Bought my first 400 Block this Weekend

Wasn't pretty, but it was unmolested and in very good condition...Gonna build a 440 source 512 this year out of it....

What heads (Indy) would you guys run in an A-body with 10.8:1 and just under .700 lift...I have EZ1 heads but was wondering if 440-1's would fit with my fender well headers and such...

I had no problems using 440-1s on my low deck in my Dart with either fenderwell headers or my Pro Parts headers.

My old 400 block pump gas stroker motor made the most power with a set of 440-1 CNC ported by Jeff at MCH
I tested two different motors with those heads and a set of Indy SR M.W. intake ports, the SR flowed 30 CFM less than the -1 did and the -1 heads made over 50 HP more than the SR heads did on the pump gas motor they made 65 more HP on the race gas motor Same short blocks, cams, intake and carb with no jetting or timing testing on either motor
Go big for big power

Really....50-60hp over the SR heads. I will have to look up and see where the EZ1 heads fall with respect to those...Mine flowed 330cfm at .700 if I remember correctly.

I've made over 900 hp with EZ heads so I don't see much reason to step up to the SR or -1 heads unless you already have them. You might want to look at header options to see what works the best. You shouldn't need more than a 2 inch header for the combo that you're building.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zTAGAy081o

Wasn't yours a dry sump?

Nice and although I don't make gobs of power, my 400 has proven well for over 14 years................

Gotta watch this... Similar build coming with much less head and in a street car...

So here is the block last week.....

Here it is this week...

B1 originals !

My M.W. unported SRs flowed 340 CFM @.700, the ported 440-1 flowed 370@ .700 on the same bench
I didn't have a good set of dyno headers for the ported 440-1, the header flange protruded, blocked, into the lower exhaust port about 1/4 inch. They fit fine on the SRs but both motors I dyno tested the -1 heads started missing around 5200 RPM, it was a intermittent miss, not a steady dead cylinder miss It missed all the way up to and above peak HP RPM on both motors, the high compression race motor(526 C.I. 12.8 to 1 comp.ratio) missed worst than the smaller pump gas motor did (517 C.I., 10.8 to 1 comp. ratio)

So lots of progress and just waiting on push rods, but no way to post the full size pics thanks to photosucket holding my pics hostage...I have re-sized them and we will see how this goes.

Good news is, I found a use for that $900 oil pan that only holds about 8 quarts nobody wanted to buy!

A few more pics...Shooting for 9.59 at 140mph next week with it, maybe.

Good luck man............

I had to steel the Milidon pump cover off the Hemi....The old covers had a smaller inlet port than the new ones. I never knew that....Now the Hemi needs another new style cover as we had to adapt to the AN16 oil line.

The pulleys are for the alternator?
Good luck at the track!

Always something.............

What heads did you wind up with? Flow?

Drives the water pump and alternator...Race car only stuff...lol





Heads are my old try'd and true Indy EZ1 heads...330cfm at .600" is all they are...too scared to try 440-1's due to Header A-body fitment...Went 9.70 in my 440

The headers with -1 heads on the low deck should sit in almost the same place as the EZ heads on the RB block.
Looks nice Randy, hope it runs good for you!

I can always upgrade later....Been really happy with the performance of this mild wedge so far. Doesn't flow anything like Hemi heads, but it stays together, and just works in a stock block.

My next build, I want to do a 383/496 from 440Source with the light weight crank again, and an F1R on pump gas...

Who built your short block?
Dwayne did my SR MW 765 hp on RBRE dyno. 337 cfm @ .650

Don

496 ci 12.8:1 on E86

Don

Farley's Racing Engines here in the Lockport area...Waiting on push rods and a low deck distributor...Goes back in the car next weekend.

9.59 at 140mph is the goal....And maybe upgrad to 440-1's next year.

Looks real good man.

Why 9.59? lol

Just curious..

Thanks,

Casey

Well it went 9.70 with the 440/512...We figure 50lbs off the front, and that would put us at 9.65, then maybe a tad more performance for another 1/2 tenth, maybe?...9.5 anything would be really awesome.

Why the switch from Tall deck to low deck? Seems like the old combo was working fine?

Well, a bunch of reasons, why not....we had the block, and we had not done a serious build on one..We see other folks flog the heck of them, and say they have zero issues. Rod angle is way better, mains are smaller, less surface area for oil to hide, 40-50lbs lighter, roomier engine bay...

The RB engine has been in the car a while and is due for a good going thru, and as performance has increased, so has the rpm across the strip..Which is putting us in a spot where we either need 4.30 Dana 60 gears or preferably somthing that will go a little more rpm without any issues when we do race the 1/4. We do not want to push the rpm in an RB...

We have seen very mild cap walk on some tear downs, and we know it was not timing, so we try and stay 6500rpm or under. But we seem to be crossing lately at 6700rpm...Luckily we mostly run 1/8th mile.

Also, its a smaller package and give us a little room under the hood as well as a weight reduction.

