Building a 400 block
UPlayUPay
08-22-2004, 09:31 AM
Show me that you guys know stuff about engines........I have a pontiac 400 block that i'm going to rebuild. I'm fine with the tear down and rebuild part but i'm having problems on deciding what products to use on my rebuild. Can any one help me out i'm looking for new heads, cam, valve train, pistions, crank the whole 9 yards or can any one refer me to a web page to help me out. I want to pull about 400 horse out of this block.
~Dave
~Dave
MrPbody
08-23-2004, 11:07 AM
Dave,
The 400 Pontiac is arguably one of the best street performance engines to come out of the muscle car era. After all, GTO did not get its' reputation from losing... And the vast majority had the 400.
If you tell us your performance goals, and what heads, block and crank you currently have, we can offer some good advice on how to approach it.
You will also find good assistance on classicalpontiac.com and boylewworks.com (muscle cars). These are very good Pontiac-specific websites. they cater to the real Pontiac, not the later Cheviacs.
You are also going to hear how you should scrap the Poncho and get a Chevy. Don't do it! For a race engine, Chevy has some advantages over others. Not so for the street motor. Just warning you, you'll encounter the "it has to be a small block to make power" attitude. Avoid it.
You will find, there are more performance parts available for the Pontiac today than there were just a couple of years ago. You might start by going to bopengineering.com and ordering Jim Hand's new book (out less than 1 month) "How to Build Max-performance Pontiac V8s", by SA Designs. Very informative and accurate.
You are also welcome to visit my website (mr-p-body.cc) and see some of the things we do to make the Pontiac make power and live. That site is information ONLY, and non-comercial.
Be aware, Pontiac racers, unlike Olds and Buick, have a plethora of parts to choose from, and are not point-provers and also-rans. The Pontiac can be VERY powerful, and if built correctly, VERY tough. Many of the older racer crowd are discarding the BBCs from their GTOs in favor of traditional Pontiac power, now that real parts are available again.
The 400 Pontiac is arguably one of the best street performance engines to come out of the muscle car era. After all, GTO did not get its' reputation from losing... And the vast majority had the 400.
If you tell us your performance goals, and what heads, block and crank you currently have, we can offer some good advice on how to approach it.
You will also find good assistance on classicalpontiac.com and boylewworks.com (muscle cars). These are very good Pontiac-specific websites. they cater to the real Pontiac, not the later Cheviacs.
You are also going to hear how you should scrap the Poncho and get a Chevy. Don't do it! For a race engine, Chevy has some advantages over others. Not so for the street motor. Just warning you, you'll encounter the "it has to be a small block to make power" attitude. Avoid it.
You will find, there are more performance parts available for the Pontiac today than there were just a couple of years ago. You might start by going to bopengineering.com and ordering Jim Hand's new book (out less than 1 month) "How to Build Max-performance Pontiac V8s", by SA Designs. Very informative and accurate.
You are also welcome to visit my website (mr-p-body.cc) and see some of the things we do to make the Pontiac make power and live. That site is information ONLY, and non-comercial.
Be aware, Pontiac racers, unlike Olds and Buick, have a plethora of parts to choose from, and are not point-provers and also-rans. The Pontiac can be VERY powerful, and if built correctly, VERY tough. Many of the older racer crowd are discarding the BBCs from their GTOs in favor of traditional Pontiac power, now that real parts are available again.
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