hey everyone

Im stuck in a bit of a dilemma.
I want a 400 sb , but since they are so old they are VERY hard to come by.
I wanted to know basically, since they used 5.56 " rods as opposed to the 5.7" in the 350s if this causes a problem with the engine

from the copious amounts of reading ive been doing, It seems that the 350 SB is alot more of a workhorse then that of the 400 SB

Is this in fact true as they discontinued the 400 in 1980 (?)
Im looking to build a strong solid motor that can deliver gobs of torque @ low rpms.

While the 350 is a work horse, i am lead to believe that the extra 50 CI in the 400 will deliver more power, but ive been reading about it and apperently the 400 series is a SH*T block for performance as its laden with malfunctioning issues.

can anyone help me shed some light on this ?
Thanks

 

If your worried about fifty extra cubic inches, just have the 350 bored out. I wouldn't waste my time searching the bone-yards for a 400 small block, when more than enough power can be made with a 350, unless your looking to be different, casting number wise...

 

just go 383.. 350 block, 400 spec crank.. there are SOOOO many kits available.. 5.7" rods, 6.0" rods, forged, cast, hyper, etc.. torque of a 400, hp of a 350..

 

If you're dead set on a 400 block, consider a Dart Little M or a Merlin / Motown or a OE Chev Sportsman block.

 

alright so then ill go w/ a 350 then

will it just drop in in place of my 2.8 L ?

 

If you start with a crappy 400 casting then yes it's certainly going to be a crap shoot... but with a good block casting the 400 SBC is going to outperform the 350 with the same relative internals. That said, if you're looking to do a build in the near future and don't care about being different, you'll save time and money by just building a nice 383.

 

Read the "V6 to V8" sticky above.