in
Now it was on to the pulleys/brackets. The one's you see in the above picture were only during mockup, I went and saw Stan (member here) and he hooked me up with a few period correct pieces and lastly I picked up a proper crank pulley when Dad and I hit the Ancaster swap meet.
Here is where I ran into some issues. My SBC 90 degree spark plug wires were to close to the header flange for my liking and the factory RV wires touched as well.
I ended up buying Taylor 135 degree boot's that fit the HEI
My next hurdle came with the factory throttle cable/brackets, I could buy a new cable or try spacing it back?????
factory bracket
home made spacer
bolted together
Now I had to make a piece to space the carb linkage to the throttle cable
And here's how it looks installed, I have WOT and nothing binds......money saved.
There was an extra piece bolted to the carb not in the pic, believe it was for cruise control. It bolts to the large bolt you can see in the above pic below where the clip attaches, I made a bracket to bolt on there and it sits against the clip holding on the spacer, I figured it would be a good safety to prevent the clip from coming off.
Closer to completion
At this point the car is running, I've made a couple short trips to town and back and everything seems to look good on the gauges. The temp actually runs around the 190 degree mark when it is warmed up, will see how it holds after the longer haul to Plunketts this weekend.
Lastly I really need to thank 427Carl, without him I guarantee this swap wouldn't have happened. I am extremely lucky to be called his "adopted son"
-- Edited by unclebernie on Thursday 4th of June 2015 08:27:42 PM
Excellent account of the swap. While every swap has a few challenges to overcome, this has to be the easiest swap going, just think that power and torque on demand are just an RV or one ton truck away. I'm thrilled that I get honourable mentions here but the real guru is Carl Hicks and Carl Stevenson is amazing as well. You called on Stan too which was great. That has to be the top 3 pit crew in all Canadian Ponchodom. Happy rubber burning !
PS: go add photos and details to the Big Block thread> CLICK HERE and welcome to the club.
-- Edited by 73SC on Thursday 4th of June 2015 10:35:20 PM
Canadian Poncho said
Jun 5, 2015
You forgot to tell us how it feels on the seat of the pants dyno!
unclebernie said
Jun 5, 2015
I haven't been real aggressive with it yet but I can tell you from a rolling start and full throttle, first gear is virtually non existent followed by some screaming noise from the tires , I don't think they like it!!!!
Thanks for the welcoming to the club Ray, I will add photo's and info as soon as I get a couple newer pics of the car.
unclebernie said
Jun 5, 2015
It's always that easy on the internet lol, real time was closer to 6 months or so. I will admit the bottom end work scared me, but time, patience and lots of reading/research/question asking made me feel a little better about it.
As a lot of you may know, 427 Carl had talked me into more cubic inches in my 72 Lemans
. Based on the install thread that Ratboy has already posted, I will show some of the issues I ran into on my install. I don't have all my pictures here but the engine swap was the same as Ray had posted previously. I am sure when 427Carl reads this he will add some of the photo's he took. Thanks in advance to Ray for the inspiration for the swap and the help along the way 
Here we go.....
Here is the 86' RV 454ci engine bought from a wrecking yard last fall.
Here is a couple pics of the problem I found once I removed the oilpan, I learned to drain some oil out while at the wreckers to check for problems!
Yup...not pretty!!!!! So with Dad's help (427Carl) I removed the crank and he sent it away to get turned and ordered new bearings. I enlisted the help of another famous CP'er (Carl Stevenson) who gave me the factory bearing tolerances for the crank. This was all new to me but with the information he gave me plus some advice I learned it's lots of patience, lots of assembly lube, double check what you are doing and when in doubt over check the torque on everything while you are in there......I think I verified everything 3-4 times before I bolted on the new oil pan. I guess Carl really does know his way around a BB, Thank you very much for the help
Had to install a new oil filter adaptor as the RV had a longer one with cooler lines running from it, this is a MR Gasket unit
Next was on to install....if you've read Ratboy's swap, mine was no different. I swapped the factory '72 style sbc mounts over to the BB and it dropped right in, I even had a helper that day
and he brought along his bosses 12V hydraulic engine hoist...it was very slick!!!!
Bolted in
Now it was on to the pulleys/brackets. The one's you see in the above picture were only during mockup, I went and saw Stan (member here) and he hooked me up with a few period correct pieces and lastly I picked up a proper crank pulley when Dad and I hit the Ancaster swap meet.
Here is where I ran into some issues. My SBC 90 degree spark plug wires were to close to the header flange for my liking and the factory RV wires touched as well.
I ended up buying Taylor 135 degree boot's that fit the HEI
My next hurdle came with the factory throttle cable/brackets, I could buy a new cable or try spacing it back?????
factory bracket
home made spacer
bolted together
Now I had to make a piece to space the carb linkage to the throttle cable
And here's how it looks installed, I have WOT and nothing binds......money saved.
There was an extra piece bolted to the carb not in the pic, believe it was for cruise control. It bolts to the large bolt you can see in the above pic below where the clip attaches, I made a bracket to bolt on there and it sits against the clip holding on the spacer, I figured it would be a good safety to prevent the clip from coming off.
Closer to completion
At this point the car is running, I've made a couple short trips to town and back and everything seems to look good on the gauges. The temp actually runs around the 190 degree mark when it is warmed up, will see how it holds after the longer haul to Plunketts this weekend.
Lastly I really need to thank 427Carl, without him I guarantee this swap wouldn't have happened. I am extremely lucky to be called his "adopted son"
-- Edited by unclebernie on Thursday 4th of June 2015 08:27:42 PM
Excellent account of the swap. While every swap has a few challenges to overcome, this has to be the easiest swap going, just think that power and torque on demand are just an RV or one ton truck away. I'm thrilled that I get honourable mentions here but the real guru is Carl Hicks and Carl Stevenson is amazing as well. You called on Stan too which was great. That has to be the top 3 pit crew in all Canadian Ponchodom. Happy rubber burning !
PS: go add photos and details to the Big Block thread> CLICK HERE and welcome to the club.
-- Edited by 73SC on Thursday 4th of June 2015 10:35:20 PM
I haven't been real aggressive with it yet but I can tell you from a rolling start and full throttle, first gear is virtually non existent
followed by some screaming noise from the tires 
, I don't think they like it!!!!
Thanks for the welcoming to the club Ray, I will add photo's and info as soon as I get a couple newer pics of the car.