Thread: 350 vs 400 vs 383 what to do?

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Originally posted by viking
Not true, but this rumor along with "all 400's have 3 freeze plugs" seems to never die, the biggest cause of the overheating was using NON 400 head gaskets which did not have openings for the steam holes.

We prised the 2 freeze plug 400 blocks which most believed to be 350's and won lots of street races with chevys top torque mouse motor.



dcoffield, run the 400, enjoy the extra torque.

Part of the reason G.M stoped making the 400 was due to the overheating problems.There is less metal between the walls.Just take a look at the 350 block and then the 400 block.You can plainly see there would be less room for coolant between the cylinders.Every person that has ever gone circle track racing knows of the overheating problems with the 400 block.

I don't know if I believe this problem erik. I hear about it ALL the time. I myself have no clue but I do know a guy that drag races a Nova and uses 400 small blocks all the time. That is all he uses and never has problems. I asked him about that and he said he doesn't have a problem with them ever. A friend of mine knows the guy too and said that the guy will race big blocks and beats them. This guy doesn't have much money either, he works on cars for a living out of his house and so everything he does is on a budget and he just makes his own things and buys regular heads, etc and ports and polishes them himself and all the other tricks he knows. I am guessing that if you know what you are doing and build them right then a 400 should have no heating problems.

Drag racing and circle track racing put different amounts off heat stress on a block than the other.Drag racing puts high heat ,but for short periods of time ,Circle track puts high heat stress for a prolonged period of time.

Hey, part of the problem why GM stopped making the 400 was due to the supposedly energy crisis back in the early 70's. Listen, for the amount of h.p. that GM put into these motors, they might as well have produced it in a 4.3 L./267 c.i.V6 motor.

As for the overheating problem that supposedly follows the 400, that is a flaw within the GM small block design. It can easily be addressed and Edelbrock has done a fine job of that. Why the idiots at GM never came up with it, is beyond me.

All you have to do is buy one of Edelbrock’s Peformer R.P.M intakes, and the problems are gone. These intakes, when properly installed, cause the coolant to pass-by all cylinders and then exit out of the rear of the heads, out via the intake, then through some external hoses, prior to entering the radiator.

In years pass, the coolant entered the heads just behind the water pump and then immediately exited into the thermostat housing and then back to the rad. This inherent flaw caused the four most reward cylinders to have the “still waters effect” and therefore whenever overheating caused an engine to blow, you could always be sure that one of the four most reward cylinders had bit the walls. The problem was that the back cylinders never seen the cool waters and they could easily be hotter by 20-40 degrees when compared to the front cylinders. This not only caused over heating problems but also pre-detonation.

So, in answer to this thread, go big or go home.

I currently run some 800 h.p on the street in a partially cemented 400, and have yet to run into an overheating problem.

Hey Typhoon, great to see you postin'. Or have you been postin' all along and I've just been asleep at the wheel????

Ok, I would advise VERY STRONGLY against the 383...If you do a 383 you can blow the competition out of the water and you'll get checked and DQ'd...we had a guy run a 383 and someone requested his stuff to get broken down and checked, sure enough...DQ!!!!!!!!

I'd just build a bullet of a 350 and run it!

You'll wish that you had built it legally that night that you've blown away the competition only to get DQ'd...Think about it...Even if you don't win with a good 350, at least you'll still get points for the cause...DQ = 0 JMO

Originally posted by techinspector1
Hey Typhoon, great to see you postin'. Or have you been postin' all along and I've just been asleep at the wheel????

Hey Tech, from what I remember, you were always a little asleep at the wheel, heheheheh!

I spoke to your lover and she tells me that you used to be able to drive home "after the lovin", but as of lately, you just fall asleep at the wheel, hahahaha! Sorry, just kiddin'!

Good to see your posts, tech.