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I have a chance at obtaining a small block 400 and i'd like to talk to somebody thats very familiar with this particular motor. The motor will cost me 400.00 and i'm very tempted to get it but i would like to get some info about it. If anyone can lend an ear, please pm or e-mail me that can help. Thanks...John

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

well i have one what would you like to know ? there is a few of us that have them so ask away if i can`t answer i`m sure someone else will.

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

Well, basicly all aftermarket components will bolt directly to the 400(intakes, headers, distributors, waterpumps and the like. Is this true? Also things like cam and lifter kits will work? The only differences are the 4.125 bore, rod length and crank assy distiguishes it apart from the 350? Are pistons for the 400 more costly than a basic SB? The reason i'm asking all of this is because to me, the 400 is a one-off small block thats somewhat unique but i dont what to deal with the problems of finding one-off parts to get it built. The Buick V-6 motor i have now is becoming a oddball motor. It's too costly to rebuild and correct distributors are getting rare to find. Im almost certian that the 400 is a good platform to work with and the parts availability is just as good as any SB chevy. I'd like to confirm all of this before i cough up the money and try to make the upgrade to a V-8.
Also, there's a trans for sale with the motor and i was wondering if the TH350 hold up well with a 400? Or should certian mods be done to the trans before i try to match this all to the truck

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

yes all the parts for SBC will fit the 400. it has the same exterior measurements as all SBC's. the 400 is an externally balanced engine unlike the 350 which is internally balanced. if I had a chance to get a 400 I would do it. more cubic inches!!! I don't think the 400 pistons will cost much more than a 350. I was a Buick V6er and Rebuilt it twice before realizing what you are....they cost a crapload to rebuild and I kept saying..."I could have had a V8"
TH350 will hold as long as it is built correctly and not worn out already.

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03Cobra

If i can remeber corretly they used to put Turbo 350's behind 400's in production trucks and what not. Like luv4me said, as long as it is built correctly, it will hold up fine.

Since the 400 is a SBC most parts designated as SBC parts, will bolt up to it. But...

"To achieve the 4.125in bore, some internal casting core changes were necessary. The most obvious external change was the use of three freeze plugs in the side of the block. To accommodate this larger bore size, the bores were siamesed; there was no water between the cylinder bores because the barrels joined in the water jacket. In contrast, all other blocks have water completely surrounding each cylinder bore. Along with this change in the bore size, the 400 motor was equipped with a 3.750in stroke cast crankshaft. To get this bore & stroke combination within the confines of the standard 9.025in crankshaft center to block deck height it was necessary to shorten rod length if the stock piston ring package was to be retained. The standard 5.70in rod was then shortened to 5.56in. "

So if your doing anything with the crank or or block, thats where things get scwewy... But as for intakes, headers, HEI, etc. they should all work for you.

Now as for engine balancing, Extrenally balanced means that the flywheel is specific to the 400? So if i get this motor, i would need to run the original flywheel/flexplate or get an aftermarket setup thats configured to this motor?

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

yes

and if im not mistaken I think if you went with an aftermarket flexplate you would have to take it with you when they balance the crank.

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03Cobra

OK! ... This is good info. Now about headers. What is the most popular header for the SB that works with torsion bar suspension? I know that Summit still has the Hooker header assy's but i'd like to avoid the wrap-around frame tube setup. Hopefully in the future i'll be going with coil-over suspension but for now, i want to get the motor/trans fitted to the truck. The overall plan is to get my friend to buy a Luv truck that i found for 300.00. I'll give him my Buick setup with motor mounts and he'll have a good head start on getting a smooth truck for his oldest son. I can guide them thru the process of the conversion and avoid the mistakes that i made. But before i can do this, Mike has to get the other truck and i need to get the 400 setup ready to install. Time is an issue for me because i might be going back to work next month and i'll be leaving Texas again. My truck has to be functional and Mike needs the Buick setup. If Mike decides that he's not interested, i can buy the 400 and sit on it until i get back home. In the meantime i can order parts and such so i'll have everything ready to go for the upgrade.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

to get the engine/tranny "fitted" to the truck im afraid you will have to go with the hooker tranny/engine mount/header combo. otherwise you will be moving stuff to make this or that to fit.
hooker has the combo to make it fitted. if you go with any other setup like custom weld in mounts or use different headers you will have to modify things as you go along....kinda like I am.

if people tell you that this header will fit with this or that you need to know what mounts they are using and what they had to move in order to make it work.

