400 Vs. 440 into an A body

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Newf

Newf

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Hi All,

I have an oppourtunity to get a 78' 400 motor for real cheap $200. This is a running motor out of a Newport I believe. I wanted to ask the question how much easier is it to put a 400 into an A body VS. a 440? Also what machining is involved? I have a 440 steel crank which I need to grind anyways, and put it into the 400? Other than that I was going to use the factory rods out of the 400 and just replace the pistons, and heads to get my compression up to 9.5-10:1. I'm looking to make 450HP with the build but if it will cost a lot more to do the 400 I'll just stay with the 440. Your thoughts??

Joe
 
A low deck is easier because it's a.....lower deck. Headers generally go in easier because of this. Machine the mains of the crank to fit the 400 block. Go for it!
 
383's & 400's are 1/2" shorter than 440's and use the same mounts. so really not much difference to speak about as far as putting them into the A Body. it takes the same amount of work & modifications

if you find a nice 440 crank and put it into a 400 block with the correct pistons you have a 451 stroker.
KB 215 with 0X0 at the end of the part number... the X is a 1 2 3 4 etc depending if your block is 10 20 30 40 over etc
http://www.houstonmopars.org/stroker.html

if you decide not to do the stroker you use KB 240 pistons not the KB 215's and you have a 400 at 10:1

either way will have plenty of power, you will just pay more for the machining to do the stroker, since they have to cut the crank, and make sure the rotating assembly has clearance to spin, they may have to trim sections of the block.

the heads / intake on the stock 400 are not as good as some of the 440 heads / intakes
 
There are difference clearance issues with each one, but neither is huge deal. Go with what you have. I was planning on a 383 for my Barracuda, but then a 440 was left at my house...........
 
440outlawdart said:
i would go with the 400,make a stroker out of it with that 440 steel crank
Click to expand...

What heads would go good with a 400? Any advice on cam and carb would be appreciated as well. I was planning on doing a build for a spring/summer daily driver (I live in Hinterland Alberta, Canada lol). Something solid on the bottom end incase I get the urge for juice but other than that I was thinking four speed 727 TF if that will work with 3.55 gears and a 2500 stall. Thanks,

Joe
 
Whichever way you go you need to determine what your gonna do. If you plan on juice the piston ring gap with kb hyperuetectics are different due to the upper ring land being closer to the combustion chambers. As far as heads go the 400 and 440 use the same ones no matter what. I would make a plan on what you wanna do and work towards that. Personally I always wanted to put a 440 in an a body and that's what I am doing. Find some reading material. I purchased a mopar performance chassis book from Mancini for 10.00 and there is a lot of useful info. It has weight differences of engines along with dimensions and a whole lot of other things. I also purchased a factory service manual for my car with all the wiring diagrams etc. Research the net. If you have drum brakes look at disc. Power brakes the booster may be an issue. Research is the key. Good luck. There is a lot of good info and helpful people here.
 
moparlover said:
383's & 400's are 1/2" shorter than 440's and use the same mounts. so really not much difference to speak about as far as putting them into the A Body. it takes the same amount of work & modifications

if you find a nice 440 crank and put it into a 400 block with the correct pistons you have a 451 stroker.
KB 215 with 0X0 at the end of the part number... the X is a 1 2 3 4 etc depending if your block is 10 20 30 40 over etc
http://www.houstonmopars.org/stroker.html

if you decide not to do the stroker you use KB 240 pistons not the KB 215's and you have a 400 at 10:1

either way will have plenty of power, you will just pay more for the machining to do the stroker, since they have to cut the crank, and make sure the rotating assembly has clearance to spin, they may have to trim sections of the block.

the heads / intake on the stock 400 are not as good as some of the 440 heads / intakes
Click to expand...

I was planning in using a EB performer intake and as far as headers go I don't have any as of yet but was thinking 1-3/4's. When you say "cut" the crank are you referring to grinding the mains or is there other stuff to do to it? Is the block work something I could do myself with a angle/die grinder. One other thing, will I or should I get an align hone if I go this route? Thanks.

