Thank you for the great work you did on the engine Nick, i took the engine apart a few years ago and came to you to mesure the combustion chamber size because I myself had very few info on it. Based on those measurements I sold the old fuely heads that were maybe from an old 327 corvette engine and got a whole new top end kit. I will definitly choose every part myself on the next build , that being said im very greatful for how it turned out and very thankful for the good tune you did on her. Thanks again man ! Ps the engine is for my 89 firebird :)
Look at that awesome flat line of torque. It will be so much fun to drive that on the street. Part throttle double wheel peel burnout capabilities right there no problem. Rev limit it though. Rpm's are the only thing that will kill it.
You know Nick is a gearhead through and through!! He still gets excited when he makes a decision and confirms it by rubbing his hands together. Sign of someone that loves what he does!! :)
I went with 400 GM and added a stroked kit to make 427 and built it all to run pump gas.. Dyno run was 535 hp with a 850 Holley . Added EFI and the horsepower went to 565 hp. EFI improved the overall driving experience and added a big boost in power. This is odd combination of big power in a small package
Thanks Nick for a great video! I remember buying 400 sbc's for $50-$100 in the late 80's/early 90's. People around here were scared of them because of all the stories of over heating or blocks splitting. They didn't understand about drilling the steamer holes in non-400 cylinder heads. So they built stroker motors instead. I love these engines! So easy to make good power and torque. I wish I had one now!
Drilled heads or not these things heated under load. I went as far as using a 4 core desert radiator used in the Blazer. Everybody I knew had the same problem . Not a summer time driver. I know what I'm talking about. I am a two time NHRA record holder even John Bandimere is familiar with this problem. (He is an old and dear friend.).
@@genefoster8601 I ran one in my Nova for years. Std. bore 400sbc, 461 double hump heads, 305 comp cam, tunnel ram w/450 Holleys. TH350 w/3500 stall, 4;56 gears in a 10 bolt. I used a 4row radiator, Robert Shaw 160 degree thermostat, good water pump, flex fan with a shroud. Car would run between 165-185 in traffic in July/August. Never had an issue. Out of the dozen or so that I had, I never went more than .030 over. Most were std. bore. I never had any overheating issues. Maybe I was just lucky.
@@mcdonaldm73 you may be right. I live in here in Denver,Colorado and we start a 5280 feet above sea level where there is a lack of oxygen and running up to the Eisenhower tunnel and vail pass the El Camino under that load would reach 240 degrees but with the 18 pound radiator cap it wouldn't boil over. Again now we're talking at around and over 9000 feet. When going downhill it would go immediately back down to 180 degrees even though it had a 160 degree thermostat in it. A few other people I knew had the same problem with the 400 small block. The stock engine gave no problems with heat as long as you didn't raise the compression. Once you went to the double hump heads or the aluminum 202 heads which I ran you were in trouble. I think the altitude here and the mountain driving had a lot to do with this phenomenon. I just didn't like living on the edge of my seat with this engine. Finally put a big block LS engine in it.
@@genefoster8601 your right that's why I built a small block 350 16.5 to 1 compression rto 675/326 full roller motor 5500 to 6000 stall 400 turbo transmission naturally aspirated single carb. Never had a over heating issue.
I had a mild 406 in a chevy II that ran 11.70s on 91 octane. Cast iron Pro Action heads with 200cc intake runners. Raced it and hot rodded the crap out if that 2 bolt main cast crank 400 and never overheated it. So wierd to hear about the horror stories....
My dad used to build late model dirt car engines using 400 sbc as starting point by time he was done he had 700hp+ fire breathing monsters that would run 100 lap races wide open. I grew up getting to watch this and hand him wrenches and be a part of it. Nasty nasty engines especially for the time.
I love watching Nick when he's in the Dyno room. That is where Nick has his most fun. He can tune like crazy in there. He has super good instincts. He tunes by feel. Old skool. I like that.
Mopar small blocks normally had higher torque out of the factory per cubic inch as I remember, but Chevys, you could get more horsepower out of aftermarket and were really inexpensive to build. I'm hearing here about 400 over heating, but that must be a rare problem because I've never had that happen. Those 400s you can really get some good power out of if ya do it right. You can easily max the 202 valve heads out and need more cfm. A turbo can get you past that, but I found dart heads of the day got me past that restriction, and the the 400 allows just a little more room for bigger valves too. Ahhh the good ol days...
Lol my buddy had a 400 in his 68 Camaro graduation gift in 1996, gm dual plane holley 750 , ported camel humps headers and a mystery cam , he blew the doors off almost everything , made believers out of us 400 is a brute
I really enjoy seeing a tuning guru at work. This is the first and only time I've ever subscribed to any TH-cam shows. It Nick can't squeeze out a few more horses I don't know who could!
Had a 400 in my 78 GMC Camper Special. On the way home in 84 it died in the freeway right at an exit, no spark. Coasted as far as we could and we stopped right beside a pay phone. Called BCAA for a tow to the GM dealership that happened to be open until 9pm, we arrived at 8:35. Bought a pickup coil on an educated guess and after listening to the disbelief and hearing about the nearby accommodation pulled the distributor and got to work. I had it back together and was about to test it as the dealership staff were walking out at 9:02. It fired up and I was going to set the timing but instead drove out of sight first. The disbelief from the staff probably saved us half an hour. Never left home without a spare HEI again. It's almost as if you can prevent a failure just by having the spares on hand. and I packed a bunch of them and although I never needed them for my own vehicles I did get to help plenty of people who were in the middle of having a bad day. Cheers.
I used to build and run a few 400's back in the mid/late 80's on the street. They had killer torque for a small block and were great street engines. I also used to run them with the old "double hump" fuelie heads.
@Louis Edwards Yeah, I've seen a few sets here and there on Marketplace but you're right, not as many as years ago. Most people laugh at them now but back in the day, they were a great head to use.
@Louis Edwards Theres no point in trying to find them these days, unless you need them for a correct resto. Aftermarket heads are so cheap for an SBC these days that those old things aren't worth the time, money, and effort anymore. Hell, even a little work into a dime a dozen Vortec head and you'd be better off. Fugget-a-bot those ancient double humpers... Not worth it.
@Louis Edwards I hear ya. Same here. Mechanic all my life. Built all my own engines and for buddy’s and @ work. Same with my transmissions, rear ends and every part on the car actually. Started building transmissions at 19 years old and I built my last one two years ago for my Brother. I have now retired from building transmissions. It kills my back to even do too much of anything anymore.
I sincerely want to thank you Nick for being a tried and true muscle car guy. You have Mopar in your blood as I have Chevy in mine.. alot of that has to do with how we we're raised and what our parents had.. Kinda what we know.. BUT.. The love of all makes us who we are. Ford, GM and Mopar have truly made totally awesome completely mind blowing muscle cars and trucks that make us extremely proud. The respect is beyond words and I am very happy to have you to look forward to watching a few times a week. I always know you have something new and you tackle all without bias. Your love for the big 3 is priceless and much appreciated be myself and many more! Thank you!
