350 vs 454 for sleeper

I dont know too much about american engines yet but Im planning on buying either a 1995 350 2x4 1500 silverado or a 1994 454 2500 4x4 silverado that i want to turn into a sleeper and i was wondering what would be better to buy. My goal is to get into the 12's in the 1/4 mile and ide like to spend as little as possible, so should i get the heavier 454 or a weaker but lighter 350?
Thanks

Weight is ultimatley how you go fast in drag racing, so I would get the 1/2-ton 2WD truck.

Yeh less weight=more speed, even more so than more power. The best plan would be to put the 454 in the 1/2 ton truck. But honestly if you have a lot of power just 2 wheels wont put it to the ground even with a locker. I personally would go with the 3/4 truck and a 454 cuz of it being 4wd and it doesnt weigh a whole lot more than the other.

Yeh less weight=more speed, even more so than more power. The best plan would be to put the 454 in the 1/2 ton truck. But honestly if you have a lot of power just 2 wheels wont put it to the ground even with a locker. I personally would go with the 3/4 truck and a 454 cuz of it being 4wd and it doesnt weigh a whole lot more than the other.

RWD is the only way to go for drag racing though. You'd destroy a 4WD setup if you continually raced it.

A ladder bar or 4-link rear suspension with slicks or drag radials would put the power to the ground, and if he wants to get into the 12s, then he'll need to havce one of the two set-ups.

Well this is true for a race only truck, but do you know about the blue nitrous truck that runs 10's...his is 4wd and he runs with it in 4wd and at around 600hp i'd think her would test the limit's of it's capability so i dont think it would matter if you race in 4wd. besides if this truck is kinda like a daily driver more so than strictly race ladder bar or linked suspension is impractical.

Lol. Well, technically, a 600 hp vehicle is impractical for a daily driver, lol. I know the truck you're talking about. It has a turbo and about a 75-100 shot of NOS (I think, may be a little more). I've seen videos of it online, pretty nice. Slowprocess actually knows the guy I think, so he could tell ya more about it.

I would think it has more then 600 hp though. Those trucks weigh around 4600 lbs, and 600 hp would'nt do 10 second 1/4 miles in a 4600 lbs vehicle. If that was the case, then my car would run 8 second or better 1/4s with its around 500 hp and 2700 lbs of weight--it won't, trust me, lol.

Anyways, in order to get a TBI 350 or 454 to run 12s, he's going to be spending alot of money, and the vehicle may not be pratical to drive everyday when he gets done with it. Now the TBI engines are very strong down low (I know, I have one, 92 K1500), but they were never designed to make big power.

He'll basically have to either really s/c or turbo the engine big time and/or swap heads/cam/intake. He'd also have to spend alot of money beefing up the tranny and rear end(s).

Very true, with that much power and the costs of gas it would be very impractical to use that type of truck even as a daily driver but i doubt you need much over 400hp to get into the 12's. for a truck like mine and that 3/4 ton 454 then yeh it would require a lil more than 400hp to be running 12's. cuz speaking of slowprocess, his truck isnt light at all and i think he said its has around 425hp. I too wanna turn my truck into a "sleeper" but for a daily and mud machine wanting to run 12's is kinda pointless. I'll just buy all the bolt on's i can, complete new exhaust from headers to tailpipe, and then some day get the engine rebuilt with new camshaft. BUT for the ultimate sleeper you gotta have a really quiet after market exhuast and electric cutouts, that would raise an eye brow or two. As long as i can eat, i mean beat most any ricer and 4 cylinder car i'll be happy.

Yea, i definently wont be using it for a daily driver, i got a 50 mile drive to work everyday so it would mostly be for the weekends and stuff.
I did a little more research though and found out that you can easily get more power out of the 350ci engine than the 454, and do it for cheaper because there were way more 350's made than the 454 so theres a huge aftermarket for it.
I guess ill try to pick up that 95' 1500 in a day or two. Although now im not sure if i should get the 2x4 for the lightness or look for a 4x4 version for the launches + off road fun. hmm
If i rember right the 4x4 version weighs around 1000 lbs more so thats about 1 sec added to the 1/4 mile, but then subtract the time made up for the better launch and no wheelspin? or i could get wider tires on the 2x4, but then no off-roading. tough choice.
what are your thaughts on this one?

Is a 95' a vortec or not? i think vortecs started in 96 and have a lil more power than the previous. If you want something that can be fast and still go out and have fun in the mud, get a 96-98 K1500 regular cab short bed Z71 or 4x4. also is you plan to get a lot of power out of it and run it hard, get something with as little miles as you can find (dont buy anything over 100k) cuz the more power you get out of an engine the less lifetime it will have. Unless you are willing to rebuild it keep the miles low. If you have intrest in offroading get a 4x4 cuz wont make hardly any difference at all on the track.