All the 400 blocks have a lot thicker main web in them than any of the production RB or the earlier B blocks
I'm looking forward to my next low deck build of 511 C.I. with either one of the new cast iron former Muscle Motor blocks or one of the stock type 400 blocks I have in stock. Shooting for 800 + HP on E85 with the stock block
Or 900 HP + with the after market block and better heads

I see you cleaned up the appearance of the intake manifold.
Looks nice like that.

Yes....I remove anything not needed...I can't help myself anymore, all of mine are done that way...

Nice build

Well...I must be nuts, because its in the car and running!!!!!!

And it fits in there really nicely. Seems super responsive has great oil pressure and I need to get a lap on it this week before the big Nostalgia race....

AWESOME..............

Sweet!

I am really surprised by the responsiveness of this engine. After having the 440 in there for so long, you get used to things and this one sound really angry and very snappy! Can't wait to see what it does.

470's ROCK.............

Sell that 383 block and buy another good 400 block, especially with any power adder
I would hate to hear that you ran over the crankshaft at speeds
Make sure and have all the blocks you use sonic tested before deciding on how much power your going to build for.
Anything above 600 HP on pump gas you should replace the stock main caps with after market Ductile Iron(my first choice,) or aluminum with ARP main studs

I cringe sometimes wondering when the rods are going to exit the block at 7000+ rpms w/stock caps and 20+ year old studs.............

You listen 20 yrs. ago and bought what good parts where available back then and had it machine correctly
Your reaping the rewards still today
If you had talked about a 4.00 or larger stroke crank originally I would have been on you about the main caps back then, I didn't think you would ever make 700+ HP
Never quit learning and trying

Here is a picture of the light weight crank and the Bob weights...

What's the stroke and brand of that nice looking crankshaft?

440 Source and its a 4.25 stroke.

Thanks, I didn't know they had that sort of quality cranks with the pendulum cut counter weight and so on

Glad you were around Cab to keep my azz in check..........

Did you buy the rotating assy as a complete kit? I'm curious about the quality of all the pieces and if you had to do anything extra to get things to work.

What did you figure for cam specs? Do the piston reliefs allow for a 2.25 valve and a .700 ish lift cam?

Thanks and keep us updated with progress - nice setup!

Send the heads to Dwayne over the winter and have him touch them up. My EZ-1 heads flow about 365 after Dwayne worked them over last time. That would give you another 50 hp or so which could put you into the low 9's. If you need that final push into the 8's then send the intake to Wilson for their competition porting. I have a low deck 400-3 that they did for me. Fantastic work.

I will have to get some pricing, but if he can get 50hp out of my heads, that's the way I am going....

Had my first outing with the new engine and trans today....Went well. Nothing fell off the car!

So I accidentally left my last dial in on the window. So first pass, what does it run in the heat,,,Right on the 6.27 dial! MPH was only 108...Its was real lean, no color on the plugs. Jetted up...Made a 2nd hit 6.26 at 109.5 and still lean with #100 jets in it!

I think I am going to have to change the emulsions as Thumper suggested. This little motor wants FUEL!

Packed up and went home to get ready for the Gold Cup this weekend.

AWESOME!!! good lookin car !!

1st Pass....6.27 at 108mph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2w06ScM4y0


2nd Pass....6.26 at 109.5mph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9PvetFwv7w

Do you have a wide band in this car..........

Nice pass.

Do a set of Levis 38x34 count as a wide band?

A different type, but yes.............

I had a good first outing on Tuesday making only 2 passes and having a slight miss right before the top of each gear shift, I figured it was a lean miss. No actual data other than my Levis and plug color. So I loaded up and jetted the carb a little the next day in anticipation of the Gold Cup on Friday and Saturday.

Well, this has been a tough season....I could not get the car to run well on the last outing at the Nostalgia Gold Cup that Friday night. Between loosing a rad hose and almost hitting the wall and trying to figure out whats wrong with a miss, then only to notice on Saturday I had next to no oil pressure on my fresh engine, I was done.

I suspected I had a bad distributor at first, but couldn't find the problem, then the wall, and then no oil pressure. I packed it up from the Gold cup and went home to re-think for a day or so.

Lots of bad stuff in the oil filter, and only 10lbs of pressure at idle instead of 82lbs like we had. Decided to start pulling the engine out, and found #3 plug all black....Pulled the covers, two bent push rods and a broken tab on the lifter....So this is fun....I re-used these off the last engine, maybe one time too many.

On a side note, this might seem catastrophic by some, but this isn't a real exotic race motor like my Hemi and its upper end stuff. The filter is a full time filter unit and hopefully caught everything. So I am upset, but this is racing, and it is the reason I run a mild combo.

The pushrods are off the shelf have them in a day or two, the rockers we have spares of already, and the lifters are basic comp cams stuff. All off the shelf.

When I ordered the push rods last, I should have ordered extra's....my bad. Lifters I might steel from my Hemi and still have this back together this week if I get push rods.

But I like I can have all the stuff here by next week at the latest. The car will miss the Sunday Niagara Nostalgia drags this week, but my engine builder has a Hemi car I can beat on, so if he has it ready, we will still have fun.

You better take a "REAL GOOD" look at that cam. With the link bar broke like that it would allow the lifter to spin in the lifter bore. If it even started to turn there's a real good chance that it damaged the cam.