I’ve got a 406 in my 57 Nomad. It is a heavy car. I built mine for torque instead of horsepower. Brodix aluminum heads, small hydraulic roller cam with 1.7 roller rockers and an Accel super ram fuel injection. 376 horsepower at the crank but 515 pound feet of torque at 2,300 rpm. It is loads of fun to drive!
I always remember, when draining small amounts of oil out of an overfilled case, loosening the plug to the "finger-loose" point, and then shoving a very short 3/4" I.D. heater hose (or somewhere abouts) over the flats of the plug and slowly turning it at "precision drain mode" by holding the hose without burning my fingers on 200° dripping oil and plug.
LoL I love his smile as the engine starts up...despite his lifelong experience he still get's a childlike thrill out of the sound of the engine starting up. he's adorable.
If you build them with 5.7 or 6.0 inch rods and put big nice flowing heads on them the 400 sbc is amazing. Best bang for your buck for any engine in my opinion.
Nick, the more I watch you, it becomes apparent that you mentally bond with an engine when it's on your dyno! Knowing how to coax the maximum output from a particular engine is gift only attained through years of experience. Great vid Nick! 👍
Why not rev it to at least 6500? I have made 100s of passes on a small block 400 with stock crank and rods,I’d turn it 7k in the water box and it lived a good life but eventually stock balancer gave up at the 330 mark and slung rods lol running 6.40s that was when it was fun!
@@sirtnfol8476 they will hold up our downfall in the beginning was the stock 30 year old balancer one of the best days at the track we were going rounds car was running dead on + only 1-2 numbers and 00 lights every pass very hard to beat a car that runs the number with double 0 lights every pass pulled in the water box and the balancer wasn’t balancing well enough lol and developed a slight leak I argued with the track guy to send me on but I guess he didn’t want to clean up the track lol buy the time I got back to the trailer the crank had beat the seal completely out of the timing cover so if I would have made the pass I would have ended badly in multiple ways possibly the next time it went to the track after some chassis and engine upgrades it ran a 5.80 off the trailer NA no power adders ever on the car and it is still running in the 70s to this day and is for sale at a great deal less than 10 passes on engine and a lot of new nice parts also have 24ft enclosed trailer
@Car Guy daddyo Good morning Car Guy, Nick told me about how you ordered the water pump for your car, and wound up with two water pumps. If you say it's good, I will trust your judgement. When I had the Charger down here in Texas in the early 70's, it never overheated with the stock setup. Now there is way more traffic, and it is hotter than it was before. I'm sure that the mods that Nick did to my original radiator, and the addition of the aluminum water pump housing, along with the new water pump from FlowKooler will keep the Charger running nice and cool during the Texas summer. I appreciate you letting me know about them. I'm sure that I will be happy with the results.
@Car Guy daddyo Actually, I believe that my Charger had the smaller radiator in it from the factory, and not the 26 inch which would have been indicated on the fender tag. Nick kept my original radiator, and had an extra row added to help with the cooling. You are right on the money, as usual, with your knowledge about cooling, and I always ran a 180 Thermostat in the Charger. I probably won't be driving it much during the heat of the day, because with no a/c it would be brutal inside the car. I'll be doing most of my driving early morning, and late in the evening after it starts to cool down.
@Car Guy daddyo Coming from you, I take that as a highly respected compliment. I put a lot of thought in over the years on how I wanted to build the Charger. I'm glad that you agree with the way I'm building the car. The Charger is going to have Magnum 500 Wheels, with original center caps, 15 X 7 up front, 15 X 8 in the rear, with redline tires just like it had when new.
@Car Guy daddyo I was going to go with the day 2 look, but decided to keep it stock looking on the outside. There are 15 X10 Magnum 500 wheels available for my drag radials.
The little sbc 400 is very underrated and nowadays very hard to find. They were the true Chevy sb performance engine! I built one back in the early 90's for a 73 nova. Put the edelbrock rpm package on it and ran 12 o's at 127mph in the 1/4 mile. All with the short rods. I still own 3 rare early ones today! Bad little engines. A friend built one with exspensive parts with Brodix, spreadport heads and ran 10:50's in an s-10 pickup. Pretty stout they are.
@@stevesalkas9128 that's a lot of work,time and very expensive! I've ran 7:50's in my nova with a monster big block tho before. Pretty much know what works and what doesn't. I don't really run the 1/4 anymore, I do street race for cash tho!🤪😁
I did something similar I rebuilt a SBC and after I put it in my car I took it directly to “Pacific Carburetors “ best thing I ever did as several things were not hooked up correctly AND that I had destroyed the ACCEL distributor on installing, I never would have found this flaw So I recommend that everyone do this ! Especially if they like engines like we do ! I am sure you can find a good shop where you are Gear Heads know this stuff !!!
What’s up Nick and George how are you doing up in the north. It’s cool to see a GM on the channel🤘 today I will be dropping a video reviving my newest acquisition A 1970 Buick powered by a 455. There’s so many great engines out there from different brands it’s hard to be brand loyal lol
you could not revive a wheel borrow yours is the worst channel on you tube really you just dont seem to learn there are all these channels with people who know what there doing and you still dont pick it up and do things wrong
All it took was watching just one video and now here I am ,, hooked ! I am amazed on just how much HP that you squeeze out of your engines . Awesome Work !!!
I have an original Chevy small block 400 from my 70 Chevy Monte. The 1st year built was 1970 into the mid 70's. Don't like the heads as they came with steam holes. Not a fan. But, with mods and upgrades, easy 475 HP.
I've been a motorhead my whole life, and I just learned something. 1/2 liter of oil too much equals 5 HP loss. Thanks, Nick. Never knew that. Great channel!!!
Ya know it's gonna be a good day when it starts out with hot coffee and Nick's Garage! First, I want to commend George on his superb skills. If I was there, I wouldn't get to see the angles or hear the sounds any better! For example : the shot of Nick when he hit his numbers! Rocky, eat your heart out! And Nick, your mind is something to watch work! A machine "reading" a machine.... Great job fellas, as always! Stay safe and healthy!
Lol, I remember in the 70s you couldn't give us a 400ci Chevy for free. We would turn our back on it. Maybe use it for a truck or something. Live and learn.
@@BigHatsince98 Most weren't 4 bolt mains and the heads flowed way less than 350 heads so way less power. Now that heads and pistons are cheap, it would be a different story.
@@bradcoffman7395 So why not swap the heads with whatever heads you wanted? There were double humps, 283 power packed, whatever else you wanted, machine shops have been putting 3 angle valve jobs in heads for a long time as well as porting and flowing. There were options. A 4BBL intake isn't rocket science to install either. They were also made into 377's. Also, how is a 2 bolt main going to have a higher possible output than a 4? Are you talking about adding splayed mains?
Nick nice job. I remember driving my 73 Caprice with a 400-2bl towing a 4x8 u hail and I got 24 mpg from Florida to CT when I left the Navy. It was a great running car. I still drive my 55 Nomad with a 355 pulling over 400 hp. and I have NO2 as well that I have had since 1974. I love my SBCs I have 2-283+.030 I'm building now. 1 stock and 1 tricked out with domes.
