Thread: newbie sbc400 question

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I love the man, but I Don't need his daily stress....... One day we'll all sit around the campfire and I'll tell stories out of school about how he steals my kids and gives my wife a heart attack every time. That's my youngest boy back in the good ol' days.

By the way....my first avatar was not my limo, That's me. I figured if I'm gonna run around like a horse's a**, I might as well have had some more seats fo those who are always riding me to be a bit more comfortable....LOL! Denny's rendition of a big power plant wouldn't let my feet stay on the ground, Had to change it so I can steer straight.

To the OP, if I were you, I might leave the TH400 in there, change the gears and see how you feel about it then. Take 1 step at a time until you have it exactly how you want it. Many rodders try to take too many steps and either end up spending a fortune or losing interest with their project before it's finished. I know I'm guilty of it and I'm sure many of the guys on here are too.

Why don't you put some good aftermarket heads on it? That will really wake up the engine. Put some gears and stall converter also. The 400 has a 8.0 to 1 stock compression ratio with the 76cc heads. If you go to a aftermarket head with a 64cc chamber, you will raise the compression to about 9.0 to 1 which will suite the cam you have now. That alone can raise about 20 horsepower. You can expect at least a 60 horsepower gain from changing heads. Just remember to have the steam holes drilled in the heads before you use them.

Originally Posted by 69elko

Why don't you put some good aftermarket heads on it? That will really wake up the engine. Put some gears and stall converter also. The 400 has a 8.0 to 1 stock compression ratio with the 76cc heads. If you go to a aftermarket head with a 64cc chamber, you will raise the compression to about 9.0 to 1 which will suite the cam you have now. That alone can raise about 20 horsepower. You can expect at least a 60 horsepower gain from changing heads. Just remember to have the steam holes drilled in the heads before you use them.

I don't know if he will see 60 or more hp but a 35-40 is very easily obtained.
But like you said he could also raise his comp. ratio with the smaller combustion chamber size.

if i increase comp won't that require higher octane? but my budget really isn't ready for new heads so I'll go wit the gears first: as the rest of the build had pretty much drained the budget my car seems to constantly flatten my wallet

Like I said, take baby steps. Do things one at a time and be tedious about it. You'll save money and your budget will last longer.

Also pertaining to your talk about higher octane. Yes, higher compression might take higher octane. But you wanna go fast, you'll have to pay for it.

Fast, Cheap, Good...Pick two because you can't have all 3. Just don't pick fast and cheap. That's how people get hurt.

i appreciate the advice, i'm just learning this is my first build: i do have a question about the gears is 3.73 to tall a gear to still have good driveability as far as mpg, i don't want outrageous rpm's at highway speeds

That's all up to you to be honest. With the torque that a 400 puts out, you'd probably be good with a mid 3 like 3.42 or 3.55 or so. That'd give you a decent highway gear. 3.73 would be ok I think. I probably wouldn't go any higher than 3.73 though.

Originally Posted by sbc400Regal

if i increase comp won't that require higher octane? but my budget really isn't ready for new heads so I'll go wit the gears first: as the rest of the build had pretty much drained the budget my car seems to constantly flatten my wallet

If you still have the stock pistons in the engine the aftermarket heads will work fine.
You may have to use 92 octane.

i have another question about another block i have laying around how do i identify a block without the casting number? i know it's a sbc !

Besides measuring the internal works. Look at the timing chain area. 010 and 020 are an indication that it's high nickel and 4 inch bore. My brain is not in gear so I am struggling to give your more to go on. Is it still assembled? Casting marks on the end of the heads can help if they haven't been changed out. I still like going to the dial indicator for deminsions. What else can you give us? Very weird, no casting references? hhhmmmmmm

the casting numbers look like someone took a grinder to the numbers, but i will check the heads right now and it is still assembled without timing cover and oil pan>>gimmie 5 mins and i'll be done checking the heads

i got a faint impression of the block casting numbers using aluminium foil (3970014) that last number could be a 1 or a 4

That number comes up as a 70-76 350 offered in both 2 and 4 bolt apps. Could be a good one to build.