Ok heres the deal, I have a sbc 400 (509 block) from an old chevy truck. Its completely untouched, no boring or anything. I plan to get the 4 bolt splayed mains and a completely forged rotating assembly. and some decent heads.

So far Ive been looking at the Eagle rotating assembly but its fairly pricy $2k is there a decent alternative that costs a little less?

For heads was looking at the GMPP vortecs but recently the guy at the speed shop told me to look at the edlebrock E-Tec 200. If I could afford it I would just go AFR or Trick Flow or something but thats just way more money than I want to spend.

Also I was told I have 2 options for the cam, stick with the non roller setup or go with a roller conversion setup. Any opinions on this? Is it worth the cost to go with the roller conversion or should I just stick with the other stuff.

Any help would be nice. Thanks

 

It almost sounds like a quasi-budget build you're talking about so... I'm wondering why you want splayed 4 bolt mains? I'd forget that idea, and use that for better heads or preferably a roller cam. Is there that much to be gained? Well, the profiles are much better and wear and friction are reduced with the roller cam. Its certainly a better place to spend money than main caps that will add nothing to the power curve.

What are you planning on for induction?

 

delete :P

 

Build it just like this one Chevy 406ci Small-Block Build - Tech Article - Chevy High Performance Magazine

The Etec heads would work very well. I wouldn't bother with a roller conversion. If I was going to go roller I'd put in a solid mechanical "street roller" like Crane Cams SR series or Comps Extreme roller series. Crane even has "of the shelf" small base circle street rollers for 400's.

I'd recomend a cam in the 244@.050 range in a flat tappet or roller profile for a street 400.

 

Yes the project is on some what of a budget yet at the same time I dont want to skimp on stuff that will make the engine weak or not last. This will also be a slow build over the next year or two both for time and money reasons.

Thats why I wanted to go forged internals and the 4 bolt, just for the strength and longevity of it.

As for cam I was looking at the Comp 08-467-8 but thats a roller cam so I dont know how that works with the conversion setup. Personaly I prefer the roller setup because it just seems like it would be better.

As far as Intake its going to get the SDPC vortec TPI base, bigger runners and a modified plenum. Yes I know this will hold back some of the potential power but thats what I want, Im not going to go carb or HSR, it will stay TPI

I have headman shorties now but I will most likely get Hooker Longtubes before this motor is done.

Also I have the T56 which will eventualy have a much nicer clutch to handle the power.

 

If it's gonna stay TPI, you won't need 4 bolt mains since it'll have a built in rev limiter - TPI. It quits making power much above 4500 rpms on a 350, let alone a 400. No forged anything needed unless you're spraying.

So you won't want a real radical cam either since it'll need to play nice with a computer . So keep the LSA at 112 or higher, roller or flat tappet. You may want to do a lot of research on the TPI board so far as trying to tune it goes.

Seems you live rather close to me, so feel free to PM me since I've gone through a roller conversion already amoungst other things...

 

4 bolt mains won't give you anything for strength or longetivity, and forged pistons will wear faster than hypereutectic.

 

Build it with these parts and you will see these power numbers easily. The heads are ported on this build but still flow well as cast and are pretty reasonably priced. When you read this article keep in mind this engine is a 383 because its easy to forget. I would forget about LTR tpi because it would be a tragedy on a 406. This engine ran on 91 octane pump gas.

Beck Racing Street 383 Chevrolet Small-Block Engine - Tech Article - Chevy High Performance Magazine

 

Ok so it sounds like the forged stuff would be a waste because I wont ever be spraying. That should save about a grand on the rotating assembly.

The cam that I picked is the second biggest comp cam for computer controled engines. I went with that because Ive read a bunch of stuff that says with the 400 you cant go to big with the cam.

As far as tuning goes I have the Auto Prom and Im learning how to tune on my L98 now so by the time this thing is built I will beable to tune it.

