a 406 shark perhaps ?

[buckhorn76]

stopped in to see a local guy today who has quite a well deserved reputation as a top notch engine builder [ most forum guys around here know dean ireland ]. i wanted to talk to him about building a stroker 383, he said, well doug, have you considered a 406 ? long story short - he has a 1970 four bolt 400 block and brand new rotating assembly for it with forged crank and rods. hmmm.....will have to put some thought into this one !!!

 

[Case75]

That would be quite the torque monster I would think Doug. What's the price?

 

[buckhorn76]

looking at about 3500 for fully assembled and balanced short block. dean has a 69 427 3X2 he has just finished, sitting on a stand in the shop. that big block was sitting in a wrecked 69 vette for over 40 years !!!

 

[CCO]

God I thought for a second you meant an old Ford Y-block from the early 60's .

My Dad had a 400 in his 70 Impala which is based on the smallblock -- Aren't the cylinder walls quick thin on those? Seemed to be the absolute limit on displacement for the smallblock.
Would it stand up to some racing?

C.

 

[Case75]

God I thought for a second you meant an old Ford Y-block from the early 60's .

My Dad had a 400 in his 70 Impala which is based on the smallblock -- Aren't the cylinder walls quick thin on those? Seemed to be the absolute limit on displacement for the smallblock.
Would it stand up to some racing?

C.

My father had the same motor in his '74 Caprice Classic. Got 14 mpg on a trip to Florida.

You have to have steam holes in the heads with those blocks.

 

[buckhorn76]

God I thought for a second you meant an old Ford Y-block from the early 60's .

My Dad had a 400 in his 70 Impala which is based on the smallblock -- Aren't the cylinder walls quick thin on those? Seemed to be the absolute limit on displacement for the smallblock.
Would it stand up to some racing?

C.

they are thinner and have siamese bore [ no water between the centre cylinders each bank ] .030 is about max safe overbore which gives you 406. the 406 ford was actually part of the fe engine series. the 406 chevy is fine for street and mild racing, getting into heavier racing and higher rpm i would use a dart 400 block.

 

[buckhorn76]

My father had the same motor in his '74 Caprice Classic. Got 14 mpg on a trip to Florida.

You have to have steam holes in the heads with those blocks.

quite right greg. alot of the after market heads have the steamholes. other wise use a 400 gasket as a template to drill them.

 

[buckhorn76]

with afr 180 heads and a howard's 113215-10 camshaft [ roller ] and the q-jet i think i should expect somewhere around 330 - 350 horses to the wheels. i would imagine that it should make gobs of torque. i think it would be a solid performer from 1200 - 5500 rpm. any thoughts on the combo ?

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...mBvkg9EraEElGmCbg&sig2=lzdsofWJ1C5RWbywVWgHQQ

 

[Keith Tedford]

You might just be conservative with those numbers. We put together an 8-1 smogger 454 with a very mild cam, headers, intake and 750 Holley and it was putting down around 310-320 to the wheels. I think a 406 with those heads would be a great street engine and would put more than a few to shame at the strip.

 

[Riley P]

That would be awesome! I say consider it!

 

[Range]

I too thought the 400 sb was not good to overbore.

 

[buckhorn76]

if the block sonic tests ok .030" is fine but not advisable to bore larger than that. any of the big inch small blocks use an aftermarket block such as dart.

 

[Case75]

Personally (and this is just my opinion), I would go for a nice 355. Less power loss to friction and the bore to stroke ratio is much stronger. But a good builder will know what he's doing with that 400 block.