Which would you build? I can get either for relatively cheap and I'm leaning towards the 400 just because of raw cubes. Any problems with the 400's? Weren't alot of people complaining about them overheating?

 

400 inches is power, don't handicap yourself 50 inches right off the bat when you can have them. there isn't an overheating problem, just people making mistakes with not drilling steam holes i nthe head or running the wrong timing.

 

What about the flywheel? Will it fit in the bellhousing?

 

No context. The 400 will win, every time, just as surely as a 350 will beat an otherwise equivalent 305. I know... I have a 400 that usually lives in my 83.

Whether the flywheel will fit or not, depends on what flywheel you use. If you use a stock 305 flywheel and have it "unbalanced" to the stock 400 balance spec, it will fit fine. One thing you do have to do though, since the 400 pre-dates the introduction of the 12-3/4" flywheel / flex plate, it is missing the inner hole in the block that is necessary to bolt the right starter up. Do not believe anyone that tells you otherwise, the hole you need is simply not there, and there is no starter you can buy that will fix the situation, because the bolt hole that is there, if you put a bolt in it, will make the bolt to have to go RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE of the starter drive. All the people who will tell you all about how this or that starter "should" work, are people who have never done it. Ignore them, they don't know what they are talking about.

I have a L69 (lightweight) flywheel I use on my 400, the block is sdrilled and tapped with the special hole for the special starter bolts, and I was using the stock L69 starter until I finally wised up and got something that is capable of turning the motor over; a CVR mini-starter.

Mine does not overheat. I have a stock replacement radiator for some later-model car (it[s aluminum & plastic rather than brass), 180 degree thermostat usually, stock single electric fan, stock fan switch, Stewart stage 2 water pump. I drilled the steam holes in my heads. Again, most of what you hear about them overheating starts out with "I've heard"; people who actually have them don't seem to have any problems. Ignore the rumors and hearsay from the ignorant.

 

Couldnt of said it better myself RB83l69.... just went through all that ****... Bought a brand new steel RAM flywheel 12 3/4 had it unbalanced and used a 10.5 inch pressure plate and clutch disc. Also used 64 cc 350 heads and drilled the steam holes.. no big deal just use an old head gasket with a couple of head bolts to hold it in place. As for the starter HA what a pain in my @ss went out and bought a nice brand new GM mini starter went to bolt it up.. only one hole.. damn 400's are staggered bolt pattern and like he said you will NOT find a starter for this... you find plenty of them for the 168 tooth flywheels but that flywheel will not fit into the stock t-5 bellhousing found that out after buying a brand new one.. make sure you investigate everything before you start doing this i ran into quite a few problems that could of been avoided if i would of planned everything out from the beginning, this will save you a lot of money and headaches beleive me. But when its all in and running it is so worth it, the power is crazy, def go with the 400. :hail:

 

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I prefer small cube engines to get me where I need to go, 327 all the way. Ive seen many SBC 400's with a rod poking out of the oil pan so if you build one do It right, replace the connecting rods with an aftermarket set and use locktight on the connecting rod nuts. The nuts on the C/R seem to be the down fall of all 400's.

 

yeah def get rid of those ****ty 5.65 connecting rods i went with eagle SIR 5.7 rods had to do a little bit of clearance work on the rods to clear the camshaft but its all good. 327's are nice but remember there is no replacement for displacement you might be able to wind them up more but a 400 dosent need to be wound out to make power.

 

400 all the way.

 

400.

 

A 350 will just take 15percent more rpm to do it.

Not a lot of 350s sound like this


http://cis.tamu.edu/~jcb9392/idle.MPG

 

Where can I get the flywheel unbalanced?

 

Local balancing shop, or racing machine shop...

Talk to the best racing machinist in your town, the one that does the work for the circle track cars in your area that win, not just your corner chain parts store. They can probably do it; if not, they'll know for sure who can.