First impression from being around sbc’s my whole childhood and as a young adult. My dad ran Butler and McMasters built sbc in Maine, the 750 is too much for even this hungry 400, good call Nick. Balanced and blue printed engine with powder coated headers a 650 and a high revving Chevrolet brought many a blue ribbon to my old man’s mantle with his wife behind the wheel. Those are great memories. One of the my dad’s proudest moments was winning the state championship with a small block Chevrolet. He always said he was afraid to blow an engine, but Ma gave her the business and no one could touch their combination. Doreen. Proudly wears a Nick’s Garage t-shirt with a big smile. Thank you Nick and you too, you video and editing makes these videos really pop.
I remember my dad had a fully loaded 72 Chevy Impala with a 400 in it, that thing ran great until the day he sold it with 200,000 Mi on it. I was just starting to learn how to drive back then and drove that beast LOL
Good morning, Nick, George, and everyone!!! Nick, it’s ALWAYS a pleasure watching you applying your skills and knowledge to all these engines and getting them to perform as they should. A TRUE engine guru: KUDOS, Nick, and y’all have a fantastic day!!! 🙂
The torque curve, isn’t a curve at all. It’s a ❤️beautiful, flat, consecutive number, torque line. Great motor for racing, a pick up truck or even a daily driver. Good luck to the owner. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us Nick. Best of luck 🍀👍🏻
Small block Chevy in the dyno room Nick's Garage is the place to give your engine a tune It's got a radical cam Nick is executing his breaking in plan Nick is the man
@@NicksGarage Nick, you might not believe me, but I have a friend that bought a 1970 Corvette with an original 400 small block, it was rated @ 270 horsepower from the factory. It's the only one I've ever seen. I know for a fact, the 400 sb came in the car. I was with him when he drove it away from the dealership brand new. It's fine if you don't believe me.
I messed up a 400 chevy 77 suburban. Bought it used. It had an AFB Carter with Edelbrock intake and headers. Good camper puller till carb started to flood. Carter went broke. Couldn’t get new kit. So found a used Quadrajet. Wrong carb for Egr newer pickup. Run too lean and hot in cylinders. Red inside exhaust. I realized too late wrong carb. I had a poor engine teacher in trade school. Learned most through hard knocks. Should have looked a lot harder for carb needle and seat. Edelbrock bought Carter. I’m learning a lot more of the really important things watching Nick’s Garage. Nick is way better than Auto Mechanics classes.
I had one in a '73 Firebird that ROCKED. That motor made power all up and down the RPM's, not like some of the smaller SB chev motors that were really peaky and didnt make much below 3500 or 4k
411hp/447tq with a 650 on a 406, while the smaller 1971 LT1 350 was 370hp/380tq came stock with a 780 on it. could it be that the 71 LT1 could have did better with a 650? my friend built a 406 Chevy, man would it launch like a monster. he didn't race it only a few times, after 15 years he sold the car, a 79 Camino. the guy that bought it beat it well and blew a rod out the side of it. thanks Nick!!
I have one of the 406 SBC engines. They are torque monsters. 5,500 RPM is about it for the red line. I put 11:1 flat top pistons in it but ran the larger heads to get it down to 10:1 for pump gas. I ran a larger cam also with shorty headers. H.P. and torque numbers are very much the same as in this video. It should work well in my 1984 Camaro.
when dealing with an unknown Chevy 400 small block (but you can tell the heads or head gasket is non-original) keep a hairy eyeball on the temp gauge. Not everyone knows to drill steam holes in a cylinder head for the 400, because its siamese bores keep the water from flowing 360 degrees around the cylinders, so the flow gets trapped in between and turns to steam and thus...steam holes.
@@throttlebottle5906 it also helps there's more 350 blocks floating around :) Chevy even offers a 383 crate engine, and they've got the 400 blueprints lying around. For a time, the choice for the 400 was keep its cast crank or get bearing spacers to toss in the 350 crank to destroke and get a ton of RPM...or a 327 crank and replicate what an Olds 350 does stock with a 6 inch 'rod. so there ended up being a few extra cranks and blocks sitting in shops and folks getting ideas.
@@albertgaspar627 350 blocks are still in being cast(mexico). **in fact as of july 2020, GM started selling new stock 350's again, for service/replacement. so many things still run them to this day
@@throttlebottle5906 right, and Chevy i think only makes the 4.125 bore in racing form--a bit expensive for an engine designed to be a Targetmaster or a crate engine that's cheaper than a rebuilt 350 (tho we've all probably slapped together one for Friday-night-out money :) ).
I love building budget sbc 400's. Last build i spent a bit more but still not bad. 10.2 compression. 560 lift hydro roller 238 242@50 Scat iron crank 6 inch scat rods. Afr 195 2 bolt block. Motown single plane intake. No dyno but in a 69 camaro with 3.55 gear and 3 inch exhaust car ran 11.09 @121. Probably 525 hp qnd runs on 91 no problem. 32 degrees timing.
My memory of Chevy 400s from the late 70s…. SOOOO many blown head gaskets between cylinders when you worked them hard (farm trucks, service vans, etc.). The bore was just a little too big for the SBC platform. I think that’s why the 383 (400 crank in a 350 block) is still so popular. More meat between bores, more gasket area.
I disagree the 400 is just another platform to build on I've never blown a head gasket when I went to copper with the graphite coating and ARP studs weak head bolts cause gaskit failure
@@richardfinney3179 one of my favorites. Your average mechanic couldn't do one justice though. It was a torque beast in the right hands and tough. It was primarily a truck engine.
As was said w a good head gasket and ARP head bolts the two or three I've worked on over the yrs never had any issues w the head gasket but I've heard stories where the dummass's put 350 heads on one trying to get a higher compression ratio and did but they had no steam holes and yes had big problems w over heating and head gasket issues you gotta have the steam holes from the experience I've had w them ..
Just fyi, the missing bolt in that hole is where tri- five Chevy motor mounts bolted to and GM was smart enough to leave them there for us tri five gear heads. Only been on channel for a couple weeks but I got my blue Nick’s Tee shirt to match my 55 Chevy Belair 2 door ht with 406 ci sbc and 5 speed Tremec trans.For car shows. Love your channel and if I was 40 years younger, I’d come to work for you for free. I used to be a pretty good wrench on sbc’s . Especially with high reviving 302 69 Z/28 engines. Bill my friend that had a dyno passed away a couple years ago . I never really realized how much I missed my gear head friends till I started watching you. Lots of memories on dirt track and 1/4 mile drag strips. I love how your taking your precious time to teach Leo. Take care , Batman ⚙️👶 R us
The bore and stroke with the exception of the short rods make this a dream come true don't believe the myths they came along with the 400 small block I've been running them for ever in my trucks and they're hard to beat outside of the gas mileage never had a overheating problem never had a single problem with any one of them cuz I kept up with the maintenance and only upgraded the parts I thought would fail but all in all I'm a small block Chevy fan all day Mighty Mouse lives again
Beside the engine 355 I just mentioned I love seeing the cars in your shop as I did 30 years of restoring muscles and street hot rods cars built to perfection! And painted everything that came through our shop from high ends to muscle cars in Pensacola Fl. Chemicals took it tool on me. Now I'm stuck in Indiana in cold weather trying to build one car for me! I have a 1985 SS Monte Carlo the 355 goes in. It will be ok show type car. Until I can get my cars back l from Pensacola. 1981 Z28 and a 1973 XJ6 Jaguar with a 355 Chevy in it! It's fun to drive and here the chevy rumble! Love your work and yes it's in your blood and the love for those cars! Thanks!
