Another 400 build thread

Now for the fun stuff:

I had originally planned on changing the valve springs and then port-matching the stock 452 heads to the Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold. While changing the springs I realized that the valve guides were a little loose. Rather than paying to have them fixed I decided to spend my money on a brand new set of 440source Stealth Heads instead. The heads look great, the casting in the ports is relatively clean and the bowls were cleaned up just a little bit by 440source. The ports and valves are massive compared to the stock 452s that they are replacing.

I chose all Hughes components for the camshaft and valvetrain. I will be using their Whiplash cam with 1.5 ratio cryo-treated aluminum roller rockers. They have modified the design of the rockers recently and I hope that they are as durable as the previous design (I'm sure they are).

I installed the cam with the dots on the gears aligned. After degreeing it in I found that it is within one degree of the recommended centerline, so no need to make use of the other keyways.

Hughes provides (for a refundable deposit) an adjustable checking lifter and pushrod. I set the plunger height on the lifter to match the race hydraulic lifters that I purchased from them and then adjusted the length on the pushrod to provide the greatest amount of lift as measured on the retainer. All I have to do is send the adjustable checking pushrod back to Hughes and they will make a custom set of pushrods to match it.

The rocker arm geometry seems pretty great right out of the box. Photos below are of the valve on the seat and at maximum lift. The scrub pattern is also shown in black ink on the valve tip.