# My 1990 Chevy 454 SS Pickup



## Aerialist (Feb 8, 2016)

I'm on my second 454 SS pickup truck the first one ended badly when I lost it trying to dodge a deer that jumped out in front of me. I zigged to try to miss it and that worked, I didn't hit the deer. It was the zag that caused me to lose the rear end and I slid into a guardrail at speed.

The truck did a front flip and struck a utility pole upside down and backwards snapping the pole off about 20 feet up and dropping the high tension wires onto my truck. Lucky for me the wires slapped together and blew the circuits before they landed on the truck.

I crawled out a shattered window and was waiting for the emergency crews that responded. They ignored me and started looking in the cab for the body. Not finding one they were about to start looking in the underbrush when I told them I was the driver. They were in disbelief that I could be standing there talking to them.








One of my crew brought my wife to the scene and her comment was "a vehicle can be replaced, you can not". By this time the extent of my loss was clear to me so I said "I'm glad you feel that way because I'm buying another one. Three days later I found one and here it is:






These things are getting pretty rare so just finding one was somewhat of a minor miracle. Surviving the wreck was pretty lucky too. The truck is in Winter storage now but I look forward to getting it out in the Spring.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Feb 8, 2016)

Didn't those only have around 225hp?


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## Aerialist (Feb 8, 2016)

ValleyFirewood said:


> Didn't those only have around 225hp?



In 1990 the factory horsepower ratings were understated because GM and other car manufactures made the corporate decision to downplay factory performance ratings. The big block chevy 396/427/454 engines supplied ample hp and especially torque to the cars of the day.

A stock 454 in this truck could be considered a "burnout king"


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## ChoppyChoppy (Feb 9, 2016)

Aerialist said:


> In 1990 the factory horsepower ratings were understated because GM and other car manufactures made the corporate decision to downplay factory performance ratings. The big block chevy 396/427/454 engines supplied ample hp and especially torque to the cars of the day.
> 
> A stock 454 in this truck could be considered a "burnout king"




I guess better than the 160hp small block in my C30. 

A friend had one of the 454SS back in the day (bought it brand new) and he gave it back to the dealer after ~6 months cause just about everything would beat it, even a mildly modified 4.3L S-10 pickup.


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## Aerialist (Feb 9, 2016)

I didn't choose the 454 SS to "beat" anything, just to be a blast to drive, which it is. I've had a few IROC Camaros and this truck is nothing like one of those. It's so light in the rear end that it can be quite dangerous to drive if one does not respect it's limitations. I liken it to the ground handling of a "taildragger" aircraft, it's very easy to spin it out on slippery, or even just wet, roads.

It's evil handling is one reason I put it away in Winter (the other is salt on the roads). My actual work truck is also a 454, but 4-wheel drive and a longer cab and wheelbase. The 454 SS is an adult toy and a fun ride.


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## Marshy (Feb 9, 2016)

Nice truck! I knew a local that had 2, one white and one black. I'd take the black anyday. Any power adders?


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## Aerialist (Feb 10, 2016)

Marshy said:


> Nice truck! I knew a local that had 2, one white and one black. I'd take the black anyday. Any power adders?



Thanks for the kind words. It's only mildly tweeked, Holly double pumper and Edlebrock intake manifold A set of hi-flow heads would add an instant 100 hp to it but I'm pretty happy with it now. I'm not into street racing, I don't care about "beating" anything, just having a fun truck to drive. It is that in spades,


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## Marshy (Feb 10, 2016)

What intake do you have?


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## A10egress (Feb 10, 2016)

i remember when those came out, along with the Baja S-10s! Nice ride man..


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## joe25DA (Feb 16, 2016)

Nice truck. I like that you have left the appearance stock. Unfortunately over the years those trucks get butchered. The grille, wheels, badges and other parts are removed or replaced. It never looks better. I have an 84 c30 luckily it's been left alone. No "ghost" grille and the fender badges are intact


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## Quietfly (Feb 16, 2016)

great looking truck!!! i'm glad you were able to 1) survive the wreck, 2) find another .