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03Cobra

That would be best, go with the Hooker set up. Its all layed out for you, theres very little to no firewall modifications, and the pieces that are in the Hooker kit, were MADE for the the LUV. When I put my V8 in my LUV, I never remade the motor mounts I just built an extension off the original 1.8L mounts, similar to what you have probably done to fit the Buick in there. This works "OK" with a V8, except you can't run headers. You have to run stock manifolds. Otherwise the headers interfere with the motor mounts. Anyways, if you buy the combo from Hooker, its a gaurentee there will be no set backs, lol ya right, in reality there won't be AS many setbacks, versus peicing it together yourself, and customizing everything. (Big headache) But like you said, your stressed for time, and my advice would be to go with the Hooker Combo. Make things go faster and much easier.

some 400 did only come with 2 freeze plugs per side i do beleive the starter for the 400 has a different bolt pattern . all the parts are very easy to obtain i think pistons are usually like 10 to 20 dollars more than the 350s. if your going to build this motor i would recommend that you go to the 5.7 rods at least ,6" rods are even nicer but if your like me cash is always short. other than that you could get some valve covers that say 283 or 327 and no one would know you have a 400 in there.
along with the flexplate the harmonic balancer is unique to the 400 they both so make sure you get the balancer along with the flexplate as mentioned before

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

I guess that makes sense. The cost of the Hooker assy's are at the 450.00 range. It will cost more than the motor itself. Oh well, it must be worth it after it's all installed. Maybe i'll forget the cost once it's on the road.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I don't think the 400 starter is any different then any other SBC. I have a starter off a 400 on my 283...

Does anyone know the part# for the Hooker header kit?

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

i guess they come with two bolt patterns some chevy starters are straight across some are staggered. i think mine has the staggered pattern .my engine is one of the ones with two freeze plugs per side. you can see the raised boo where the plug is supposed to be but there is no hole for it. maybe the ones with out the extra freeze plug also have a different starter pattern.

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

summits part # is hok-2140 $ 339.00

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

Does the 400 have angled spark plugs? The footnotes for the header application states that it will not fit heads with angled spark plugs.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

You could only get angled plug heads from aftermarket head manufacturers or special order through GM. I don't recall any factory production vehicles having them. Something like a special ordered '69 DZ code 302 might have had those kind of heads. And maybe '66 to '69 Corvette Fuelie heads could have been angle plugs. But even those engines probably didn't come with angle plug heads. Guys probably swapped them out after. So basically what im getting at is, unless your engine was some sort of Biggy high HP rare production, or had the heads swapped for GM special orders, you probably will have straight angle plugs. As for your 400, im about 99.9% sure it won't have straight angle plugs. I had a 400 in my '74 Chevy pickup and it did not have angle plugs, and all SBC 400's I have ever seen didn't. Unless your 400 has a aftermarket heads you won't have angle plug heads.

This info is helping me along well. Thank you all! Now for distributors. Which aftermarket ignition system is a good setup for the small block. Im looking for cost effective system thats will fit without reworking the firewall to fit a stock H.E.I. The motor im looking at doesn't have a distributor, carb, exhaust manifolds and starter. Im going with a cheap Edelbrock replacement intake to fit the 4 bbl i had on the Buick(650 Q-jet), The Hooker header assy's. I have another alternator that i can use. And of course i'll need to get a short water pump and single belt pulleys and all of the other little things to get it to work. So since i need to get a distributor, i might as well get a brand new system so i'll know that will be working right.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

GM 292 "Turbo" casting heads are angle plug. good luck finding a set these days. aftermarket is better anyway.