Like I said, I know the TPI is going to be the restriction in this setup, I dont want to switch to anything else. I will upgrade things like the base, AS&M runners, bigger plenum, bigger TB.... But it will still be TPI If you think the TPI doesnt pull above 4500 then youve never riden in my car. It pulls pretty hard all the way up to about 5500. Yes it peaks at about 4800 because of the cam but it still has plenty of pull after that.




Confused1 I take it your from Green Bay? if so Im up that way quite a bit to see my fiance's family. We might actualy be taking the car up there this weekend if the weather is decent.

 

[QUOTE=But it will still be TPI If you think the TPI doesnt pull above 4500 then youve never riden in my car. It pulls pretty hard all the way up to about 5500. Yes it peaks at about 4800 because of the cam but it still has plenty of pull after that.[/QUOTE]

You got that backwards... The CAM allows it to to pull to 5500, THe INTAKE causes it PEAK at 4800.

 

Anyways like I said it will be TPI but it will get upgraded or hogged out as much as possible to help with that limitation.


Any other thoughts on the E-Tec 200 heads? thats kind of what Im leaning twards right now.

 

I think the 200cc heads will be a waste with a tpi since you wont make anymore power and possibly less with heads that big since 200 cc heads really want to flow to make the power they are capable of. Any other intake will take advantage of the 200 cc port heads flow capability. A smaller cc head will flow better at low lifts where the tpi makes its power compared to a large cc head. Either way it will make power though you just might want to consider a better manifold in the future.

 

My advice is to make sure the block is sound before you invest a lot of money in it. It may have cracks you are not aware of.

 

Well, I guess there's no talking you out of keeping the TPI. Just remember - the ports are "tuned" to supply x amount of velocity and flow to feed a 305 or 350 - not a 400ish engine. You may just defeat your purpose by hogging out runners and the like. If I were dead-set on fuel injection, I might go with a HSR setup or something more simular to that. But - you don't want that either...I mean, what are you looking for - torque?? Cubic inches will take care of that - heck, I dynoed at 490 ftlbs/ 3450 rpms at the flywheel with a 650 Demon carb and a flat tappet XE274H cam in it!! I doubt I'd see ANY better numbers with a TPI setup on it.

If you decided not to go with the forged internals, which isn't a bad choice for what you want, you'll need about all that 1K you're saving to go with a retro-roller setup. And as already stated, there's a better selection of profiles in roller cams than you'll ever find with flat tappet cams - but like anything else - it ain't cheap!! - I know that much!!

I'm no expert in great engine combos, but there's people on this board that do pretty decent. Aluminum heads are a choice I wish I'd made myself in the first place, whether they be E-Tecs, AFR's or whatever. You'll be able to bump compression up to 10.5:1 or so which is worth a little more power.

If you keep the TPI, you'll need a cam that'll work with it. I would definatley call Comp, Crane, Isky etc. tech lines and see what thier recommendations are for your TPI 400. They'll ask specific questions like compression ratio, intake, heads, gearing, weight of car and other questions so they can give you an educated recommendation. Then compare them all. IMO, that's your best bet.

Oh, and actually I'm south in K-town.

 

The block will definatly be going in to get tanked, maged and fluxed and before I buy any parts or anything.

 

My goal is to make a motor that has alot a torque, I just want something thats really fun to drive on the street and runs pretty good at the track. No real specific numbers though.

I guess as far as the tpi goes if it turns out to really be holding me back I will look into doing something about that later. I have enough TPI parts in the garage to mess around with and see what I can make. Ive though of using a HSR base with a stock TPI plenum with the runners sealed at the lower end so they just act as more plenum volume. That woudl give me the benefits of HSR but it would still pretty much look like a TPI. Thats just an idea... if it comes to that or not I dont know.

I will most likely go with Comp Cams just because I have bought alot through them so far and Ive been very happy with everything. And before I order anything I would definatly give them a call and see what they recomend.


And I actualy live in Cudahy, right by the air port so your only like 20 min away.