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## Aerialist (Feb 28, 2016)

Quietfly said:


> great looking truck!!! i'm glad you were able to 1) survive the wreck, 2) find another .



Thanks, surviving the wreck was a major miracle, i guess Kale would say I'm accident prone, finding another one in such great shape was a minor miracle compared to to that but lucky none the less.

Aerialist


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## ChoppyChoppy (Feb 28, 2016)

Aerialist said:


> In 1990 the factory horsepower ratings were understated because GM and other car manufactures made the corporate decision to downplay factory performance ratings. The big block chevy 396/427/454 engines supplied ample hp and especially torque to the cars of the day.
> 
> A stock 454 in this truck could be considered a "burnout king"




I used to do burnouts like that with a 2.8L Blazer haha.


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## Aerialist (Apr 2, 2016)

I got the 454SS out today! Over the Winter I had an older engine installed. Quite sought after, the older engine has better flowing heads and can add 100hp to the ride because of the improved heads. The HP reductions of the '90's had them put a restricted flow head on these trucks to reduce the published and actual HP to 225 or some lame stated power output.

The "Old" style 454's had more HP and better flowing heads. Progress and liability paper pushers mandated cutting the awesome power these big blocks can produce if properly cared for. Kinda like anti-kickback chains and the completely useless "action lock" that S&W is putting on most of their revolvers now. I just spent most of $900 to buy a 640 "Professional Series" in stainless steel to match up with my S&W "Airlite" snobby (_see photos in the "Guns and Ammo" section of this site if you want to see them together_). Now I have a revolver that I can actually enjoy shooting., and no action lock which is just another possible point of failure to a decades old completely reliable design.

This has been a year of upgrades for me. I've upgraded my iMac, gaining speed and power, not to mention unlimited storage space to accommodate the quadcopter videos I plan on shooting this year, getting ready for a reality series (_to be announced_). I've also upgraded my most protable laptop, a MacBook Air to a newer one with more speed and power than the one it replaced, which was kind of anemic. A 512 MB SSD instead of 128 MB, more room for my music and videos. My MacBook Pro was upgraded last year, so it was good.

As to Phones, I carry two Apple iPhones and an iPad, a new 6s for my customers, and my trusty and reliable 5s for crew and personal calls. I actually like the smaller iPhone better. The iPad is a new "mini" replacing the one I lost. The new phone and mini have fingerprint ID which is nice, especially when driving. Driving! Yes, the back office stuff is nifty and all that, but it is my driving the 454 SS that I enjoy most of all. And tomorrow (Sunday) is the day that I drive all around doing evaluations, so I'm pretty pleased that Spring has finally come.

Aerialist
Life is Good, Enjoy it while you can!


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## Quietfly (Apr 2, 2016)

Sounds like you had a grwat weekend and it's not even over


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## Aerialist (Apr 2, 2016)

It's not even started Quietly, we worked today and an aspiring ground guy didn't show (_he's fired_). I had to dig in and work like a man half my age. I got the call that my truck was done about the time it started to rain. We wrapped up the job and headed home. The guy who bought my old engine drove me out to my mechanic's garage in his dump truck just as the rain turned to snow.

We loaded the old engine into his truck and the snowfall got harder. You have to understand that this truck is dangerous to drive on wet roads, on slippery roads it's a death wish. With the tires burned down from last Summer's fun I don't have a lot of tread left. All that, plus 100 more HP under my foot made for a tense ride home. 

I just stayed behind the dump truck on the curvy ride home. Having totaled my first one I wasn't about to repeat that trick on my first ride of the new year. My mechanic called shortly after I got home and asked how it ran. I think he just wanted to know if I survived the trip. I told him how the heck would I know? I couldn't get beyond quarter throttle, I was stuck behind a dump truck all the way home!

Aerialist

Life is good, enjoy it while you can ...


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