The beginning of something beautiful...

So, I'm not sure what it's going in yet, and I'm not sure how far I'm going down the small block rabbithole; but it's going to be amazing, I know that much. 

A buddy of mine gave me a call, and said he was getting rid of a bunch of E36 M3 out of his shop, and that I needed to come over. Sitting on a stand was a SBC short block. The casting number: 3951509. At this point, I am visibly excited, so I asked him how much he wanted for it. His reply? "Pictures of the build..."

I'm still floating around on cloud 9 right now... A factory 400 cid smallblock for the price of a good story!

What should I put it in? The hive mind must contribute, since y'all are so awesome!!!

Edit to add pics because I finally figured out flickr...

https://flic.kr/p/YbCJcf

https://flic.kr/p/YbCKFh

https://flic.kr/p/YuXFq3

or, y'know, maybe not. Berking photos...

What year is it (I should know how to decode the number, but I don't) I think it would be interesting to put in something year appropriate, but in something that Chevy didn't put it in. Muscle truck? Muscle van? What was the economy car that year? 

In reply to mazdeuce : Block was manufactured in 1978. Last year for the 400 was 1980; I'm thinking '79 El Camino or early '80's G Body (Monte Carlo, etc.)

Whatever it is, it's bound to be ridiculous, because "big small block"...

In the meantime, disassembly, cleaning and Machine work will commence. I'm so excited!!!

My vote is for an El Camino or just a bit higher would be a five speed Malibu Wagon. 

75-76 Laguna S-3 with a NASCAR vibe and a 4 speed.

I love the 400's.  

PLEASE put that nice little engine in a big 'ol pick-up truck! Or a rear wheel drive soul sucking mini-van. Slap the wife into a pair of pajama jeans and both of you sit at endless drive-throughs waiting for your daily dose of Whopper! 

If you waste that mill on a foolish truck or van, you're an idiot ! You're on a site with the word MOTORSPORTS in the title, do something worthy of that name ! Something that doesn't include using a vehicle that's about the size and shape that most other vehicles would be shipped in. Muscle van? My ASS ! ! !

I bought an old Pontiac Boat from the 70's for a demo derby. When I was taking it apart, I found the build sheet under the back seat and bingo 400SBC.

Ended up taking it out and bolting it into a friend's 1980 Z28, in place of a very tired 350. Let's just say it was a lot of fun after that!!

That's the way ! ! The little 400 is a great engine, unique among all of the Chevrolet small blocks. Maybe currently ignored due to all of the 350 based crate strokers available in the aftermarket, but just a wonderful factory offering ! And that really is the coolest part, it's a unique factory 400 small block right out of GM, as-is, not a collection of random factory off-the-shelf parts and pieces. The real deal !

These were intended to be high torque low performance engines for the larger barges that Chevrolet was then pushing off on the public, they actually were offered with a two barrel carb. Turned out that they were real power houses with just a very few mods. But these mods really had to compliment the uniqueness of the engine. Data from the day always said that these were modified (bored and stroked) 350 based engines, but later mentioned that the block was a unique casting, completely different from the ubiquitous 350. Hot Rod magazine did a 400 build and ended up making errors at every turn due to their 350 based tech and information. They evidently weren't even aware of the steam pockets and vents in the factory heads to aleviate the buildup of pressure between the siamesed cylinders. The belly-button Comp Cam/Vortex head combo was massive fail. It was honestly VERY satisfying to read through this build article and witness all of the foolish mistakes that were made due to their belief that this was just another Chevy small block that they all thought they knew SO very well.

You got a sweet "big" small block engine there Kiddo, don't waste it in a pick-up truck or Van.

You guys know that there's an autocross class for trucks of this era, right? I can see where you're coming from with muscle vans, you're wrong, but I get it. Trucks can be built and raced. 

http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/350%20chevy%20engine.html in a 1979 Pontiac LeMans with a 3pedals setup and a Tremec , HUGE brakes inside of 19's rollin' stupid phat meats..... oh yea baby!!!

In reply to Two_Tools_In_a_Tent :

While it's certainly ok if you aren't into a project idea, we try to be welcoming and encouraging to other members here. If you're going to post on this site, please try to keep that in mind.