Nick I had a 4 bolt main 406 with chevy 292 angle plug turbo heads all blue printed and balanced with a double pump holly 850cfm and Yorker intake in a 72 vega! Never beat on the street including big blocks! I left a lot of components out but you see where I'm going!
No better way to start the day than testing an engine on Nick's dyno. One of my friends had a 1971 Chevy Montecarlo with a 400 small block, not sure if it was original to the car and no idea what kind of horsepower it produced, but it was one of the fastest cars on the road around here. It was beautiful, gold with a matching gold interior. Of course, no race car in the 70's was complete without a set of S/S Cragers, and dual exhaust. The stories that car could tell.
Hello from Texas, Carb CFM is VERY RPM sensitive, most people think bigger is always better and if your turning 8000+ RPM you might have a point. However, if you are only turning 5000 or 5500 RPM you will actually need a smaller carb than you'd think. If Nick was turning this same engine to 7000+ RPM he might have needed the 750 CFM carb. In a car turning this engine to a max 6000 RPM that Holley 650HP carb will be PERFECT. Great Dyno work Nick! ;-)
That bolt holds fuel pump Drive rod up when replacing fuel pump en sure it's not too long the bolt. Use a longer bolt when replacing the pump to hold the rod up and short bolt to plug the hole when you're done
That’s not actually what it’s for but you can use it for that as long as you do not bend the mechanical fuel pump rod. Those holes on the block was actually for some old trucks and some of the mid 50’s Chevrolet cars front motor mounts.
i got a 400 and an old school 350 large journal one problem the 400 is in a 79 4x4 chevy short box cheyenne full option truck with under 35,000 miles on it . the truck is in mint condition parked in a shop its hole life . i got for free for taking 4 other rigs in the shop and all the engines and car parts and 15 pu parked out side one car is supper rare a 67 rs ss 427 yenko camaro the other one was a 68 ss 396 and 2 79 z28 camaros got all the matching # engines , then i got 2 454 strokers a fresh 327 4 bolt built and about 4 350 4 bolts all run good , one of the 454 is built with a tunnel ram both stated out as the 450 hp 485 torque ho 454 with the 4 inch stroke steel crank heavy rods heavy pushrods 10.5 to 1 compression crate engines
A 400 Chevy is one of the unsung heroes. Because of the years made there was no want to show power . But they can be swapped around with older 441 heads single plane intake an a cam an make 1hp per cube an even more torq.
Thank you for the great work you did on the engine Nick, i took the engine apart a few years ago and came to you to mesure the combustion chamber size because I myself had very few info on it. Based on those measurements I sold the old fuely heads that were maybe from an old 327 corvette engine and got a whole new top end kit. I will definitly choose every part myself on the next build , that being said im very greatful for how it turned out and very thankful for the good tune you did on her. Thanks again man ! Ps the engine is for my 89 firebird :)
Look at that awesome flat line of torque. It will be so much fun to drive that on the street. Part throttle double wheel peel burnout capabilities right there no problem. Rev limit it though. Rpm's are the only thing that will kill it.
Automatic or manual transmission?
@@SavageEuge manual 5 speed
hell yea i am building a 89 formula myself right now
@@juicedchevy "manual 5 speed" EXCELLENT
Just finished my 400. .490 lift. Blue print Aluminum heads. 6" rods. Thing HAULS!! 400 is my all time favorite engine.
If you want to restrict yourself to only 400 cubes I guess it's fine for you
@@lollipop84858 Not going big block. Staying with stock block. So yeah. 400 cubes it is.
@@cw1824 ...until you get some spare cash, get itchy...and break out the grinder so you can stroke it to 4 inches...and 440 cubes...LOL!
@@DMWatson-qc6mz I build engines for a living. It's tough not to spend my whole paycheck on engines lol
I don't care if it's Chrysler Ford or Chevy they're all American horsepower. Thank you for another great video
Right on!
Don't forget about the 2 million Toyotas built in the USA!
Holden 308
@@theupscriber65 Toyotas don't count in our book (us old timers).
@@theupscriber65 Said NO ONE EVER
You know Nick is a gearhead through and through!! He still gets excited when he makes a decision and confirms it by rubbing his hands together. Sign of someone that loves what he does!! :)
You can see and hear he just loves doing this!
Absolutely
He’s like a 👍🏻kid in a ❤️candy store, when he 😍sees 🥰classic❤️ muscle cars.
I went with 400 GM and added a stroked kit to make 427 and built it all to run pump gas.. Dyno run was 535 hp with a 850 Holley . Added EFI and the horsepower went to 565 hp. EFI improved the overall driving experience and added a big boost in power. This is odd combination of big power in a small package
The carb should've added more HP if it was tuned right
Thanks Nick for a great video!
I remember buying 400 sbc's for $50-$100 in the late 80's/early 90's. People around here were scared of them because of all the stories of over heating or blocks splitting. They didn't understand about drilling the steamer holes in non-400 cylinder heads. So they built stroker motors instead. I love these engines! So easy to make good power and torque. I wish I had one now!
Drilled heads or not these things heated under load. I went as far as using a 4 core desert radiator used in the Blazer. Everybody I knew had the same problem . Not a summer time driver. I know what I'm talking about. I am a two time NHRA record holder even John Bandimere is familiar with this problem. (He is an old and dear friend.).
@@genefoster8601 I ran one in my Nova for years. Std. bore 400sbc, 461 double hump heads, 305 comp cam, tunnel ram w/450 Holleys. TH350 w/3500 stall, 4;56 gears in a 10 bolt. I used a 4row radiator, Robert Shaw 160 degree thermostat, good water pump, flex fan with a shroud. Car would run between 165-185 in traffic in July/August. Never had an issue.
Out of the dozen or so that I had, I never went more than .030 over. Most were std. bore. I never had any overheating issues. Maybe I was just lucky.
@@mcdonaldm73 you may be right. I live in here in Denver,Colorado and we start a 5280 feet above sea level where there is a lack of oxygen and running up to the Eisenhower tunnel and vail pass the El Camino under that load would reach 240 degrees but with the 18 pound radiator cap it wouldn't boil over. Again now we're talking at around and over 9000 feet. When going downhill it would go immediately back down to 180 degrees even though it had a 160 degree thermostat in it. A few other people I knew had the same problem with the 400 small block. The stock engine gave no problems with heat as long as you didn't raise the compression. Once you went to the double hump heads or the aluminum 202 heads which I ran you were in trouble. I think the altitude here and the mountain driving had a lot to do with this phenomenon. I just didn't like living on the edge of my seat with this engine. Finally put a big block LS engine in it.
