Thread: 396..is it worth anything?

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HI, i have a 396 bare block that has been tanked and magged and everything checks out. The casting number is 3855961, which means its a 65-66 block with 2 bolt mains. Does this bloack have any value to a collector? I also have a forged steel crank and a set of heavy duty truck rods (not dot rods).
what is this stuff worth?

the 396 is a good engine of a stock type car or a mild hot rod this not as big as lot of people want but i have had some good running 396 and with gas the way it is .and if you want the big block look people mite want them more

Our first "family car" was a '68 Chevelle SS396; had an Isky cam, Holley on a factory high rise, Hedmans, and an 11.52 timing slip in the glove compartment from OCIR. I think a 396 is a nice piece if it's built right.

i think it a good engine to. i beat a lot of guys with a 396 in my gto back in the the good old day 1980 and is was my car i droved to school .but not to many want a 396 when you can get much bigger engines the prices on stroker cranks rods and pistons is alot better now .when i had my 396 having more that a 468 big was a big deal . i have the same gto now with a tall deck in it and has 630+ big block in it rigth now .the 396 big block is a good engine but times have changed .there is a lot of guys out there 540 + big block on the street and a lot people want big engines the small block chevy is now pump past the old 396. i had always like the 396 over the small block the big block stock heads better than 80% of the small block heads longer rods in the big block a big block stock bottom end is one of the best in stock form . i have built a lot of them from the 80s till now and all of my cars have had big blocks in them. with out a lot of money the big blocks run and will take a hell of beating and will be back for more a. lot of guys love there harley-davidson i guss i love my big blocks chevy .

Obviously you have had your engine torn down but they did make blocks with your casting number with 4 bolts. Your front pad number would matter more telling you what that engine went in. If it is a collector car then it's worth something. The crank is worth something especially if the number mates to a collector car.

As far as using it I would look at the heads. It's easy to build a nice mild street engine with a 2 bolt 454 cast crank with flat pistons and use the early 396 closed chambered heads with oval ports to get a CR of about 9.5 to 1. Those engines are easy to get 1 hp/ci making a great street motor.

If you want a monster motor then just buy a large bore tall decked aluminum block and drop the crank in you want. Then build according to how many revs, how much power and whether you're going to go forced induction or nl aspiration.

But you can easily make over 400 hp and 400 tq with the 396 you have using resized HD rods with good ARP bolts. Just get good heads for the street.