I've been looking in to purchasing an engine to rebuild and adventually put into a project car, Probaly an older camaro thinking a 71-73 split bumper.
So im just curious how hard it would be to fix up a 1971 chevy 400 thats supposidly in good condition and also how hard it may be to switch it to a fuel injected ram jet engine an advice would be great.

 

Any sbc is easy to build, 400 included. It has a couple of unique things like steam holes for the heads, but parts are easy to find and cheap. I've done 2 for my 71. 1st one died an early death due to a KB hypereutectic that fragged after an instant of ping. Hypereutectics have it easier in computer controlled engines cause they tend to be protected by knock sensors. I'll never go back to a smaller engine, the torque of a 400 makes the car really fun to drive.

Only downside is that good 400 blocks are hard to find. If you have a line on a good 400, grab it. Have block checked thoroughly for cracks, unfortuneately common. If you can't find a good 400 block an alternative is stroking a 350 to 383. Parts to make it happen are cheap, readily available off the shelf from multiple sources. About the same cost to build a 383 as a 350.

 

I wouldn't bother looking for a 400 unless you just HAVE to have a 400, rather than a 350 as the place to start.

Rich

 

just put a big blk in it even a 396 is a better than the sbc the head design with canted valves alone is far better than sbc not mention stroke and size of the slugs

 

Yeah big blocks are nice to, but there is a little something to be said about having a SBC....all prefrence and what he wants to end up doing with the car I guess.

 

and they cost more to build

Wade

 

the best small block is a 406 with a long stoke and a high compression ratio. you can easily build 480 horsepower for under $3000

 

I have a 509 casting bare block in my garage. I think I still have the crank too. I know of at least 2 local people who want to buy the block from me. Since the 400 hasn't been produced since 1979, they're getting hard to find and the value is going up for people who just have to have one.

Since I also have 4 big blocks in my garage, the interest in building a 400 small block has decreased.