crate motor 502's versus vintage 454's

[supergonzo]

Could someone run through the differences visually between a BBC 454/502 crate motor and a vintage 454??

I think on the crate motors there is no fuel pump boss.
But what else is different between them exterior wise, other than valve covers & casting numbers??

[markjohnson]

Only the 502's have no fuel pump boss. The first gen 502's have a standard timing cover. The 2nd Gen 502's have a six bolt composite front timing cover. That's what I used to look for in my street racing days. A lot of them 502's got turned in to 540's that you better watch out for. In my experience, the 502/450HP cast iron motor seems to run about 12.00's-12.20s while the 505/502 aluminum head motor is fairly common to run around the 11.70 region. This is my background with them in a normal type street car, I'm sure some may be faster and some are slower, but this seems to be the norm.

[Chevy454]

Mark pretty much got it...but the Gen V 454 had no fuel pump boss either, like it's 502 brother...they went back to the fuel pump boss on the Gen VI blocks.