@@genefoster8601 your right that's why I built a small block 350 16.5 to 1 compression rto 675/326 full roller motor 5500 to 6000 stall 400 turbo transmission naturally aspirated single carb. Never had a over heating issue.
I had a mild 406 in a chevy II that ran 11.70s on 91 octane. Cast iron Pro Action heads with 200cc intake runners. Raced it and hot rodded the crap out if that 2 bolt main cast crank 400 and never overheated it. So wierd to hear about the horror stories....
My dad used to build late model dirt car engines using 400 sbc as starting point by time he was done he had 700hp+ fire breathing monsters that would run 100 lap races wide open. I grew up getting to watch this and hand him wrenches and be a part of it. Nasty nasty engines especially for the time.
I learn something every time I watch Nick Im a 70 year old mechanic. Never to old to learn.
I love watching Nick when he's in the Dyno room. That is where Nick has his most fun. He can tune like crazy in there. He has super good instincts. He tunes by feel. Old skool. I like that.
I think Nick is falling in love with those Chevys. Really enjoy the variety of engines.
He's amazed by Chevy power... 375 HP from 327" stock...
Mopar small blocks normally had higher torque out of the factory per cubic inch as I remember, but Chevys, you could get more horsepower out of aftermarket and were really inexpensive to build. I'm hearing here about 400 over heating, but that must be a rare problem because I've never had that happen. Those 400s you can really get some good power out of if ya do it right. You can easily max the 202 valve heads out and need more cfm. A turbo can get you past that, but I found dart heads of the day got me past that restriction, and the the 400 allows just a little more room for bigger valves too. Ahhh the good ol days...
Lol my buddy had a 400 in his 68 Camaro graduation gift in 1996, gm dual plane holley 750 , ported camel humps headers and a mystery cam , he blew the doors off almost everything , made believers out of us 400 is a brute
Nick's attention to detail is the secret to his success, good show Nick
I really enjoy seeing a tuning guru at work. This is the first and only time I've ever subscribed to any TH-cam shows. It Nick can't squeeze out a few more horses I don't know who could!
Had a 400 in my 78 GMC Camper Special. On the way home in 84 it died in the freeway right at an exit, no spark. Coasted as far as we could and we stopped right beside a pay phone. Called BCAA for a tow to the GM dealership that happened to be open until 9pm, we arrived at 8:35. Bought a pickup coil on an educated guess and after listening to the disbelief and hearing about the nearby accommodation pulled the distributor and got to work. I had it back together and was about to test it as the dealership staff were walking out at 9:02. It fired up and I was going to set the timing but instead drove out of sight first. The disbelief from the staff probably saved us half an hour. Never left home without a spare HEI again. It's almost as if you can prevent a failure just by having the spares on hand. and I packed a bunch of them and although I never needed them for my own vehicles I did get to help plenty of people who were in the middle of having a bad day.
Cheers.
I used to build and run a few 400's back in the mid/late 80's on the street. They had killer torque for a small block and were great street engines. I also used to run them with the old "double hump" fuelie heads.
@Louis Edwards Yeah, I've seen a few sets here and there on Marketplace but you're right, not as many as years ago. Most people laugh at them now but back in the day, they were a great head to use.
@Louis Edwards Theres no point in trying to find them these days, unless you need them for a correct resto. Aftermarket heads are so cheap for an SBC these days that those old things aren't worth the time, money, and effort anymore. Hell, even a little work into a dime a dozen Vortec head and you'd be better off. Fugget-a-bot those ancient double humpers... Not worth it.
@Louis Edwards They can still be found, it's just not worth it anymore. It was worth it back in the day.
@Louis Edwards
I hear ya. Same here. Mechanic all my life. Built all my own engines and for buddy’s and @ work. Same with my transmissions, rear ends and every part on the car actually. Started building transmissions at 19 years old and I built my last one two years ago for my Brother. I have now retired from building transmissions. It kills my back to even do too much of anything anymore.
those are the heads i run on my SB400 and i hand port matched and polished everything inside them. match intake runners as well.
You know your Monday gonna be good when start with nicks garage
Thank you, Nathan.
tru dat bruh
I sincerely want to thank you Nick for being a tried and true muscle car guy. You have Mopar in your blood as I have Chevy in mine.. alot of that has to do with how we we're raised and what our parents had.. Kinda what we know.. BUT.. The love of all makes us who we are. Ford, GM and Mopar have truly made totally awesome completely mind blowing muscle cars and trucks that make us extremely proud. The respect is beyond words and I am very happy to have you to look forward to watching a few times a week. I always know you have something new and you tackle all without bias. Your love for the big 3 is priceless and much appreciated be myself and many more! Thank you!
I’ve got a 406 in my 57 Nomad. It is a heavy car. I built mine for torque instead of horsepower. Brodix aluminum heads, small hydraulic roller cam with 1.7 roller rockers and an Accel super ram fuel injection. 376 horsepower at the crank but 515 pound feet of torque at 2,300 rpm. It is loads of fun to drive!
I always remember, when draining small amounts of oil out of an overfilled case, loosening the plug to the "finger-loose" point, and then shoving a very short 3/4" I.D. heater hose (or somewhere abouts) over the flats of the plug and slowly turning it at "precision drain mode" by holding the hose without burning my fingers on 200° dripping oil and plug.
Excellent tip!
I love that tip! Thanks for that, always more to learn no matter how long you're in the game.
Fumoto drain valves make it easy! I use them on oil and tranny pans.
LoL I love his smile as the engine starts up...despite his lifelong experience he still get's a childlike thrill out of the sound of the engine starting up. he's adorable.
I Had two cars with that motor. A 75 monty carlo. And 76 caprice estate wagon. They are excellent motors they both lasted over.500000 miles
If you build them with 5.7 or 6.0 inch rods and put big nice flowing heads on them the 400 sbc is amazing. Best bang for your buck for any engine in my opinion.
I built my 406ci with 5.7 rods ,-12cc dish 4VR speed pro,and Promaxx 200cc aluminum 64cc heads …for a 10:1cr ,motor is a beast in my 86 squarebody
Nick, the more I watch you, it becomes apparent that you mentally bond with an engine when it's on your dyno! Knowing how to coax the maximum output from a particular engine is gift only attained through years of experience. Great vid Nick! 👍
Nick is an engine whisperer👍👍
400 smally is dirt track GOLD !!!
When I was a kid, my dad had a '77 suburban with a 400 small block with no smog equipment and it was a strong engine.
Why not rev it to at least 6500? I have made 100s of passes on a small block 400 with stock crank and rods,I’d turn it 7k in the water box and it lived a good life but eventually stock balancer gave up at the 330 mark and slung rods lol running 6.40s that was when it was fun!
Super super quick et, how many horses was that 1800 ?
