I have a 1987 z-28 with a 350, and i can get a 400 from a friend, my question is will it fit in my car? has anyone dropped a 400 in a f body??

What all needs to be done to get it in and make it fit? and if it will can a 700r4 with a transgo shift kit handle the 400?

 

Depends on what kind of a 400...

If it's a small blcok Chevy, then yes, it will drop right in. You'll need the flex plate for a 400, it will have the 86-back crank bolt pattern and the correct balance specs for a 400; and the 400 harmonic balancer. Other than that, it's identical on the outside to a 305 or 350.

 

with the 400's known cooling problems, i'd keep the 350

 

and what problems would those be?

 

Those are the illusionall problems that everybodies friend has had, but nobody with the 400 has had, duh! I have had a 400 smallblock for about 10 years and it has been in 4 different vehicles without problem, sadly it has never made its way to the old Camaro. Good luck with the swap!!

 

Well my friend was telling me to keep my 350 because its tpi, but can i switch the 400 to tpi or would it have to stay carb? Im not sure which engine would be better to go with

 

No you can't put the TPI on the 400 because the 350 is a roller cam engine and the 400 would have to be converted to a roller not that hard. But if the 350 runs good leave it in, if it ain't broke don't bother fixin' it.

 

I just want to get more power so i was wondering if it was better to stroke this engine or to drop a 400 in it....

 

There's no reason that you would have to convert the 400 to roller just so you could bolt a TPI induction on top of it. The hardest thing you'd have to do would be to change the angle of the center 2 intake bolts on each side, if you use early-model heads. That isn't specific to a 400 though, you would have to do the same thing with any pre-86 heads. It would be possible to use your L98 heads on a 400 block with the right choice of pistons.

Personally I would not recommend building a TPI 400 regardless, because TPI is so restrictive. On a 350 it already runs out of flow at about 4400 RPM or so; on a 400 it will nose over at even a lower RPM. Basically you will strangle a 400 with a TPI.

I have to agree about the overheating problems... the only people I know of who have cooling problems with 400s seem to be the people who have never had one. I certainly have never had any trouble with any of mine, including the one I had in my 83 for about 12 years (and which will be going back in soon).

 

The only cooling problem I had on my 400 was when the lower radiator hose burst. That happened at 210k miles, about 30k of that on that hose; I'd hardly call that a 400 cooling problem.

Sure you can put TPI on a 400. It's called MiniRam...

 

400'S ARE FUN. JUST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUILDING AND WHAT YOU EXPECT. YES, YOU DO NOT NEED A ROLLER CAM TO HAVE TPI. IT YOU WANT A ROLLER CAM, THEN ADD THE DOLLARS UP AND FOR THAT MANY BUCKS YOU CAN HAVE A HE** OF A START ON BUYING A MINI RAM. I DONT THINK THE PERFORMANCE GAINS OF A ROLLER ARE WORTH THAT MANY DOLLARS. I DID KEEP THE STOCK TPI ON MY 400, BUT I DONT EXPECT THE ENGINE TO FLY PAST 5000 RPM EITHER. AND I PICKED THE CAM ACCORDINGLY TO MATCH THE REAR GEARS AND WHERE I WANTED THE PERFORMANCE. I SHIFT AT 4500 TOPS, MOST OF THE TIME LESS, AND IT DO JUST FINE. I AM NOT RACING, JUST PLAYING ON THE STREET.