Learn Me Chevy C/K SS 454 truck

An acquaintance of mine is the original owner of a 1990 454 SS truck, and mentioned that his was for sale when I mentioned I needed a truck.

After looking at this, I advised him to make a list of everything that was wrong and come up with a price.

Because I frequent this board, you can already guess that I am at least entertaining the idea of buying it based on the price he comes back with.I am betting the price is fairly low, since he has been complaining about how aggravating the truck has become and how much his wife wants it gone.

Does anybody have any information on these? I can't see myself doing much to it besides getting it reliable, tightening up the suspension and using it to haul crap that won't fit in the back of the Forester.

HOWEVER, if I can get it dirt cheap, it might make an interesting challenge entry, no?

I test drove one of those when they were new. As I recall, it had silly torque, but ran out of breath before you were going too fast. I also recall 16-second-ish quarter mile times. So, not really much of a hot rod in stock form, but for a unique parts-hauler or tow vehicle, I can see it, provided it's cheap enough.

I have a non-SS 454 Chevy truck and it's not that fast but nothing can slow it down. It's also really understressed so the engine can run forever. Mine has over 250k miles on it and still runs great. The truck is typical 90's GM but that's not all bad, just more than a few rattles and cheap plastic bits. But it's built like a tank and has been a very reliable truck.

My brother had one.

Fast for their time but that time has come and gone. Like the previous poster said - lots of torque but advertised at 230 Hp. They run out of breath quick.

Sucked down fuel at a pretty rapid rate.

Early 3spd's spin pretty good on the highway as noted in your link.

I remember Hot Rod magazine tested one back in '90? It was the first year of it. IIRC it didn't have overdrive. They were disappointed with it in stock form. I think the second year got the overdrive. They aren't much in bone stock form but I think they are fairly easy to turn up the wick on.

As a side note, 3 years ago there was one for sale in Phoenix that had been owned by Jim Feuling. If you don't know who he was he was a god of sorts in cylinder head design and doing some fairly jaw dropping sh1t. Anyway it had a set of his very rare "Centerfire" heads. By all accounts this truck ran like stink. This was just after the economic crash and they were only asking right around $10K for it. I would have pounced all over it had it not been on the other side of the country

they have held their value. i have seen rusty ones go for 6K.

the 454 is wonderful, but not terribly fast. the torque is great, i just drove my 90 3500 454 truck today to tow something to scrap, and it'll pull a house down.

i get 8mpg.

That's a lot of cubes for not much return in the way of ponies,

"The 1990 Chevrolet 454 SS is a high performance full size pickup that mated the C1500 standard two wheel drive cab with an absolutely killer 454ci 7.4 liter, eight cylinder engine(V-8), the 3 speed automatic transmission and a 3.73 rear axle ratio helped thrust the 454 beast under the hood, the engine(90 Model) produced a maximum of 230hp, 385 foot pounds of torque, All this power was pushed out to Goodyear tires on Special 454 SS rims. The interior comes equipped with a special plush Garnet Red cloth interior and high-back reclining sport bucket seats with a Center Console. "

"A Little history
The base Model was first introduced in 1936 and by 1990 was selling more than a half a million units a year. up through the years the truck came in either two or 4 wheel drive and both versions came with either a six-and-a-half-foot box or an eight-foot-box.

Trucks like the 454 SS shown above were produced from 1990-1993. Total number of units produced was 16,953 its best year in 1990 with a total of 13,748 units sold, that left a total of 3205 sold from 91-93. The 454 SS had reduced payload capacity smaller than the standard models in the years before, a high sticker price-(Most buyers forget about the high price after sitting behind the wheel) and only gets at best 10mpg-12mpg

The 454 SS was and still is a pure thrill machine. Stock models are good for mid to high 15 second range in the quarter mile times. Its mid range punch is even better. The 454 SS was manufactured and assembled at only one General motors plant located in Fort Wayne, Indiana"

I have driven one (thanks Steve) and it was very cool.

Dad had one. One word: YAWN.

Potential, yes, but you're looking at a complete package; heads, intake, induction, cam, compression, pistons, exhaust....

I drove one as a chase truck once upon a time. It was not much quicker than the poor kids that had the 350 powered look a likes, but thanks to an abundnce of torque it was still a bit quicker than them draging an 80's Fleetwood in from an accident. It also caught more than a few 5 liter IROCs and Mustangs by surprise. One day I'd like to be young and dumb again.

curtis73 wrote: Dad had one. One word: YAWN. Potential, yes, but you're looking at a complete package; heads, intake, induction, cam, compression, pistons, exhaust....

Sounds easier to buy a 305 equipped 1/2 ton and drop a 500+ inch big block.

They are cool and hold their value well. I love the early 90s GM Supercars.

Someday I will have a garage full of them.

Z24 Cavalier (V6 5 speed convertible of course)
Indy Beretta
GTZ Beretta
Z34 Lumina
Euro 3.4 Lumina
GTP Grand Prix
McLaren Turbo Grand Prix
Iroc-Z Camaro
GTA Trans Am
Turbo Trans Am
Impala SS
454SS C1500
Typhoon
Syclone

The General had some pretty cool cars in the early 90s.

It's a truck with a big-a$$ V8 in it. What more do you need to know?

In reply to 93gsxturbo:

For a list of "GM supercars" there's a lot of pretty non-super vehicles there. Syclone, TTA, and... Well that's about it. Just my two cents of course (which is probably enough to buy any GTZ Beretta still on the street, right?).

I spent a few years driving an '88 1/2 ton around and if I were the OP I'd go looking for a 305 powered 2WD example, standard cab, long bed. Why? As memory serves, the 350's used an air pump, and I know the 305 didn't. I've driven both 350 and 305 powered versions and the 305 felt no slower, if not very slightly quicker, and I'd give up 45 cubic inches to drop an air pump.

I'd then go looking for Vortec or Vortec-alike heads, aluminum copies would be fantastic, and then start looking for a way to feed it. Bit of a shift kit in a 700R4 auto and some kind of LSD out back. Little suspension work, maybe look for a front brake upgrade (don't know if one exists for low money), then get some decent seats in the thing and a good aftermarket steering wheel to get rid of the rubber thing from the factory. Etc etc. An afternoon in the Summit Racing catalog would probably get 90% the parts in one shot.

385lb/ft of torque is great and all but this is a medium duty truck engine thrown into a light duty truck. 12mpg for, what, 8 second 0-60 times?