Ok I bought a 400 4 bolt block for 40.00. I know it is not the best block to start with but 40.00 was to good to pass up. It is stock bore and the guy had installed plugs on the deck to be drilled for the coolant passages, supposed to make deck stronger. I cleaned it up at home a little bit and it looks good. I just dropped it off at the machine shop to hot tank and magnaflux. What kind of power are they good for? I imagine main studs would help but is 500 max, 600 the max? I would like to build a track only car with this block in mind. I did a search and it seems 500 is the safe #, but with the heads and induction available today 500hp is easy.

On a side note I have a friend with a NA 351 prodction block stroked to 408 in a fox mustang. He pulls the wheels past the 60' mark and runs right on a 6.00 in the 1/8th. He has run it for at least 6 years with winter freshens up. After the 1st season he had noticed capwalk but put on a main girdle and problem solved, stock main caps and all. He used to be in the mid 6's but the past few winters he has added a powerglide and gone to a 4link rear.

How can I get results out of this 400?

 

Lose weight

Get the suspension right

Go easy on the motor, that way you have a better chance of being consistent and not breaking stuff every time you run it and having to always be changing it

Take good notes when you run it so you can tell how the weather, track conditions, etc. affect it

Good tires

Converter

Don't worry too much about the motor. Beginning racers always think they'll go fast by jamming more motor in their car. It's more about the car than the motor.

You need about 450-500 HP; 11:1 CR, solid roller 245-250° intake, good heads (NOT STOCK), auto trans, 9" converter from one of the top-of-the-line mfrs, Perf RPM intake will do, don't get all hung up on getting every last HP, worry more about using the ones you've got

 

I agree completely about car setup, absolutely makes no sense having 400 horse if you can't get it down.

 

Have your machine shop Hard Block up to the bottom of the welch plugs. Adds a lot of strength and keeps the heat up in the top of the engine.

 

I talked to the shop about hardblock, he said it would be a good idea. But he just doesn't want to imply what HP it will take, won't take a chance in case it broke.

With the cylinder heads/valvetrain/induction available with 406 cubes 500 horse shouldn't be too hard. 600-650 would be nice as long as the block doesn't split.