I just had to tell someone that I am going to look at a 400 to replace my 305 on sat... 400 bucks cdn for it complete and it is disassembled so I can have a good look at it... I am hoping it is good so I can get it and start planning out my engine...

here is my plan so far... running 10.5:1 compresson or maybe a little higher... a holley double pumper (gotta do the math to find the size) I don't know about cam yet... I think I am keeping stock con rods and crank... I am going to port the heads for now and possibly buy new ones depending on how they perform... I am wanting to put on med-rise manifold... (I have lots of room due to the 3 inch scoop I made) also I am going to be putting on 2 3/4 inch exhaust that is true duel ... to do this I am going to cut the panhard bar and shorten it and then move the mount over when I find a good 9" to put in... I also wanna put a t-56 in one day and run 4.56 gears... the rear end will probably be put in within the next year... the engine will be done by the end of summer if I find a good job... About the tranny it may never get put in but me being 17 I know for sure I will blow up the t-5 if I have it behind a 400.

 

If they're 882 heads, don't bother spending any money on them. They're probably going to be cracked.

 

If the heads are cracked I really don't care too much.... I was at the wreckers and there are a ton of heads that are 350 400 swappable... if I can't find dencent heads I will actually work and buy new ones

 

I got the engine... looks like it has the origional pistons still... (got the gm stamping on the underside and look like nothin special... they also look like they have never been changed by the amount of carbon on them) It does have the 882 heads... the worst part about that is I may be forced to buy new heads (MORE POWER)

 

Pistons should be cast, dish pistons. Low compression. A set of flat tops will do wonders.

Use the heads as core returns and go pick up some 993 heads from a junkyard. You can find them on 350 Targetmaster engines. Use a 400 head gasket and drill the steam holes into the new heads then bolt them on.

If you have the money, just go buy some Dart heads. If you have even more money, buy some aluminum heads.

Heads is where power is made.

 

what I was hoping is I can run the crap heads for say the summer till I get the cash for some real good ones

 

oh yeah... I know the block is the low power one but how will it perform with girtels?? From my understanding they make a 2 bolt stronger than a 4 bolt and 4 bolts insanly strong

 

A 4 bolt 400 block isn't that strong. Because the mains on the crank are so big, there's less metal in the web. This makes less metal for the 4 bolts to grab onto.

Using a 2 bolt is better and if you want to make it stronger then stud the mains and have it line honed.

 

oh yeah the 882 heads I have seem to have some extra holes for the water jacket (like it should work like normal) the thing is the dumbass put the gasket over all the water jacket holes (moat of them had the coolant push through)