400 stroker

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Dartn440

Dartn440

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Picked a bone stock motor that a guy had put in his car while original motor was being built. Foundation for the Demon driveline. Stroker street with occasional strip cruise car. Rear is 8 3/4 3:55 gears sure grip. Build under member Restos.....was running when he put it in the crate (10k) What would you do?

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How big is the budget? What do you want to do? Personally I'd build a 451 or a 470 with Trick Flow heads and a street roller type cam but that type of build will usually add up to $10K or so if you have to buy all the parts new. If the budget isn't that big then maybe some Edelbrock heads and a flat tappet cam with an Edelbrock carb. You can do a build like that for maybe $7K depending on the quality of the rotating assembly and how much stuff you have to buy new.
 
Well Andy I am not selling off my kids to build it, even though there are six to choose from. I was looking at the 440 source 470 rotating assembly and trick flow heads to start so we are already at $4500 plus machine work .....and everything else. Truck is still for sale and so is the project Duster. Not in a hurry either. I am debating just dropping this motor in to drive the car while I put this together. I have another 400 core as well. I am just not well versed enough to get the components right from top to bottom.
 
i too would do the 440 source 470 crank with k1 rods and custom 4032 material race tech pistons with plasma moly rings and half grooved bearings.
 
Personally I think the 451/470 can be built a lot cheaper than that. Go with a stock forged 440 crank,have the mains ground to fit the 400 block,reuse the stock iron heads with good porting and a valve job and you'll be over 500 h.p and well over that in torque. crazy as it sounds,use hypereutectic pistons and maybe even reuse the stock rods. And always remember,the more you do yourself,the lower the end cost will be.
 
RustyRatRod said:
451. Simple, cheap, effective.
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I don't disagree. I also have a 1972 date coded 440 at the machine shop. I could drop this running motor in as is, drive the car. Then work on the 440 or the other 400. I want heat and AC in this car eventually. Machine shop is so behind. I dropped that block off a month before I bought that cam from you!
 
I have another 2 400 motors that I can build when I get home next year. I just talked to my buddy who is going to pick this up for me about doing just that. Change out manifold, inspect, reassemble and put on the run stand. The type of stroker I would like in this car is going to take me time to build.
 
IDK, for the cost of the 440source kits, all the same cost, I think going right to the 500(+) stroker kit is the path.

Since you allready have a 440, IMO a 451 is silly to do.
 
I hear you, but I barely fit that damn 440 in the Swinger. I am still trying to find aftermarket chrome valve covers to let my heater blower motor fit back in. Aftermarket heads to let the motor breath like the stealth heads would give me the same issue but heads like the trick flow are even taller, thus complicating matters further. There is a trade-off everywhere. My intake height was a consideration with that build as well since I wanted the hood to close and look stock. I had to go with a thinner air cleaner to do it and frankly the motor doesn't care for it. It would do much better with more airflow and a carb spacer. The B motor helps a bit with a few of those things. I like the idea of the the 440 stroker and it may eventually get there, if not in this build, another. I was rushing to get this car done before I left and it didn't happen. Lofty aspirations, I was close, but no cigar. From a safety standpoint with those motors putting out 600+ hp I am not sure how I feel about stock seatbelts and no cage. Every piece of the suspension on the car is new and upgraded, including brakes, but it is still a concern.
 
Consider that a 400 B block fits a slight bit better than a taller 440 RB block and it will stroke to 500. (give or take a few cubes)
 
Unless your local crank grinder is inexpensive, just buy a Molnar 3.915" crank instead of putzing with a factory 3.75" crank. I'm just finishing doing that, and I should have bought the Molnar. Or whatever your favorite brand is, but I'm suggesting Molnar. Although the new lightweight option 4.25" cranks from 440 source might be worth checking out if you're upgrading heads. S/F....Ken M
 
EchoSixMike said:
Unless your local crank grinder is inexpensive, just buy a Molnar 3.915" crank instead of putzing with a factory 3.75" crank. I'm just finishing doing that, and I should have bought the Molnar. Or whatever your favorite brand is, but I'm suggesting Molnar. Although the new lightweight option 4.25" cranks from 440 source might be worth checking out if you're upgrading heads. S/F....Ken M
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Just curious why you regret using the 3.75 crank? Expense,smaller stroke,both?
 
needsaresto said:
Just curious why you regret using the 3.75 crank? Expense,smaller stroke,both?
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By the time I got done efffing around with having the journals ground, the counterweights turned down, plus further grinding to knife edge and get closer on balance, re-nitriding and just general dicking about, I could have had a much nicer Molnar (in virgin 4340) for not much more money. Or bought a cheapie Eagle or Scat for about the same.

This is for a 452 cast iron head build build, so 451-470 is the displacement window I always intended to build in, the stroke isn't the issue. S/F.....Ken M
 
Ahh,I see. I had this same conversation with my engine builder. Grinding a good deal of the material off the weights yourself saves some money. I plan on offset grinding to acheive roughly 470 cid.I agree with you,the factory crank is a heavy pig,and must be drastically lightened but the good part is you dont need to add weight,just lose it.
Is the nitriding totally necessary?
And the way I see it,I already have the crank so I dont have to pay for shipping on a new one.And balancing a new crank can be costly,due to mallory metal slugs if needed,so theres that.

Anyways,each to their own .
 
I work in a race engine shop, we don't have a crank grinder, and most crank grinders are old men, in this area(the one's worth a damn). Most are packing it in and the equipment is moving south or overseas. $200

Making a 440 crank fit into a 400 block requires turning the CW's down on a lathe (or mill or just an angle grinder), I outsourced this as our shop lathe didn't have enough ***, and I spend my time on the mill making money. Still needed to do further relief grinding on the block. I further contoured and knife edged the CW's. Balancing I did myself and had no cost. Bob Weight is 2340'ish; the Manley rods are heavy. $115

Nitriding helps with bearing life. I'm trying to make this engine live in an endurance racing application, without significantly oiling system changes, so it was worth it IMO. $200

Even with no cost for balancing, this is the major portion of buying a new crank. There are some projects were a hundred bucks here and there is meaningful, my project isn't one of them.:realcrazy: S/F....Ken M
 
Dartn440 said:
Well Andy I am not selling off my kids to build it, even though there are six to choose from. I was looking at the 440 source 470 rotating assembly and trick flow heads to start so we are already at $4500 plus machine work .....and everything else. Truck is still for sale and so is the project Duster. Not in a hurry either. I am debating just dropping this motor in to drive the car while I put this together. I have another 400 core as well. I am just not well versed enough to get the components right from top to bottom.
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I just wrote a series of articles for Mopar Action on building a 470 pump gas engine so you can look those up if you want the details. Or get a copy of my BB Mopar book from Amazon if you need more info on building a stroker.
 
famous bob said:
needsaresto: haven`t heard from u since I sent u the crank,, what up? did u use it ?
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Still dealing with health issues,but not back sliding anymore.Was working on the garage roof today,and will be coming into some funds soon.Not a lot of money but maybe gets me 1/2 way there. More if I invest and flip a few good buys.
 
Ok, so update here. Since this thread took a left turn in to a machine shop discussion, let's redirect. I bought this motor as a "400." It was not. It was a 383 with a set of mismatched heads and a cast crank. I did the deal over the phone, not too happy. Up side is I didn't pay enough to be upset about a cobbled pile of parts that was a run around motor in a car while the original drivetrain was being built.

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