400SBC ??? STROKER KITS

[lively]

LET'S SEE--i have come up with a 400sbc --2 BOLT MAINS--in trades 8)
my son has a 91 S10/ and a nice overdrive trans/ and just happen to have a narrowed 9 inch :roll:

anyway-- he has built a nice 350 engine for it but now i have this 400[ STROKER KITS??] :? 8)
GOOD/ BAD / UGLY??? :lol:

you chance to convert me !!!! :lol: :lol:

[dragonmaster093]

400s a good motor but have a unique head wirh steam ports an need 400 specific gasket you can stroke it or just build a nice 406

[zipper06]

Since it is appearently for street use (IE OD trans)i'd stick with the 350 which he already has built. 400's are tricky and sometime run hot on the street, plus they are notoriously thin on the cyliner walls and have to be checked for wall thickness before ever boring the blk.

JMO

Zip.

[dragonmaster093]

or punch 350 to 355 clearence block and 400 crank and rods and have old school 383 stoker and resell the 400 block

[BEAST477]

Sam are you saying put the 400 crank in the 350 block? Aren't the mains journals larger on a 400 crank than a 350?

[MEMRACING62]

or punch 350 to 355 clearence block and 400 crank and rods and have old school 383 stoker and resell the 400 block HUH.... :? :? NO, YOU NEED A STROKER CRANK! :roll:

[mopar1968]

Shoot guy's you can make that 400 crank fit the 350 block with a BIG hammer :!: :!: His uncle could make a 454 crank work :!: :!:


Mark

[MEMRACING62]

Shoot guy's you can make that 400 crank fit the 350 block with a BIG hammer :!: :!: His uncle could make a 454 crank work :!: :!:


Mark It has been rumored that there is three wise engine builders in southern virginia that can preform this task with great skill :shock: :shock: :P

[mopar1968]

And i thought there was only 1 that moved here :!: :shock: :shock:



Mark

[MEMRACING62]

NOTICE TO ALL BUILDERS...A STROKER KIT IS NOT...A JAR OF VASELINE & A PENTHOUSE ! :shock:

[fast75vega]

NOTICE TO ALL BUILDERS...A STROKER KIT IS NOT...A JAR OF VASELINE & A PENTHOUSE ! :shock:

damn.... well there goes that thought

[miked24]

I personally would stay with the 350. The 400 is defiantly tricky and with it being a 2 bolt main I'd put a for sale sign on it and let it go. As far as the 383 I have had one of those too and you have to turn the journals down to far to fit the 350 block plus the block has to be clearenced for your rods also. If you get on it to hard the crank has a tendency to twist I can share sum pics of one I twisted at 2grand rpm's at about 55 mph if you need sum evidence. So my first opinion is the 350, second would be 400.

[mopar1968]

Dang you mean you can't just drop a 400 crank into a 350 block and have a ''Old School'' 383 :?: :shock: :shock: That ain't what i heard :!: :!:


Mark

[BEAST477]

Dang you mean you can't just drop a 400 crank into a 350 block and have a ''Old School'' 383 :?: :shock: :shock: That ain't what i heard :!: :!:


Mark

:shock: LMAO

[MEMRACING62]

Dang you mean you can't just drop a 400 crank into a 350 block and have a ''Old School'' 383 :?: :shock: :shock: That ain't what i heard :!: :!:


MarkIf you drop it from high enough it just might fit...new school stroker. :idea:

[dragonmaster093]

383 came abousing 400 came about by old school racers using 400 cranks before aftermarket came out with stroker kits

[dragonmaster093]

SO ALL YALL SMART AZZS READ THE FOLLOWING
If the small-block Chevy is the most predominant powerplant in the musclecar world, the 383 could very well be the most popular displacement. In a world where cubic inches are king, it doesn't make much sense to build a 350ci small-block when you can build a 383 for virtually the same price. In the old days, car crafters pillaged unsuspecting 400ci engines for their cranks and connecting rods. Today, the aftermarket is bulging with ridiculously affordable cast cranks. When you can buy a brand-new, fully machined, and ready-to-install cast 3.75-inch stroker crank for $175, there's no reason to build a plain vanilla 350. This giant section is devoted exclusively to the design, creation, building, and testing of the 383ci stroker small-block Chevy.


