Guest Fast Frog Posted December 10, 2001 Share Posted December 10, 2001 Recently, I had a casual conversation with my engine builder who told me that using a stock 400 sbc was not worth not the effort. He cited heating problems and cyl warping due to the siamese aspect of the cyl. I have no experience with sbc 400s. Can any body shed some light on this?? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HIGHRPM Posted December 10, 2001 Share Posted December 10, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Fast Frog: Recently, I had a casual conversation with my engine builder who told me that using a stock 400 sbc was not worth not the effort. He cited heating problems and cyl warping due to the siamese aspect of the cyl. I have no experience with sbc 400s. Can any body shed some light on this?? Rick HEY RICK. Being an ex GM tech of far to many years, I can tell you that at the beginning, the 400 was proving to be a nightmare for gm. Yes the motor had its issues with heating and warping. I 've never heard if GM found a fix for those problems and by now I would think someone who have figured it out. I would approach with caution, but still look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted December 10, 2001 Share Posted December 10, 2001 I've spoken to numerous people who have used the 400 for racing and street applications with no problems at all. The reason for the 400s bad reputation stemmed from guys who used aftermarket heads without drilling the steam holes, or improperly drilling the steam holes in the heads. There are also some plumbing solutions to stave off any overheating issues (by drlling into the water jackets between the middle cylinders and running to the water pump), but think about all the vehicles that ran for years and years from the factory with no problems. If the 400 was as bad as people make it seem, would it be such a popular torque monster? Just my 2c worth. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted December 10, 2001 Share Posted December 10, 2001 Rick, From what I have read (David Vizard), 400 blocks should be 'sonic checked' to determine cylinder sidewall thickness. I think a sound 400 block would make a great start for a torquey motor! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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