Must my opinion match the mini-masses though? If I firmly believe that a 400 would be a damned waste of a good engine lost inside a mommy van, why can't I say so? Not trolling or arguing just stating a fact, I greatly dislike the ridiculous handle and high center of gravity and over-all brick-like aero of a mini-van. Just because half of the clan comes out against, does't negate my opinion or require you to caution me. In the real world, everyone gets an equal opinion, mention racing vans at any cruise night and a fight will break out. It wasn't the original posters project concept to stuff that wonderful mill into a steel box, it was Mazdeuce's ridiculous idea (like the kid has the skills and money to build a race truck for God's sake) and I offered a counter idea to just forget about it and do something right. Is his opinion worth SO much more than mine that I need to be chastised for voicing mine in opposition to his, NOT the original posters? Welcoming is one thing, denying that opposite opinions exist and are equal in value is obscene. I guess that I'll need to stop being a person or a builder and just morph into another cheerleader here, gonna limit all of my future posts to, "Hey, great job!  Can't wait to see how it proceeds." Or is that putting too much pressure on the poster, maybe limit if further to, "Nice spelling !" That way nobody will get offended . . . 

And I stand by what I posted; a high performance engine in a steel box without another ten thousanbd dollars worth of improvements is a damned death trap. A high center of gravity, poorly suspended, inadequately braked, ridiculous driving position, death trap any at speed over 50 mph.

Let's be real rather than just encouraging.

No one is denying you an opinion that is unique, but your delivery is disrespectful, and you have been asked to take a voluntary break from the forum to cool off. If you ignore this request you will be banned. Your choice.

Well then. 

Still like the idea of a small vehicle with a big motor...

The current plan is to use a set of vortec heads I have, drill steam holes, mild port and polish, new valves and springs, roller valvetrain, and a custom cam grind after I flow the heads. Forged dished pistons, and all the other goodies I can manage reasonably. I'm gonna try to keep the crank and conn rods, but we'll see after I pull everything apart. 

After all that, I may just cage and build a race car.

Skills my aunt fanny. I weld for a living!

BMW Bavaria? 

I realized today, after a couple of autocross runs yesterday in other cars, that the 1.6 in my Exocet is "lacking".  So, in the spirit of GRM, I will gladly make room for your 400 in my car  ... !

I'll come right out and say it... TTIAT you don't need to be arsehole about it.... If you're gonna be like that then maybe this isn't the place for you... Just saying.. sorry guys but what he said was uncalled for.

In reply to einy : 

Ha ha ha, you sooo funny. My 400 would twist that frame into pretzels. It'd be really fast, though... 

Small car......period correct........Chevette? 

Edit: and I swear to God I'm trying to be useful and semi-serious. It's a neat motor and I'm knocking my head against Google images trying to figure out what hasn't been done 100 times already. I think a G-body of some sort would be a solid base if you want to stay period correct and not have to cut and re-engineer the entire car. There isn't much else Chevy from the era that has real potential. They road raced Chevettes during that period but in the small bore classes, they were cool but the power you're going to put down might require re-engineering the entire car anyway. Camaro would be cool, they always are. 

A G-body (as you mentioned) would be GREAT candidate for the build you mention.  You really can't go wrong.

I'd also think a 2wd S10 Blazer (or just a pickup) would be quite entertaining.  

Vegas and Monzas are hard to find but would be silly-fun.

I'm DEFINITELY interested in seeing all the details of your build.  I have a G-body wagon that will probably be getting an SBC in the not-too-distant future and I'm excited/nervous about building my first engine.  Would love to follow along.  

One project I've dreamed about for a while is a pro-touring type GM  truck from either of the body styles in the '60-'72 range.  That might be food for thought.

You know...NASCAR still uses the rear suspension from these trucks today.  ;)

A lot of what it goes into is going to rely on availability. I love the chevette idea, though. A monza with a 400 would be an absolute riot; I've also looked into trans-maro-birds, g-body cars (there's a decent regal not far from me for 1300) and Chevy/GMC C10's. After the rabbit hole trip, I've settled down a bit, and I'm going to start concentrating on the motor. When it's closer to complete, I'll start worrying about a vehicle to stuff it into. 

Clem- SBC's are my favorite engines ever, because they are so ridiculously simple. If you've got questions, give me a holler; aside from my knowledge, I have access to the brain trust of a hot rod shop...

In the meantime, enjoy the thread! I'm hoping to strip the block this week.

I like the 2 door blazer idea as well, sweet pick up.

Recon1342 said:

Clem- SBC's are my favorite engines ever, because they are so ridiculously simple. If you've got questions, give me a holler; aside from my knowledge, I have access to the brain trust of a hot rod shop...

In the meantime, enjoy the thread! I'm hoping to strip the block this week.

Cool, Thanks.

I have had a LOT of SBC-powered stuff in my life. Currently we have 4 running vehicles with SBCs.  But I've never "rebuilt" one before.  I've had a couple all the way apart and back together...but not a full rebuild.  I have two 350 engines in the barn that I recently tore down...ready to take to the machine shop.  Maybe your project will inspire me to take the next step.