@@marcalampi5036 lol noooooo I was running 1/8 mile probably at that time I would guess 450-500
I built a 400 it never ran hot and slung belts and planetaries out at 7200. Stock bottom just polished and balance
@@sirtnfol8476 they will hold up our downfall in the beginning was the stock 30 year old balancer one of the best days at the track we were going rounds car was running dead on + only 1-2 numbers and 00 lights every pass very hard to beat a car that runs the number with double 0 lights every pass pulled in the water box and the balancer wasn’t balancing well enough lol and developed a slight leak I argued with the track guy to send me on but I guess he didn’t want to clean up the track lol buy the time I got back to the trailer the crank had beat the seal completely out of the timing cover so if I would have made the pass I would have ended badly in multiple ways possibly the next time it went to the track after some chassis and engine upgrades it ran a 5.80 off the trailer NA no power adders ever on the car and it is still running in the 70s to this day and is for sale at a great deal less than 10 passes on engine and a lot of new nice parts also have 24ft enclosed trailer
I love the fact that all the things are talked about. The moving distributor, cam timing, air fuel ratio h carb size!
Good morning Nick, the sounds of HP in the morning, what a great way to start a Monday.
Good morning!
@Car Guy daddyo Good morning Car Guy, Nick told me about how you ordered the water pump for your car, and wound up with two water pumps. If you say it's good, I will trust your judgement. When I had the Charger down here in Texas in the early 70's, it never overheated with the stock setup. Now there is way more traffic, and it is hotter than it was before. I'm sure that the mods that Nick did to my original radiator, and the addition of the aluminum water pump housing, along with the new water pump from FlowKooler will keep the Charger running nice and cool during the Texas summer. I appreciate you letting me know about them. I'm sure that I will be happy with the results.
@Car Guy daddyo Actually, I believe that my Charger had the smaller radiator in it from the factory, and not the 26 inch which would have been indicated on the fender tag. Nick kept my original radiator, and had an extra row added to help with the cooling. You are right on the money, as usual, with your knowledge about cooling, and I always ran a 180 Thermostat in the Charger. I probably won't be driving it much during the heat of the day, because with no a/c it would be brutal inside the car. I'll be doing most of my driving early morning, and late in the evening after it starts to cool down.
@Car Guy daddyo Coming from you, I take that as a highly respected compliment. I put a lot of thought in over the years on how I wanted to build the Charger. I'm glad that you agree with the way I'm building the car. The Charger is going to have Magnum 500 Wheels, with original center caps, 15 X 7 up front, 15 X 8 in the rear, with redline tires just like it had when new.
@Car Guy daddyo I was going to go with the day 2 look, but decided to keep it stock looking on the outside. There are 15 X10 Magnum 500 wheels available for my drag radials.
Nick I read that too much oil can also collect in the valley, and heat the bottom of the intake, robbing HP.
The little sbc 400 is very underrated and nowadays very hard to find. They were the true Chevy sb performance engine! I built one back in the early 90's for a 73 nova. Put the edelbrock rpm package on it and ran 12 o's at 127mph in the 1/4 mile. All with the short rods. I still own 3 rare early ones today! Bad little engines. A friend built one with exspensive parts with Brodix, spreadport heads and ran 10:50's in an s-10 pickup. Pretty stout they are.
Good engine here in australia in late 90s b4 the ls1 2 3 engines went crazy
Mate put one in Mazda rx4 run 9.56 quarter
@@stevesalkas9128 that's a lot of work,time and very expensive! I've ran 7:50's in my nova with a monster big block tho before. Pretty much know what works and what doesn't. I don't really run the 1/4 anymore, I do street race for cash tho!🤪😁
I did something similar I rebuilt a SBC and after I put it in my car I took it directly to “Pacific Carburetors “ best thing I ever did as several things were not hooked up correctly AND that I had destroyed the ACCEL distributor on installing, I never would have found this flaw So I recommend that everyone do this ! Especially if they like engines like we do ! I am sure you can find a good shop where you are Gear Heads know this stuff !!!
Ventura ?
What’s up Nick and George how are you doing up in the north. It’s cool to see a GM on the channel🤘 today I will be dropping a video reviving my newest acquisition A 1970 Buick powered by a 455. There’s so many great engines out there from different brands it’s hard to be brand loyal lol
Morning B! You are right about the variety of great engines out there. Gotta love them all.
you could not revive a wheel borrow yours is the worst channel on you tube really you just dont seem to learn there are all these channels with people who know what there doing and you still dont pick it up and do things wrong
if its got wheels and drinks gas,im in
Im doing the same thing. 91 buick wagon is getting an olds 455
All it took was watching just one video and now here I am ,, hooked ! I am amazed on just how much HP that you squeeze out of your engines . Awesome Work !!!
I always start my Monday's with a cup of coffee and Nick's Garage. Have a great weeks guy's! Bill from Linglestown Pennsylvania
Thanks Bill! You too!
I have an original Chevy small block 400 from my 70 Chevy Monte. The 1st year built was 1970 into the mid 70's. Don't like the heads as they came with steam holes. Not a fan. But, with mods and upgrades, easy 475 HP.
i had a 67 malibu w/ a '73 high nickel 400 small block that was around 400 hp, great gas milage ... around 18 mpg
I just happen to be a Chevy guy but I like all of the big three. I like the fact that Nick does not disrespect Chevy or Ford
Yes. the Gen I SBC has been put in just about anything you can name. I have a 406 SBC in my Datsun 240Z
Datsun 240Z with a V8, nice.
savage
I've been a motorhead my whole life, and I just learned something. 1/2 liter of oil too much equals 5 HP loss. Thanks, Nick. Never knew that. Great channel!!!
Ya know it's gonna be a good day when it starts out with hot coffee and Nick's Garage! First, I want to commend George on his superb skills. If I was there, I wouldn't get to see the angles or hear the sounds any better! For example : the shot of Nick when he hit his numbers! Rocky, eat your heart out! And Nick, your mind is something to watch work! A machine "reading" a machine....
Great job fellas, as always! Stay safe and healthy!
GOTTA LOVE NICK!!
He's always so jazzed when doing dyno work!
Lol, I remember in the 70s you couldn't give us a 400ci Chevy for free. We would turn our back on it. Maybe use it for a truck or something. Live and learn.
Most factory ones where 2 barrel, small valve head, low compression boat anchors. Performance parts are cheap now though.
Why would you turn your back on 50 more cubes and a 4 bolt main?
@@BigHatsince98 Most weren't 4 bolt mains and the heads flowed way less than 350 heads so way less power. Now that heads and pistons are cheap, it would be a different story.
@@BigHatsince98 Because back then the 2 bolt main motors were cheaper to work on with more available options and higher possible output.
@@bradcoffman7395 So why not swap the heads with whatever heads you wanted? There were double humps, 283 power packed, whatever else you wanted, machine shops have been putting 3 angle valve jobs in heads for a long time as well as porting and flowing. There were options. A 4BBL intake isn't rocket science to install either. They were also made into 377's. Also, how is a 2 bolt main going to have a higher possible output than a 4? Are you talking about adding splayed mains?
I grew up on GM big blocks mostly Olds. I to this day would still take torque over HP on the street. It's just more fun.
Nick, thanks for the Bowtie addition.