I'm with you on that one.......

I'm guessing that the pushrods bent first, they look like flexy flyers. Once they bent then the lifter just got beat to heck until it broke.

What springs are you running and which pushrods did you have? With a roller cam and big springs I'd use 7/16 pushrods if they'll fit or a super high quality 3/8 pushrod if the 7/16 won't fit.

These heads, lifters, rockers, and cam were all used on my 440 a few weeks ago and ran 9.70 at 138.50.....pushrods are new for the low deck. All this stuff already works....trying to figure out what didn't work right is frustrating at the moment.

That's the most likely scenario.

I am in agreement with that until I learn more I guess.

Well this update took me a while...But a long story short, it was only the damage in the pictures above. A couple of push rods and a lifter.

All the bearings, oil pump, and oil passages in the block were good and clear with nothing in them. Filter caught all of it from the looks of everything. Double checked a bunch of stuff, and nothing else hurt.

So, the lifters I had were old enough that they warranted replacing, and now the engine is back in the car and running...In hind sight, we should have probably changed the valve springs as well, but I have to leave somthing to do this winter, or I will be bored.

Next outing...This Friday/Saturday.....

So to recap this build....440Source 512 kit with light weight crank option, 10.8:1 compression....680 lift cam and Indy EZ1 heads, unported.

Nice looking ride.

It's all a learning curve both good and bad so enjoy the ride and good luck............

Awesome! How much more is the lightweight crank option from 440 source?

I think it was $300 and the crank was 6lbs lighter....I like it. Revs very quickly. After driving a 440 of the same cubes, same heads, same compression for 7 years....its noticeable when you touch the gas pedal.

I have another 400 block now that I scored for $300 and I also intend to build a 383/496 stroker with a procharger if my Hemi sells. All of them will get the light weight 4.25 crank.

It sounds like we now have another Hemiroid motor convert

Well, those darn things just keep me at a disadvantage it seems....Every time I think I have it, another set back.....Even my engine builder sent me a text today about how my Hemi sucks. Thats twice in two weeks in reassembling it that we have encountered issues with it....

On the other hand, the Wedge combo we have come up with has proven fast and fairly low maintenance and lower cost.....Only problem is, the Cuda has Hemi badges on it....But the spare 440/512 short block would really make it run nice......With the right heads and cam.

With all the problems you've had w/ that hemi, I think it's time for another engine builder.

Well, one, the pan that did fit is in pieces. Big stroke, means you need big clearances. Not easy finding stuff that clears 4.75 in a Mopar.

Two, the oil pressure issue, I think, is block related. We have a hell of a time with oil pressure and since day 1, somthing has not been right. I think we need some BGR help though. Left AJ a message. Might even take it down there and see what is up with one of the passages in it...

On a side not, the 400/512 testing results were about the same. Still has a miss in the upper rpm we have now concluded is a bent valve...Still netted a couple of 6.30's with a 1.39 60ft shifting at 5k....

Heads will be coming off this week...I want to do a leak test and see if it shows up somewhere...

This was my second low deck to come apart. Got one more left then it will be on to the aftermarket.

Care to share what size, life span and HP levels that made before failing, please
N/A or power adder also please

WOW

Tex

You should be glad you were using a factory block in this situation. Why kill an aftermarket block?
I see nothing in that picture saying block failure. Some part of the rotating assembly took that thing out, as it would have with any block.

Yep totally agree after looking at that pic for a while cos my junk is going on 16 years w/my dumb azz behind the wheel and still going strong along w/the 413 factory crank.............

From the looks of whats visable on the undamaged side of the block, I see no evidence of anything from the rotating assy flailing around.

Detination is a killer weather n/a, boost or NOS...............

So does taking them to the drag strip every weekend and beating the snot out of it. Nothing compairs to that test

I beat my car on the street more than anyone on here races I guarantee it..............Hundreds of miles and many carbs tested on a weekly basis so, not the case...........

This motor was 512 ci, n/a on e-85. B-1 heads , 13 to 1 compression alum rods and main caps . This is the only pic have to show, wish I could show the front of the block around the timing chain area were you can see the cracks there also. Block was part filled.

Thanks for sharing that inforamtion
My current bracket motor is similar, 4.35 bore with 4.25 stroke, 6.700 RPM BB Chevy type H beam steel rods with Diamond custom pistons with around 14.0 to one now with a set of Victor Max Wedge heads on E85. Early cold weather 400 block from AndyF (Many Thanks ) with 440 Source aluminum main caps and studs, hopefully it won't end up looking like yours Not filled either
Did it fail during run? If so I hope nobody and nothing else got hurt
I have broke parts on a run and thought I was going to bend up some sheet metal several times, thanks to God I didn't get hurt or bend the cars

According to the data logger about 2seconds into the run it let go. My son said it just shook real hard and he reached up and shut it down . After seeing what it did it's hard to believe it was still running when he shut it off. He says he is lucky it happened early in the run.

I'm glad it didn't hurt him or the car
I've had a couple of motors let go in the 1/4 mile past the 1000 clocks, not good

Thank God for the diaper, it has probably saved his butt twice.