imo even better would be the lunati voodoo 268-just a bit more lift.
I can go with the 1.6 rockers which will effectively increase overall lift.
One thing you will notice is 400s have a piss poor deck height,a 400 I rebuilt had some cast repalcements and they were .044 in the hole,now combine that with the small chamber heads and it still was only 8.8 to one so you will need to do your reaearch on pistons.
Hmmm... In my research, I've read that the stock comp. ratio for the '68 400 is 10.75! I was surprised. I have yet to figure out exactly what heads are on his car but I'm pretty sure they're original.
I'm thinking tried and true TRW or maybe the KB 167 hypereutectics which seem to work well in a 360, so why not in a 400? I can always deck the block and the heads if necessary.
Check out theae guys http://www.pacificperformanceracing.com/ Ken is really cool and this website is great for specific searches to get info http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/ .
Thanks. I also found Butler performance, they seem to have everything at good prices.
As far as the rods they will be fine to 6k with good bolts-although the rods are not great the stock bolts are 90% of the problem.
Plan is to use the stock rods and install good bolts, probably ARP. I don't think he's ever been over 5K in that car.
I built several pontiac engines and the last one was a 400 to put in the lemans to sale,it had 8.8 compression,#16 heads that I ported,comp xe 274,stock rockers with crane adjustable nuts,1 5/8 headers with 3in ex.,rpm intake,750 holley,t400 2,800 stall (flash) and 3.42 gears with 29 in. mickey et streets (was set up for a 455 before).This combo ran 12.70s at 107 shifting at 5,500 in a 3700lb. car so your build should meet his desires.
That's a pretty impressive number for low compression and a heavy car!
The headers I'm looking at are the Doug's 1 7/8". They're expensive but as someone stated previously, the cheaper ones have the two ports sharing a tube. Not so good. You can see the difference in pictures. No need to skimp on the exhaust. The guy wants his car to sound mean so good exhaust is key for him.
I would run a mild stall,problem is pontiacs have so much low end you really need a custom stall built by someone who knows what their doing or you will get too much slippage on the top end,I did find that a reman ls6 12in. chevy convertor works very well,you can get them at any trans shop ect and I paid around $75.It is factory rated as a higher stall and I found it to stall right around 2k on the brake-perfect for a street build-but it has very tight once you give it throttle,I ran a couple ofthese in my car before having a custom 11in. built.
Ye Olde Holeshot 2400 is advertised to stall between 2300-2500. Their advertising also staes that "Most street-driven performance cars with 350 foot pounds of torque or more need a 2400 RPM unit." It's the classic street converter. Top end is less of a concern for this build, he mainly just wants to lay rubber in front of his house.
Good luck on the build and heres a pic of my old poncho.
That thing is pretty menacing looking. I dig it.
Thanks for all the info, much appreciated!