Nick nice job. I remember driving my 73 Caprice with a 400-2bl towing a 4x8 u hail and I got 24 mpg from Florida to CT when I left the Navy. It was a great running car.
I still drive my 55 Nomad with a 355 pulling over 400 hp. and I have NO2 as well that I have had since 1974.
I love my SBCs I have 2-283+.030 I'm building now. 1 stock and 1 tricked out with domes.
Love spending my coffee time watching your dyno Nick! have a great week buddy.
Thanks! You too!
First impression from being around sbc’s my whole childhood and as a young adult. My dad ran Butler and McMasters built sbc in Maine, the 750 is too much for even this hungry 400, good call Nick. Balanced and blue printed engine with powder coated headers a 650 and a high revving Chevrolet brought many a blue ribbon to my old man’s mantle with his wife behind the wheel. Those are great memories. One of the my dad’s proudest moments was winning the state championship with a small block Chevrolet. He always said he was afraid to blow an engine, but Ma gave her the business and no one could touch their combination. Doreen. Proudly wears a Nick’s Garage t-shirt with a big smile. Thank you Nick and you too, you video and editing makes these videos really pop.
Bon Matin/ Good morning, nice to hear a little chevy on the dyno. Thank-you.
Morning! Glad you could join us.
A small block with more torque than horse power. I am impressed.
I remember my dad had a fully loaded 72 Chevy Impala with a 400 in it, that thing ran great until the day he sold it with 200,000 Mi on it. I was just starting to learn how to drive back then and drove that beast LOL
Good morning, Nick, George, and everyone!!! Nick, it’s ALWAYS a pleasure watching you applying your skills and knowledge to all these engines and getting them to perform as they should. A TRUE engine guru: KUDOS, Nick, and y’all have a fantastic day!!! 🙂
Thanks for that!
The torque curve, isn’t a curve at all. It’s a ❤️beautiful, flat, consecutive number, torque line. Great motor for racing, a pick up truck or even a daily driver. Good luck to the owner. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us Nick. Best of luck 🍀👍🏻
They always ran hot it’s not a great motor unless u have a serious ice cube box and fans and even that won’t help
Nice to see a guy that's his age still enthused about his craft... most seem like burn outs at his age. Good vid
Small block Chevy in the dyno room Nick's Garage is the place to give your engine a tune It's got a radical cam Nick is executing his breaking in plan Nick is the man
Roberto knows, he never fails, his rhymes are wind in our sails.
@@NicksGarage
Nick, you might not believe me, but I have a friend that bought a 1970 Corvette with an original 400 small block, it was rated @ 270 horsepower from the factory.
It's the only one I've ever seen. I know for a fact, the 400 sb came in the car. I was with him when he drove it away from the dealership brand new. It's fine if you don't believe me.
I messed up a 400 chevy 77 suburban. Bought it used. It had an AFB Carter with Edelbrock intake and headers. Good camper puller till carb started to flood. Carter went broke. Couldn’t get new kit. So found a used Quadrajet. Wrong carb for Egr newer pickup. Run too lean and hot in cylinders. Red inside exhaust. I realized too late wrong carb. I had a poor engine teacher in trade school. Learned most through hard knocks. Should have looked a lot harder for carb needle and seat. Edelbrock bought Carter. I’m learning a lot more of the really important things watching Nick’s Garage. Nick is way better than Auto Mechanics classes.
👍SBC 400... 1 great engine
I had one I put in my old Buick, good motor, the 1970-1972 were four bolt mains.
307ci, 327,sbc 400 .Are they not factory stokers ?
U gotta love Nicks mindset;Actually,It's a 406,With 406 Cubic Inches;So let's try for 406 HP...I love the way this Man thinks! PROPS!!!
That is one sweet, sweet small block Chevy 400 engine.
I had one in a '73 Firebird that ROCKED. That motor made power all up and down the RPM's, not like some of the smaller SB chev motors that were really peaky and didnt make much below 3500 or 4k
411hp/447tq with a 650 on a 406, while the smaller 1971 LT1 350 was 370hp/380tq came stock with a 780 on it. could it be that the 71 LT1 could have did better with a 650?
my friend built a 406 Chevy, man would it launch like a monster. he didn't race it only a few times, after 15 years he sold the car, a 79 Camino. the guy that bought it beat it well and blew a rod out the side of it.
thanks Nick!!
I have one of the 406 SBC engines.
They are torque monsters.
5,500 RPM is about it for the red line.
I put 11:1 flat top pistons in it but ran the larger heads to get it down to 10:1 for pump gas.
I ran a larger cam also with shorty headers.
H.P. and torque numbers are very much the same as in this video.
It should work well in my 1984 Camaro.
Nick is the best but I think he missed a few hp from a few degrees more timing… you never know
The man loves his dyno and customers.
I like the fact that Nick always works to try to get everything he can out of whatever motor people bring him to test.
this is the good stuff dr. nick. cant get enough. and we thank the fella for the 400ci donation. that finger pointing does the trick,,
Every time I watch an episode I learn something. Time well spent. Thank you.
I have a mystery 400 in my 62 Impala SS, I wish I had a guy like you near me but I'm in England
Love watching Nick's channel, he's a Awesome teacher for my old-school self!
Coffee and dyno time, great way to start the day! Thanks Nick!
Enjoy!
We have morning Tea and dyno here in UK 🇬🇧🍵👍
Every time I watch Nick he is like a kid in a candy store when he tests these motors!!!!!
Hello to Nick, George, Vasilys and all the guys. Thanks for the dyno blast!
Our pleasure!
I'm always told I don't know much of anything about anything but I like that torque curve.
when dealing with an unknown Chevy 400 small block (but you can tell the heads or head gasket is non-original) keep a hairy eyeball on the temp gauge. Not everyone knows to drill steam holes in a cylinder head for the 400, because its siamese bores keep the water from flowing 360 degrees around the cylinders, so the flow gets trapped in between and turns to steam and thus...steam holes.
@@throttlebottle5906 it also helps there's more 350 blocks floating around :) Chevy even offers a 383 crate engine, and they've got the 400 blueprints lying around. For a time, the choice for the 400 was keep its cast crank or get bearing spacers to toss in the 350 crank to destroke and get a ton of RPM...or a 327 crank and replicate what an Olds 350 does stock with a 6 inch 'rod. so there ended up being a few extra cranks and blocks sitting in shops and folks getting ideas.
@@albertgaspar627 350 blocks are still in being cast(mexico).
**in fact as of july 2020, GM started selling new stock 350's again, for service/replacement. so many things still run them to this day
@@throttlebottle5906 right, and Chevy i think only makes the 4.125 bore in racing form--a bit expensive for an engine designed to be a Targetmaster or a crate engine that's cheaper than a rebuilt 350 (tho we've all probably slapped together one for Friday-night-out money :) ).
Learned a lot in regards to the 400.Have it in my 87 SS Monte
Nice setup
I have a 400 sbc in my 71 chevelle numbers matching, I would love to get 500 hp
Thx nick 👍🏻
Thanks for the 400sb chevy dyno run it sounded so sweet.keep up the good work nick cheers.
