as a lot of you know, i ask about different options i can go with my car a lot.. well heres another option i thought of the other day..

instead of a 350.. why not a 400? Im gona be buying a DD car within the next year, and once i do. the work on my car begins and ill start putting on some of those things ive been askin about for years now... lol. Im still at a delimma with the engine though. I DO NOT want a stroker. If i dont go with a 400 ill rebuild my 350.

if i were to sit a bare block 350 and a bare block 400 next to each other... what would i look at to tell the difference? or is there one? ive been told that the 400 is indeed different than the 350 somehow, but it might have just been the crankshaft. can anybody clear me up on that one?

and how about reliability of the 400? even say it was built with top notch parts and by a pro.. it wont be, cause im gona build it. but lets just say... is it as reliable as a good 350? Its only gona be a weekend/nice day driver since it probably wont have heat or AC.

any other tips on the 400 over a 350 ya got for me would be great, or a website i could go to and read about it myself would be even better.

 

Bore is 4.125 on a 400 where as it is 4.00 on a 350, stroke is 3.75 where as it is 3.48 on a 350, also I believe the oil ports dont line up between 400 and 350 heads, however dont quote me on it as I am not positve. I would just stick with the 350 personally, you already have the block, if you wanted to you could just bore it out to gain the extra displacement. Try mortec.com and see if they have any info on the subject.

 

There are some physical differences. A small block with three freeze plugs is a 400. Three freeze plug bosses, but only two drilled out, still a 400. But, some 400's do have only two freeze plugs. Also, 400 blocks have two small steam holes between each cylinder. All other smallblocks havewater jackets between the cylinders, but the 400's cylinders are "siamesed" which is why the steam holes are needed. You will need to have steam holes drilled out on conventional heads to match the block, and use the proper head gaskets, otherwise you'll overheat.

 

Yeah, the steam holes are what I was thinking of, not the oil ports.