ok so im not going big block im my 3rd gen. which would be best a 383 or a 406? whats so good about a high nickel block? has anyone ever put a procharger supercharger for a carbed engine in their 3rd gen? the 383 im looking at has 560HP at the crank and the 406 (there are two of them) has 580 or 615 HP at crank. they are all within $1000 of eachother and i dont know which would be best. im looking for power and reliability and more power.

 

Power and reliability usualy do not belong in the same sentance, but I would say go for the 406.

 

Well the high nickel blocks cool better, And go with the 406. Sorry I can't help you with the procharger I'm more of a turbo guy. Buy if you are buying a 406 with that much horse the compression ratio is probably too high to run any boost and be worth the money.

Later, Garrett

 

the compression in the 406 560HP is 10.2, is that too high for a supercharger?

 

Unless you're running race gas, then yes. 8.5:1 is the magic number for forced induction.

 

You can still run the procharger but you aren't going to gain much horse at all (maybe 20 - 30 max.) not worth the investment.

Later, Garrett

 

I'd go with the 383. over a factory block sbc 400.

The block whether it be high nickle or not of the 383, will be inherently stronger, and less likely to shift than the sbc400 motor, cools better, and typically will make more power. no steam holes to drill in the heads, less rotating mass.

for dependability i'd certainly go with the 383.

 

If you build it right the 400 will be just as dependable as a 383, and have more power because of more cubes.

 

Go with all the cubes you can get, go with the 406.

 

406 will have a **** load of torque. i love the 400 chevy small block.

 

Thats not true at all. Air to air intercooled pro chargers on 10.2:1 LT1 cars provide massive gains.