My favorite Chevy sb. Had a built 400 back in the day. Torque monsters.
Man that motor jumped to life with that 650 cfm carb. Heard it right away. Nick knows every trick!
yes experience and knowledge through hardwork. that dyno is golden tool
owner of engine wise person with total sleeper under the hood. well done Nick
Hey Nick, I've got the 400 SBC in my 75 K20 stock Mud truck.. LOVE IT!!!!
We've been using the 400 Chev for dirt track racing for years. They haul!
Good morning Nick and crew.. that SBC will be a great street engine. Hope you guys have a great week.
I love building budget sbc 400's.
Last build i spent a bit more but still not bad.
10.2 compression.
560 lift hydro roller 238 242@50
Scat iron crank 6 inch scat rods.
Afr 195
2 bolt block.
Motown single plane intake.
No dyno but in a 69 camaro with 3.55 gear and 3 inch exhaust car ran 11.09 @121.
Probably 525 hp qnd runs on 91 no problem. 32 degrees timing.
Nice guy like Nick taking care of all those little details the other shop didn't
I could watch this all day. Its way beyond cool to be in on a dyno day.
My memory of Chevy 400s from the late 70s…. SOOOO many blown head gaskets between cylinders when you worked them hard (farm trucks, service vans, etc.). The bore was just a little too big for the SBC platform. I think that’s why the 383 (400 crank in a 350 block) is still so popular. More meat between bores, more gasket area.
I disagree the 400 is just another platform to build on I've never blown a head gasket when I went to copper with the graphite coating and ARP studs weak head bolts cause gaskit failure
That's why I prefer the 383.
@@richardfinney3179 one of my favorites. Your average mechanic couldn't do one justice though. It was a torque beast in the right hands and tough. It was primarily a truck engine.
@@richardfinney3179 I always used ARP's on these smallblocks & never lost a head gasket. I think you are spot on.
As was said w a good head gasket and ARP head bolts the two or three I've worked on over the yrs never had any issues w the head gasket but I've heard stories where the dummass's put 350 heads on one trying to get a higher compression ratio and did but they had no steam holes and yes had big problems w over heating and head gasket issues you gotta have the steam holes from the experience I've had w them ..
Just fyi, the missing bolt in that hole is where tri- five Chevy motor mounts bolted to and GM was smart enough to leave them there for us tri five gear heads. Only been on channel for a couple weeks but I got my blue Nick’s Tee shirt to match my 55 Chevy Belair 2 door ht with 406 ci sbc and 5 speed Tremec trans.For car shows. Love your channel and if I was 40 years younger, I’d come to work for you for free. I used to be a pretty good wrench on sbc’s . Especially with high reviving 302 69 Z/28 engines. Bill my friend that had a dyno passed away a couple years ago . I never really realized how much I missed my gear head friends till I started watching you. Lots of memories on dirt track and 1/4 mile drag strips. I love how your taking your precious time to teach Leo. Take care , Batman ⚙️👶 R us
What a watch! It's always a lot of fun to watch a dyno pull! Maybe we'll be able to toss the 455 Rocket Olds on the dyno.. that would be a treat!
The bore and stroke with the exception of the short rods make this a dream come true don't believe the myths they came along with the 400 small block I've been running them for ever in my trucks and they're hard to beat outside of the gas mileage never had a overheating problem never had a single problem with any one of them cuz I kept up with the maintenance and only upgraded the parts I thought would fail but all in all I'm a small block Chevy fan all day Mighty Mouse lives again
Nick is living the life I want......EXACTLY!
Beside the engine 355 I just mentioned I love seeing the cars in your shop as I did 30 years of restoring muscles and street hot rods cars built to perfection! And painted everything that came through our shop from high ends to muscle cars in Pensacola Fl. Chemicals took it tool on me. Now I'm stuck in Indiana in cold weather trying to build one car for me! I have a 1985 SS Monte Carlo the 355 goes in. It will be ok show type car. Until I can get my cars back l from Pensacola. 1981 Z28 and a 1973 XJ6 Jaguar with a 355 Chevy in it! It's fun to drive and here the chevy rumble! Love your work and yes it's in your blood and the love for those cars! Thanks!
My dad use to have a 77 gmc that he would mud bog and he always ran 400s with 750 dual pumper always was a stout engine to keep his tires spinning
Nick I had a 4 bolt main 406 with chevy 292 angle plug turbo heads all blue printed and balanced with a double pump holly 850cfm and Yorker intake in a 72 vega! Never beat on the street including big blocks! I left a lot of components out but you see where I'm going!
Guessing 375? Very impressed with this truck engine. I love it also when they scream… 409.9.
We shall see!
375? Its pretty hard to not make more than that with a SBC 400.
No better way to start the day than testing an engine on Nick's dyno. One of my friends had a 1971 Chevy Montecarlo with a 400 small block, not sure if it was original to the car and no idea what kind of horsepower it produced, but it was one of the fastest cars on the road around here. It was beautiful, gold with a matching gold interior. Of course, no race car in the 70's was complete without a set of S/S Cragers, and dual exhaust. The stories that car could tell.
I love my 400sbc!
Hello from Texas,
Carb CFM is VERY RPM sensitive, most people think bigger is always better and if your turning 8000+ RPM you might have a point. However, if you are only turning 5000 or 5500 RPM you will actually need a smaller carb than you'd think. If Nick was turning this same engine to 7000+ RPM he might have needed the 750 CFM carb.
In a car turning this engine to a max 6000 RPM that Holley 650HP carb will be PERFECT. Great Dyno work Nick! ;-)
Warren. Thanks Warren.
That bolt holds fuel pump Drive rod up when replacing fuel pump en sure it's not too long the bolt. Use a longer bolt when replacing the pump to hold the rod up and short bolt to plug the hole when you're done
That’s not actually what it’s for but you can use it for that as long as you do not bend the mechanical fuel pump rod. Those holes on the block was actually for some old trucks and some of the mid 50’s Chevrolet cars front motor mounts.
i got a 400 and an old school 350 large journal one problem the 400 is in a 79 4x4 chevy short box cheyenne full option truck with under 35,000 miles on it . the truck is in mint condition parked in a shop its hole life . i got for free for taking 4 other rigs in the shop and all the engines and car parts and 15 pu parked out side one car is supper rare a 67 rs ss 427 yenko camaro the other one was a 68 ss 396 and 2 79 z28 camaros got all the matching # engines , then i got 2 454 strokers a fresh 327 4 bolt built and about 4 350 4 bolts all run good , one of the 454 is built with a tunnel ram both stated out as the 450 hp 485 torque ho 454 with the 4 inch stroke steel crank heavy rods heavy pushrods 10.5 to 1 compression crate engines
Always exciting to see Nick work on getting the most out of any motor.
A 400 Chevy is one of the unsung heroes. Because of the years made there was no want to show power . But they can be swapped around with older 441 heads single plane intake an a cam an make 1hp per cube an even more torq.
Those valve covers look fantastic, they really give the motor a great look!