alright guys i'm lookin for a block to build my mini/steatlh rammed 406. i placed a wanted add on a local site and this is what some guy had....tell me if you think this would be a good base to start with? the guy only wants 100 USD cause hes tired of having it around the garage..i'd get it bored the extra .010 to make it a 406..

Block, crank, rods, balancer, flex plate.

Block is .020 over 4 bolt and APPEARS to need only a hot tank and a hone. You could still go another .010 if needed but I think its OK as is. 1 cyl has a small chip taken from the very bottom of a bore. (NO water jacket involved!) Maybe 1/4" x 1"...like a rod bearing failed and the rod kissed it. Everyone who has looked at it agrees that its a non-issue. Hit it with a dremel to smooth the edge and its good to go. The block is from a Labrador Suburban and has very little rust BTW.

Crank needs to be cut...looks fine otherwise.

Rods are stock 400...pistons are junk.

Balancer is proper 400 and looks ok.

Balanced 400 Flexplate needs a sandblast but the teeth looked ok at a glance...couldn't see any damage or appreciable wear.

No heads but 350 heads will interchange...

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i got it...heres pics...

the crank may be okay after a cut..., but i'm not gonne use the pistons or rods...


3 frost caps...its a 400 alright...


judging from the dark spots on the deck, i'd say that a wrong gasket was used...


if you look in the center of this pic you can see a small chip from the #1 cyl wall...


and this pic shows the bigger chip in the 3rd piston on the same side...chip is about 3/16" by 5/8"



i'm bringing it to a machine shop on tuesday to get them to check it out and get their opinon on the chips...it the meantime, what do you guys think from the pics?

i signed an agreement stating that i have 2 weeks to find out if i'm gonna keep it or not, so if the meachine shop don't like it then, i'll get a full refund..

if it does get a thumbs up, then i am gonna get it bored .010 over and hot tanked, and whiles its there it'll get some new brass frost plugs along with new cam bearings..

 

I'd have the block checked for cracks and actual bore before spending any money on parts or machine work.

If that all checks out, you're going to need new pistons anyway, so might as well get 5.7" rods and appropriate pistons. Much better combo then the stock rods.

It's good it doesn't come with heads. This way you won't have to dispose of them.

 

And if you use stock 350 heads, I'd look into porting them a bit. You'll need to get them to flow. Other than that, everything 5-7 said.

Personally, I'd get at least a Scat 9000 crank, and have it internally balanced. That way, you could pretty much drop it in anything and not worry about flywheel/balacer issues.

A T-5 will even bolt up.

Too bad it didn't come with the 883's.....RB83L69 seems to love them!

 

A 400 sbc 2 bolt main is better than a 4 bolt main. Just an FYI.

 

alright i prolly get it if i can't get another one that i am lookin at...when i do i'd drop it off to the machine shop and tell em to check it for cracks and to check the bore? and i'll get their opinion on what they think of the "chip" in one of the cylinder walls, and if they think its a good block to build.

i also gotta start lookin for a t56 to go with it!

which would be better for more low end power but still have lots all the way to 5500 or 6k rpm?..a minirammed 406 or a stealthrammed 406?

 

The stealthram is good for 6500 rpm but some say it loses a little on the low end. I haven't noticed a difference. Can't help you with the miniram. I am not sure.

 

Sounds OK to me, as far as it goes; subject to all of the usual things one would have to deal with in a used engine.

Get it bored to .030". The selection of pistons is much better at that particular overbore. Plus, it will give you a fresh new cyl wall surface.... always a good thing for a build-up, if done properly.

Heads are critical. A 400 is BIG, and therefore needs lots of flow. You need heads that will sound like they're overkill for a 350, and then they'll be just about enough for a 400. Remember, flow is a function of CID, and a 400 has 15% more of those than a 350; so all the parts need to be that much bigger.

Don't bother with any stock "350 heads" if you're starting out with none and have to buy some anyway. Or stock "400 heads" either for that matter.

The Stealth Ram is good for about 425-450 HP of flow. No matter what engine size you put under it, or what RPM you spin it to, that's how much air/fuel mixture will fit through it. Remember at all times, HP is directly proportional to flow; HP is work per time, and work is performed by gasoline molecules combining with oxygen molecules, and oxygen molecules are measured in cubic feet per minute. Therefore the number of oxygen molecules (amount of work that can be done) per unit time that you can get to pass through the engine, is the ultimate limit to its capacity for producing HP.

The MiniRam on the other hand will flow ENORMOUS amounts. Here's a pic of one, showing the ports, and the plenum. The ports are about 4" long. This particular one has been port-matched (that's "port" matched, all the way from plenum to head, not just "gasket" matched) to a Fel Pro 1205, and so should be good for well in excess of 500 HP of flow. There's enough metal to port match one of these to a 1206, if you want to shoot for 600 HP N/A. Go to Holley's site and look at the Stealth Ram, and compare port cross section and length, to this. I think your decision will be easy to make.

 

OOooooopppps, how about a pic.

 

want it to be 450-500hp/torque...

car will be driven on every sunny day, and driven kinda hard at times..will see track use about 1 a month.

i think i'll go with like someone said above, a scat 9000 crank, eagle h beam rods, and perhaps some flattop pistons...

could the stock 400 crank handle that much power?

whats the difference(strength wise) in hyperuetic and forged alum/steel? should i go with a 5.7 or 6.0 rod lenght?

i plan to use alum. heads, something around 64-70cc heads maybe?

what mods would i need to do to a t56 to make it stand up to the abusive power, other than a better clutch obviously?

 

see new edit..pics edited into orgional post...

 

bump! this motor look any good or should i get a refund?

 

I don't see anything that looks un-useable..... have it checked for cracks, if there are none, use it.

 

Take a look at what I did to my SBC 400 andd achieved the goals that you want. Somethings I did go overboards but I like the extra insurance of forge bottom end.SBC 400 DYNO SHEETS

 

dyno sheets not workin...what were the numbers?

i've been doing alot of reading, and i've answered a good few of my questions...

aren't 1 5/8 headers a little small for your 408?