i am going to build an engine. i have decided to go with a 400sbc. a neighbour has a heavily modded 327 that snapped a rod. i want to know will the heads, intake fit the 400? also will the 400 bolt up to a muncie M22 transmission? what type of car would be best to get a 400 out of? a buick? or TA?

 

Well your not going to find a 400 SBC in any buick or T/A stock. The only thing you are going to find a 400 SBC in stock is a Chevrolet pickup truck or a Caprice/Impala. You are confusing a 400 BOP with a 400 SBC, not much will work from a 327 to a 400 BOP. But everything (almost) will work on the 400 SBC. (everything but harmonic balancer and flywheel but I have a trick to get around the flywheel problem )

Later, Garrett

 

Like he said, everything will work except balancer and flywheel or flex plate.

A big motor needs FLOW. It hardly matter how big the jugs are, if you can't fill them up with air/fuel!!! Heads are critical. If this is going in a 3rd gen, make sure the heads have accessory bolt holes in the ends of them; without those, you can't install your accessories like .... the alternator. You'll hear people tell ou all about how they're "going to" do it; I have yet, in the 30 years since it became necessary, to run across one single success story of fabbing brackets.

My favorite place to find 400s is in mid-70s full-size cars and Monte Carlos. You find them in boneyards all the time, people think they're 350s. The heads that come on them are garbage, good for absolutely nothing; all you really want from one like that is the block, crank, and rods.

Here's the bolt holes of which I speak.

 

what kind of heads should i use? i need them to be cheap. i can't afford aftermarket right away(unless my neighbour will sell me his cheap) so what vehicle had some good heads stock that i could maybe find in a junk yard?

 

The ones in the pic came off of a 69 Impala 350 4-barrel. They also came on 70 Impalas, Monte Carlos and such, especially station wagons. Those are casting # 186.

Avoid anything 71 up, except L98 heads. There are very, very few in that year range that are suitable for a 400, and also godd runners.

 

If you put non-400 heads on a 400, you have to drill holes in them. I believe they are referred to as steam holes, but I don't know for sure. My roommate had to do this for his 400.

 

Fast is correct, you will need to drill the steam holes. Their size is not important. Their only purpose is as a "vent", such that if any coolant boils between the cyls where the bores are "siamesed", there's a way for the bubbles to rise and escape rather than being trapped under the deck of the block. They're not for coolant flow as such.

In this pic, they're the little holes in between the combustion chambers. (These are Dart heads BTW, which is why they don't look at all like stock ones). I used a 5/32" drill, and a 400 head gasket (Fel-Pro 1044 in this case) as a template; just punched them with a center punch, and drilled away. Took maybe 10 minutes a head.