The essential component of... read full captionThe essential component of the stroker swap is the crank. Adding an additional 0.270 inch of stroke means that the crank and rod swing also increase, making the crankcase a very tight place on a small-block Chevy.The Origin Of The Species
First of all, Chevy never built a production 383. Secondly, the 383 did not just fall out of the sky one bright, clear summer afternoon. Sometime roughly 30-odd years ago, a creative small-block engine builder realized that if he machined the main journals of a 400ci small-block crank to fit in a 350 block, the longer arm would add roughly 28 ci to a 0.030-overbored small-block Chevy. This happens because the 400 small-block uses a 3.75-inch stroke compared with the 350's 3.48-inch stroke. Add in a 0.030-inch overbore and the displacement formula spits out 382.6 ci, which car crafters have conveniently rounded off to 383.

While the standard 383 is the most common form of stroker small-block, there are several variations to this theme. The first question might be: Why not just build a 400ci small-block and take advantage of the additional cubic inches? In the early days of the 383, many enthusiasts were under the mistaken impression that the 400 small-block was prone to overheating, so using a 350 block was considered a better way to go. Today, finding a 400ci standard-bore production block is becoming increasingly difficult, which is why the 383 has remained popular. The following is a selection of the variations on the stroker small-block concept.

[mopar1968]

Sam if you mill a 400 crank down that far it will break under the stress, This is a proven fact :!: I think i know where you got your info but a milled 400 crank in a 350 block just can't stand the stress, You have alot of racers on here that i would think they have tried it,They have some high dollar machines i would think they do know what they are talking about :!: Like i have said before ''God gave us two ear's and one mouth for a reason'' :!: :!:

Mark

[dragonmaster093]

i knew about 400 crank 383s before this article
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0808_383_stroker_small_block_chevy/index.html

[MEMRACING62]

I knew there was reason I dont read car craft. :roll: :roll: we dont want to see lively's engine go BOOM!

[zipper06]

Sam, Mark,
Time for the old timer to weigh in on this thread. First of all the 400 crank/stroker was not the first stroker to be used in a 350 block. In 1964 i had Delta build me a 3 5/8" stroker form a Chevy 350 steel crank. They welded up the rod jurnals, reground them, and hard cromed them to a 3 5/8" stroke with a 4.030 bore= 365". That was yrs. before the 400 sm/blk was ever introduced. I used Isky off set alum rods, which i would almost bet no one on this forum has ever seen. The rod cap was rotated 45 degrees so the bolts had more clearance on the blk rails. I built a main gurdle that covered the 3 ctr. mains out of 1" steel. I had to grind the main caps flat for a .002 interferance fit,i had to step the pan down in the pan rails because the gurdle was bolted to the blk with 3/8" allen head bolts. I used double hump heads opened up to the max. On top of that was a 671 blower with a hilborn shotgun injection. This engine was in a 1956 T'bird that set a world (MPH & ET) record in AHRA and many other records over the next couple yrs. (as Bjuice has mentioned) I had a hydromatic 4 speed trans with 3,000 stall and problably slipped 20%. I had a 456 gear with 10.50 X 31" M&H tires. I don't know for sure how many RPM's i turned,( no recall tacks and a 102" wheelbase car can be a hand full at that speed) but the car @ 2450 lbs ran anywhere from 138 to 148 MPH in the low 10's and the rod and main bearings had to be changed every 12 to 15 passes. I put 100's of passes on this engine and never broke it and almost never got beat.
Now back to the 400 crank, the problem with the 400 crank, they are cast Nodular iron and flex like a pretezal, but wont break. (if you have in your shop a good large C'clamp, tighten it down on someting and it will bend like crazy, but won't break, they are Nodular iron) The crank will eat main bearing like you have never seen in your life.

Just some old history

Zip.

[lively]

WELL GUYS-- I have really learned alot about the 400's :evil: :roll: :cry: :roll: :cry:

I SOLD IT 2 DAYS AGO FOR A PROFIT :lol:


The old 500 CADILLAC is sitting there all apart and waiting 8) :shock: