| Author | Message | ||
     Slowride |
I had Auction Hunters on Spike HD playing in the background this morning. I walked in and sat for a moment to down a mason jar of ice water.... I watched as they were fawning all over their most recent storage unit purchase. At one point, they opened up a box and what came out.... low and behold, a tube frame Buell muffler. It looked to be a VH with the end cap off of it. The two all knowing auction hunters begin to tell the audience how this was a custom exhaust for a car and plopped a value of $150 on it.... In my best Napoleon Dynamite impression... I mumbled... "IDIOTS!!!" | ||
| Etennuly |
Kinda saw the same thing Saturday on 'Trucks!', a Nashville show about trucks and the rebuilding and modification of them. They bought a 1970 Chevy pick up from a dealer to modify. It had a replacement, lightly modified 454 cubic inch engine in it, and they were having fun burning off the tires and such. The truck had a fancy factory trim package that included wood grain moldings and badges stating that it originally came with a 400 cubic inch engine. I have one of these engines in my Jeep. I have had it since 1978 and I have had many others of the same brand and size. They incorrectly referred to the 400 as a 'big block'. First one guy did it several times then two other of the hosts did the same. They should know better. It is an important detail to get wrong. There were available from the early 1960's the 409, then later the 396, and from the early 1970's the 402, 427 and 454 big block engines that carried throughout that era. The small blocks went from a 265, 283, 305, 307, 327, 350, and the 400. That was a detail that three "specialists" should not have missed. | ||
| Loose1 |
You forgot the z/28 302 mouse motor.  Matt | ||
| Etennuly |
Yes I did. Heck, I even built one out of a small journal 327 with a 283 crank! I loved those screaming small blocks. They made my race cars happy! | ||
| Xl1200r |
I've got a forged 283 crank out of an old truck motor kicking around somewhere... To be fair, the 400 sbc was a bit of a rare bird. Did you have any cooling problems with yours, Vern? I've owned or driven one, but I know there isn't a whole lot of water jacket in there... | ||
| Etennuly |
The big deal with the 400 is the having the correct, good quality head gaskets and making sure the heads have the 'steam' holes drilled for where the cylinders meld together. I have had several of these 400s and love what they will do. In a race car I worked on in the late '70's, we bored a SB400 sixty over and passed many the 427 BBs, in what is now the Super Modified class, on half mile tracks. It was to the disbelief of many 427 owners who dominated over small block cars for years. The only time I have had over heating problems was with too small of a radiator or electric fans that fail with mud in them. | ||
| Sifo |
The 400 block had the cylinder walls "siamezed". This did lead to hot spots, but that was a pretty minor issue as long as the head were drilled with steam holes as Etenuly mentioned. I had a 4 bolt main/forged crank version for years that had been torn down, greased, and crated, while looking for a suitable Vega. Never found the Vega.  I eventually gave it away to a guy who ran stock cars on at the local dirt track. The 400 is very often misidentified as a big block. | ||
| Ltbuell |
..and don't forget the factory 400 small block Chevy was balanced differently than the rest.Put any ole small block balancer or flywheel on and it"shake,rattle an...." ops.I had a factory 400 "mouse motor" in a car back in the late 70's.Went to rebuild it and was comparing parts with extra goodies i had and sure enough,different stuff.LT | ||
| Gunut75 |
You forgot the z/28 302 mouse motor. Ahhh yes; the DZ302 Z-28. A friend of mine had one in high school. For a 302, she had some STANK!!!!!! He did a full restoration on the car and wound up selling it in 1996 for $18K. Now, who knows what it would be worth. | ||
| Etennuly |
Yeah, mine is a four bolt main. They are externally balanced. I have a flat balance plate on mine it goes on the crank before the flywheel. Much easier to find than a 400 balanced flywheel or flex plate. I got this engine out of a 1972 Caprice Classic 2dr that I drove for a short while. It had 85,000 miles on it. I ran it in a '71 camaro for a few summers as it was. Then I stored it for about ten years. Then I overhauled it to run in a 1985 van that I bought. It did nearly 100,000 miles over five years in the van, the last two of which I had cammed it up with a Holly 780, torquer intake, headers and such. I had a teenage son who, with his buddies with their four cylinder pick-ups with loud cans, did not know what a motorhead vehicle was. It was quicker in the eighth mile than a new Mustang GT of the time. Not bad for a G20 van with 3.08 gears and a turbo 400. Then I rebuilt that same 400 again in 1997 for a new truck that had a bad engine. It did about 10,000 in there before I put it in my Jeep in 1998. So for the past fourteen years it has seen; run a bunch of slow stuff for a year, park for two years, run for another year on slow stuff and it was parked for the past three years, and now is alive in the Jeep again. All of that on the original crank and rods that have the stock original bearing sizes! The 400's only came with a cast crank and that scared off a lot of builders back in the day. We found that it made enough power and torque together, that we could keep it under 6000 rpms to get good use out of them. They are most easily identified by three freeze plugs on each side, then the external balancing. I just remembered I still have an original 1971 LT1 350 Corvette short block out in a shed. It ran in my race car for a couple of seasons. That was a good engine through a lot of races. That one is a four bolt, forged crank, with factory 'pink' rods, and 11/1 pistons. It was still a standard bore at it's last running.....in 1984! | ||
| Etennuly |
Yeah, mine is a four bolt main. They are externally balanced. I have a flat balance plate on mine it goes on the crank before the flywheel. Much easier to find than a 400 balanced flywheel or flex plate. I got this engine out of a 1972 Caprice Classic 2dr that I drove for a short while. It had 85,000 miles on it. I ran it in a '71 camaro for a few summers as it was. Then I stored it for about ten years. Then I overhauled it to run in a 1985 van that I bought. It did nearly 100,000 miles over five years in the van, the last two of which I had cammed it up with a Holly 780, torquer intake, headers and such. I had a teenage son who, with his buddies with their four cylinder pick-ups with loud cans, did not know what a motorhead vehicle was. It was quicker in the eighth mile than a new Mustang GT of the time. Not bad for a G20 van with 3.08 gears and a turbo 400. Then I rebuilt that same 400 again in 1997 for a new truck that had a bad engine. It did about 10,000 in there before I put it in my Jeep in 1998. So for the past fourteen years it has seen; run a bunch of slow stuff for a year, park for two years, run for another year on slow stuff and it was parked for the past three years, and now is alive in the Jeep again. All of that on the original crank and rods that have the stock original bearing sizes! The 400's only came with a cast crank and that scared off a lot of builders back in the day. We found that it made enough power and torque together, that we could keep it under 6000 rpms to get good use out of them. They are most easily identified by three freeze plugs on each side, then the external balancing. I just remembered I still have an original 1971 LT1 350 Corvette short block out in a shed. It ran in my race car for a couple of seasons. That was a good engine through a lot of races. That one is a four bolt, forged crank, with factory 'pink' rods, and 11/1 pistons. It was still a standard bore at it's last running.....in 1984! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Actually, there were two 302 motors. The standard Z-28 (which some people mis-identify as platform badging) with a single 4 barrel on a high rise intake. The "other" version (damned if I can remember the ID number) was a Can Am production race motor with a cross ram and two 4 barrels. That one is very rare. | ||
| Azxb9r |
Actually, Chevrolet had two 400 cid engines. One was a big block based on the 396. It was not around for long, but it did exist. I can only think of a couple that I have seen over the years...and it has been a long time. | ||
| Xl1200r |
You're thinking of the 396/402 madness. The 400 from Chevy was a small block only. Big Block chevys only came as: 348 366 396 402 409 454 502 572 from Wiki: "The 396-cubic-inch (6.5 L) V8 was introduced in the 1965 Corvette as the L78 option and in the Z16 Chevelle. It had a bore of 4.094 in (104.0 mm) and a stroke of 3.76 in (96 mm), and produced 375 hp (280 kW) and 415 lb·ft (563 N·m). This version of the 396 was equipped with four bolt main bearing caps and was very comfortable with being operated in the upper 6000 rpm range. Introduced in 1970, the 402-cubic-inch (6.6 L) was a 396-cubic-inch bored out by 0.030 in (0.76 mm). Despite the fact that it was 6 cubic inches (98 cc) larger, Chevy continued marketing it under the popular "396" label in the smaller cars while at the same time labeling it "Turbo-Jet 400" in the full-size cars. The 402 label was used in Light Pickup Trucks." (Message edited by xl1200r on June 25, 2012) | ||
| Azxb9r |
The "Turbo Jet 400" is what I was referring to. It is common for actual displacement to differ slightly from what it is labeled as. | ||
| Strokizator |
A guy I worked with back in '72 had the exact same truck, a black 1970 Cheyenne, SWB with a 400 (aka 396 big block) V8 engine. That sumbitch ran like a scalded dog. Still wish I had one and I'm not even a Chevy guy. | ||
| Chauly |
Remember that the 348-409-427 Big Block was a different beast than the 396-402-427-454. It was known a the "W" motor due to the valve cover shape. The 409 (of Beach Boys fame)was available through 1965, with the dual-quad 425 (imaginary) horsepower rating that was soooo popular in the Sixties.. You gotta love Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_e ngine | ||
| Etennuly |
The truck I have now, a 2007 GMC 5500, has the last iteration of a Chevy BB. The 8.1 L that equals 496 cu. in. It is on propane and it will flat out fly compared to my last three diesel trucks. It is like an all iron, over sized, LS1. I test drove a 2002 3/4 ton 2wd pick up with this engine. With the automatic, it would not take of without spinning the tires in the first three gears. Awesome power and torque numbers equal to the diesel pick ups. | ||
| Azxb9r |
last iteration of a Chevy BB. I grin every time I lift the hood on a chevy/GMC truck and see this engine. As well as the 4.8/5.3/6.0L engines run, they just cant touch the torque of that monster 8.1L  | ||
| Etennuly |
You gotta love Wikipedia: Actually I prefer having it in memory, you know, from having learned from when they were new, and from living with what we did to those legendary V8s.  | ||
| Slowride |
What the hell guys... I was just talking about idiots spouting BS on a TV show. LOL, you guys kill me sometimes. Pass the MASH Vern!!! | ||
| Xl1200r |
Well, Vern, we're not all as misfortunate to be as old as you! | ||
| Chauly |
Or me. I had the memories, I was just backing them up... | ||
| Etennuly |
Given the options, being born when I was, old is a GOOD thing!!!  Speaking of Random.....as the OP suggested..... my eldest son is visiting us on his vacation. He brought his .44 magnum revolver, friggen' awesome! Buck a shot gets ya though!  I cannot find mountain spring water any more. The guys I know of quit the game. And.....even more random.....I sprained my ankle the other day with a grade 2 torn ligament. I don't even know when it happened, it just started swelling and causing bitchen' pain. My Doc says that is a symptom of "pre nursing home".  I asked what that meant. He said that is when you hurt yourself and don't notice it. Then when it swells and turns all purple like, you go to the Dr for treatment. I told him that is great.....I am now qualified for ANOTHER elderly folks malady! | ||
| 86129squids |
Ummm, Vern? Dang, Buddy, let me know if I need to "assist", sounds like you'll need a little more than just the Ben-Gay... I'd be happy to help a friend in need... |
