Chevy Stroker 496 Big Block - Saturday Night Special

For good measure, we rolled the motor over (crank facing up). We mocked up the pan by laying it over on the pan rails, then we spun the crankshaft over a few revolutions after making sure the bolts lined up and our rods weren't going to rub into the bottom of the pan. Nothing knocked against the pan, so we again sandwiched a gasket with sealant and bolted it down.

For the head studs, we spread thread sealant on the inner threads of the block and on the threads of the studs. We then laid the Fel-Pro gaskets on both sides and slid the Edelbrock heads onto the block. From there, we liberally spread moly-lube on the upper ends of the studs and spun the nuts with washers on. We torqued them from the center out in a clockwise fashion, first at 65 ft-lb, then 75 ft-lb.

We used a Comp Cams line of T-bar lifters to match our solid roller.

Tickling the valves, we used 3/8-inch-diameter Comp pushrods with an 8.350-inch length on the intake and 9.400-inch length on the exhaust with a set of 1.7:1 Pro Magnum rockers up top and lashed them to 0.018/0.020 cold.

Before installing the manifold, we applied a bead of sealant to the lifter valley wall and placed the gaskets over the intake ports. We laid the manifold on top and bolted it down.

Since we were looking for upper-rpm flogs, we went with a single-plane Edelbrock Victor Jr. manifold. Something to keep in mind is that even with the occasional show cruises, this stump-puller is already producing 543 lb-ft at 4,100 rpm, so there's little concern for torque loss on the bottom end.

Edelbrock's Super Series valve covers with PermaStar have a shine that won't fade or discolor, are easy to clean, and cost just $163.

An 8-inch professional-products damper was used because it's dimensionally the same as an OE 454 damper and extremely affordable at only $70-we couldn't beat it. Plus, the timing numbers are easy to read with engraved marks every 90 degrees.