I ran into a old timer in the tire shop the other day and got to talking and asked if he had any 350 4bolt blocks or 400 blocks. He told me to stop over because he was trying to get rid of alot of the stuff he's collected over the years. I was thinking just get a std. 350 or 400, bore it .030, get some 5.7 SIR I beams, new pistons, and a new crank(3.75 in either block). From there I was going to put a set of trick flow cnc 195cc heads and a comp cams XE 274 or maybe a 284 hydraulic flat tappet cam along with a edelbrock rpm.

Now comes the good news. We walked into his garage and the block isn't covered in sludge and is very little rust. Actually the blue paint looks almost new. So I look at his 4 bolt 350's and they were what I was expecting just good reusable cores. He did not have much info on the 400. He traded for it about 10 years ago and said he was told it had been run but very low miles and that it had new bearings and rings, when he got it. I told him what I was going to do and asked what he wanted for either block and he said 100.00 for the 350 and 140.00 for the 400, he figured the crank was worth 40.00. I figured the 400 was worth the extra 40.00 because my hands weren't going to get dirty.

So I run it over to a buddy's house and start looking it over. It has 330817 cast into the block. And Al says jez this thing has forged pistons with 2348PA STD stamped into them. They are dished and have 4 eyebrows, no idea who makes them. They are clean with just a little residue. The cylinders have a very small ridge on the top of the cylinders that we can feel but a fingernail won't even come close to catching on. Crosshatch is still all there and no rust in the cylinders. The snout of the crank has some rust where the dampner rides, but that is about it.

Al says I should just bring it to a machine shop have them hone it, and reassemle it with ARP rod and main bolts, new rings and bearings throughout. Put in the comp cams 274, edelbrock E-Tec heads, and the performer rpm and run it the way it is. Keep the rpms around 5500-5800 and I should have a heck of a cheap poweful engine. Figures easy 450hp and probably well over 500tq.

There is no balancer or flexplate, what would I need to get it to work in front of my 91 700R4? Also would decking the block and sending the rotating assembly out for balancing be worth it for my purpose?

What do you guys think?

 

No matter what, if the block is usable, you got a great deal!

Does he have anymore 400s?

 

He said he had one buried but said it would be a project. He said it was pretty rusty.

 

got yourself a very good deal by the sounds of it.

lucky bastard

 

Machinist said they look like TRW's, although cannont be sure because the numbers don't cross in any of the books he has.

I talked to the previous owner and he said this is the story. He recalled that a buddy of his had a .030 400 rotating assembly and a good standard bore block. Dave happened to have a block .030 and they just swapped blocks. Dave then just went through his parts and put it together for a suburban but sold the sub and the motor sat. He said everything was ready to go with a fresh hone and the measurements all checked out.

What would be the best course of action. Run it as is with a out of box set of aluminum 180-200cc heads and keep the rpm's to 5500-6000? Otherwise I was thinking I may just have it bored .030, use a longer rod and some forged pistons. I just don't know if I trust the stock rods.

 

I wouldnt stay with stock rods...whatever your going to do, do it now so you wont kick yourself later. Aluminum heads, bore, forged pistons etc...do some research as to how much hp and trque you want. Will it be for racing? A daily driver? I had my 400 built and bored .030 over etc. At the time I was still unsure what I wanted for the car. It was only built for 450hp-500hp. I will have fun with this motor for awhile and then sell it and buy another 400sb and bore it .060 over etc. etc. Good luck!

 

I decided at a minimum I would use arp rod bolts. But by the time the stockers are resized I could get a set of eagle/scat I beams for a little more. May as well go with a 6" rod for a better rod ratio and pistons to match the rods. I am taking it apart and to see what kind of wear there is in the cylinders.