302, 350, 396, 454, 502 or 557 In a 69' Camaro SS?

Question

i think the 502 whould be Best...

Answer 1

go with 396 cause u dont want too much engine in that light of a car

Answer 2

The 454 was an awesome motor. The type of "throw anything at it, run it any old way and it won't break" type.
The 302 was a perky little devil for getting out of the hole fast, but the 454 had the reputation of being able to catch up and pass the competition on the high end.
The 502 and 557's were not considered a good match for the Camaro SS because they were too heavy for a light car, which made the car fishtail, or just plain burn the tires instead of getting a straight get up and go.

Answer 3

Depends on what you want to do it for, but do not forget that if the car came with a small block, you will have to change the heater box and heater core if you want to use the heater at all with a big block The heater inlet and outlet pipes will come out at the rear of the head on the passenger side and the hoses will not attach.....If you really want mileage, I suggest a 5.0 (305) with an Edelbrock SP2P manifold and a 450cfm "Economaster" holley carb with a mileage cam and kit. Use a 14 in K&N air filter and an early HEI distributor. I would not have a set of hedders (leaks and etc), but a dual exhaust with 2 1/2 in ex pipes with a balance tube and Flowmasters with 2 1/4 tail pipes . I did a 69 that way and got 24.68 hwy mph with a 3.31 with 28 in rear tires. I also did the big block thing, but gas was like 50 cents a gallon back then. Lots of luck with this project......

Answer 4

you want the real 302 DZ Z28 motor. this will give you power and a lot of RPM.
A 302 was a 327 block with 283 crank and rods and it could rev up to 8000 RPM before it would blow.
This was a kick *** small block motor and had better power than a 350 and much less problems custom performance wise. It would also add more value to your ride than the other motors as it was rarer. The 502 is big but you lose handling and drivability performance.
If you want to race red light to red light get the big block. But if you want to drive fast and race red light to red light go for the 302.

Answer 5

The 502 is a good choice for the heavy car, I've seen a 377 (that's a 400 sb destroked) that could tear downt the track.

Answer 6

Wow, there is a whole lot of bad info here, but there where a couple of really wise answers as well. I would stick with a small block, but that's just me. It really does depend on what you want to do with it. If you want to go really fast on the dragstrip and don't care much about driving the car on the street anymore then there is no replacement for displacement. If you want a well balanced car that goes fast and is fun to drive on the streets too, then I would go with a strocked small block with vortec heads, and a medium cam. This will be a fairly reliable and fun motor for that car. But there really are a lot of variables besides displacement of the engine.

Answer 7

Sorry,but you missed a few cubic inch dispacements in your quest for what is best. In 1969 they put a 427 in a Camaro and it ran 10.29 sec in the 1/4 mi. As for today,the new ZO6 Corvette 427 small block with the computerized and electronic fuel inj. with the timing and fuel metering to accomodate temp. and altitude would be my choice for an engine in this Dream Camaro or 2nd choice would be the 427 big block they came out with in "69"

Answer 8

454 cu in. With a 2 - 4 Holly Double pumper High rise intake. Better put some wheelie bars on the tail. It will tend to jump out of the hole if ya don't.

Answer 9

A 396 would be the best i think.

Answer 10

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