I'm thinking of getting a 400 small block and putting it in my 87' IROC 350..Are there alot of things I'm going to need to change to get this up and running?I'm planning on not keeping the TPI and going with a 750 CFM Holley most likely.And also I'm planning to get rid of all the emmissions garbage, because there won't be a need for it anymore.Any info and help is appreciated..

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"Turn a 12 second dream into a 10 second reality"

 

you will run into problems with the starter fitting

you will have two options:

1) buy an expensvie mini starter. This will fit and lose some weight too, but they are expensive

2) Not exactly sure (do a search in the motor swap forum for "400") Someone figured out that if you switch the starter housing of our stock ones with a different one (cant remember) it will work

also remember to have the steam holes drilled in the cylinder heads you use

 

I dont know about the stick cars. But, With my auto a stock 400 starter works fine a gear reduction is nice but not needed.



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90 IROC
SuperRamed 406
Trickflow 23* heads

 

400s come with a 2 piece rear main seal, so I think you will need to change the bellhousing on your tranney too, but I'm not sure. I do know that you can buy a 2 piece to 1 piece adapter for it, its pretty cheap too from what I have heard. And, btw, why are you getting rid of the TPI?

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End with 2.77:1 Gears.

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Accel High Flow TPI Baseplate, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Catco 3" High-Flow Catalytic Converter, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Transgo Shift Kit, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition, K&N Filters, Jet TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET: 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

 

TPI is nice but I'd rather have the carb..A local guy with a 406 in his 87' formula had kept the TPI on the 400 at first then replaced it with a carb and got much better performance out of the motor. He's running low 11's or so on motor and with NOS he's running low 10's all day long..
I'm thinking more along the lines of starting with building a carbed motor then adding an ATI procharger or NOS but I'm leaning more towards the procharger. Once I get the motor and start building it i'll have a better idea of where to go next..


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"Turn a 12 second dream into a 10 second reality"

 

Having been there and done it a few times, with both a T-5 and an auto, I'll tell you what I've found.

The trans itself will bolt right up to the 400 motor. The BH is the same for 1-piece and 2-piece RMS blocks. You will however need an externally balanced ("unbalanced") flex plate for a 2-piece block. You can do any one of 3 things:
[list=1][*]You can use a stock 305/350 flex plate which is 12¾" diameter (small), and have a balance shop "unbalance" it to the stock 400 spec.[*]You can use a stock small 305/350 flex plate and a "pork chop" external balance weight.[*]You can use a stock 400 flex plate which is 14" diameter, which will of course come with the correct "unbalance". If you do this, you will have to use the 3510 style starter, which locates itself 5/8" farther away from the crank and is larger diameter besides; this sometimes lead to header clearance problems, and requires a different TC dust cover, because the one you have is too small to accommodate the larger flex plate.[/list=a]

IMHO that is the order of preference. You don't absolutely need a "mini-starter" no matter what; but I can tell you that especially if you use the small flex plate, the starter that goes with it is too weenie to reliably turn over a 400. I finally got a clue and bought myself a CVR mini unit for my T-5/400 combo. It's like night and day how much better it turned that motor over than the little joke POS that came on the car.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

[This message has been edited by RB83L69 (edited October 07, 2001).]

 

I just did exactly this swap in my brother's 87 GTA. Go look up a post I made several weeks ago in the Motor Swap section callled "installed 2 piece rear main engine in place of 87-up engine" or something like that- I don't remember the exact title anymore. It'll tell you everything you need to know.