Hi guys... need serious advice from the best..i've recently acquired a small block 400(short block) thats been punched out .060 over. i'm currently running a stock 350 (from a '74 camaro) and was wondering: will this 400 be dependable enough if i invest the time and money? what should my machine shop do to it ? what kind of heads to use? should i stroke my 350 and call it a day? i'd like plenty of horsepower/torque as well as a dependable highway cruiser to go with my 700r4 and 3.08 rear end. any thoughts?? tell me something good... verdell 1960 swb apache 10
Yes the 400 is a good motor. Your problem is that it is already bored .060 over. I'm not positive on this but I think that might be the max bore for that block. If you really want that motor and it can't be bored any more you can have it sleeved. But I don't think that is worth it. I'd say your best bet is to make sure the 400 crank is good and stroke the 350. As for heads the vortec heads will give you 20 more HP over stock. You are limited on the cam you can run unless you do some machining to them. Check these guys out: http://www.sdpc2000.com/catalog/2172/SDPC-Vortec-Cylinder-Heads-and-Head-Kits.htm . One of the car magazines did a head comparison with all the popular companies and these cheap heads were one of the best.
I agree with drabo go for the 383 motor and for one simple reason a .060 bored 400 would be great for a drag motor but i would suspect that those thin cylinder walls and the 400's steam holes that exist could cause a lot of cooling problems for you in a street motor. especially in traffic and believe me a hot rod with a heat sensitive engine is just too much to worry about. i'd rather go anywhere in a motor that i feel confident in, not suspicious of. Just my 2 cents though. Scott
