Should I build a chevy 400 small block? About how much horsepower would it have?

Question

It would be going into a 1973 camaro. I would have Dart SHP block, 4.125 bore, 3.75 crank(dont know specifically what one yet) 6 inch connecting rods. flat top forged pistons, 64 or 70 cc (whatever would get near 10-10.5:1 compression ratio 93 octane gas) edelbrock performer rpm camshaft, hydraulic roller lifters, comp cams roller rockers(1.6,or 1.7) edelbrock performer rpm cylinder heads, edelbrock performer rpm air-gap intake performer thunder series 700 cfm carb, 8 psi mechanical fuel pump, msd ignition. about how much horsepower and torque would it have?

Answer 1

You got alot of real good parts there and it will make good power but if your wanting the max bang for your buck I would swap a few parts around.



It sounds like your in the planning stages of the build and have not bought your heads, cam, crank, etc yet. GOOD.



Junk the edelbrock head idea. Good heads but over priced and don't flow as good as some others in that price range. I would recommend 195 to 210cc intake runner heads from Brodix like theie IK, RR, or wild thing line, or AFR heads or pro filler heads, or even dart pro 1 heads



The SHP block has a stock 9.025" deck height IIRC.. Have the block 0 decked. 9.000" deck height, use a .038 to .041" thick, 4.166" bore head gasket



With flat top pistons....

64cc heads = 11.039:1 compression

70cc head = 10.587:1 compression

72cc heads 10.368:1 compression

74cc heads = 10.159:1 compression



I'm NOT a fan of any of the comp cams camshafts. Can't really recommed a cam size untill you know what heads and compression you will be running for sure



Air gap intake is great



The 8 psi fuel pump will need an adjustable fuel pressure reg installed before carb. Edelbrock cars likes no more than 5.5 psi and must olleys will only handle 6 to 6.5 psi





With the right heads and cam this will be an easy 500-525 HP engine if not more

Answer 2

400 Small Block Build

Answer 3

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RE:

Should I build a chevy 400 small block? About how much horsepower would it have?

It would be going into a 1973 camaro. I would have Dart SHP block, 4.125 bore, 3.75 crank(dont know specifically what one yet) 6 inch connecting rods. flat top forged pistons, 64 or 70 cc (whatever would get near 10-10.5:1 compression ratio 93 octane gas) edelbrock performer rpm camshaft, hydraulic...

Answer 4

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You might be a little shy of the 600 mark with that combo. I have a 421 small block that puts out around 640 hp. I have a 4.160" bore and 3.875 stroke. 6" rods and runs about 14:1 compression. Brodix track 1 heads 2.08 1.60 valves running a 1050 dominator carb. Its got a .700 lift cam. Its a good start, but I would recomend getting rid of that gear drive!! That just transfers harmonics!! Plus they are noisy. I have been using the belt setup and will never use anything else again. The double roller chain setups are better than the gear drive.

Answer 5

The cylinder heads are going to kill your combination of parts, edelbrock makes pretty good LS heads and BBC chevy heads, but there line for the small block line is not worth the money. With a similar priced set of aluminum heads from dart, afr, rhs and so on you could see hp#'s in excess of 425 and similar torque #'s. If you want more to feed your big inch small block you need more cam and more carb, but you will loose performance on the bottom side of the curve (lower rpm).

Answer 6

The 400 small block is not a good engine, your alot better off with a 350. 400's get hot because the cylinder walls are too thin. SO to answer your question, no!

Answer 7

400 Sbc Build

Answer 8

That is not enough carb for that engine need about 750-800 CFM!

"chevyman383" gets the nod on this one!