Joe
 
there are two ways to do it. you can cut the 440 crankshaft mains, or you can have them cut the block to fit the crank. there are two camps, differing opinions, but most say cut the crank down. if you were totally rich you could just buy a brand new stroker crank ready to go but they can be costly. for a budget build your crank probably needs cleanup anyways, so getting it cut isnt much more. your big expense with be $350 for the pistons.

as far as heads and intake: watch this site for deals, if someone is selling a set of aluminum heads there you go. same with intakes. there was one for sale here just the other day.

if your machine guy can determine what springs are on the heads you get, then get a cam that works with them. if you go wild with cams, they have required springs listed for the high lift etc. then you have to spend more money

aluminum is better, but stock heads and intake will work for now depending on budget. if you already have the intake that is awesome. then all you need is heads.
 
moparlover said:
there are two ways to do it. you can cut the 440 crankshaft mains, or you can have them cut the block to fit the crank. there are two camps, differing opinions, but most say cut the crank down. if you were totally rich you could just buy a brand new stroker crank ready to go but they can be costly. for a budget build your crank probably needs cleanup anyways, so getting it cut isnt much more. your big expense with be $350 for the pistons.

as far as heads and intake: watch this site for deals, if someone is selling a set of aluminum heads there you go. same with intakes. there was one for sale here just the other day.

if your machine guy can determine what springs are on the heads you get, then get a cam that works with them. if you go wild with cams, they have required springs listed for the high lift etc. then you have to spend more money

aluminum is better, but stock heads and intake will work for now depending on budget. if you already have the intake that is awesome. then all you need is heads.
Click to expand...

My budget for the build is going to be around $3500-$4500. So with that I was going to try and reuse rods, use the steel crank I have, new pistons, Heads, Intake/Carb and Headers. There is movement on budget but I want to stay away from a $2000 stroker kit, if I can get the pistons and machine work done for $600($400 pistons-$200 crank grind) thats significant.

Oh I have a question for your tip on parts on this site. How do you know what you are getting is going to be good. It's not like buying on ebay or new online where you have buyer protection is it? Are you just going on "buyer beware"? Thanks,

Joe
 
Newf said:
My budget for the build is going to be around $3500-$4500. So with that I was going to try and reuse rods, use the steel crank I have, new pistons, Heads, Intake/Carb and Headers. There is movement on budget but I want to stay away from a $2000 stroker kit, if I can get the pistons and machine work done for $600($400 pistons-$200 crank grind) thats significant.

Thanks,

Joe
Click to expand...

I'm all for budget builds but, I'm afraid once you resize rods,add rod bolts,bush for floaters(or pay for press fits)buy rings and bearings you'll be way over $600. Not to mention many of the "kits" are using better quality pistons(not $400) I did a 470" low deck. Eagle crank, Diamond pistons, Manley rods, E-heads. it's a hoot to drive in my 69 B'cuda!!

Shop around and take your time..you'll find what you need. I'd say have the steel crank done up for the b-block, shop for some good rods,pistons,rings,bearings and heads. Then have some fun!! Good luck,I hope it goes well...the low deck strokers rock!!:burnout:
 
Dcuda69 said:
I'm all for budget builds but, I'm afraid once you resize rods,add rod bolts,bush for floaters(or pay for press fits)buy rings and bearings you'll be way over $600. Not to mention many of the "kits" are using better quality pistons(not $400) I did a 470" low deck. Eagle crank, Diamond pistons, Manley rods, E-heads. it's a hoot to drive in my 69 B'cuda!!

Shop around and take your time..you'll find what you need. I'd say have the steel crank done up for the b-block, shop for some good rods,pistons,rings,bearings and heads. Then have some fun!! Good luck,I hope it goes well...the low deck strokers rock!!:burnout:
Click to expand...
Thats some good figuring that I never thought about. Was yours a kit or did you source your parts separately? The pistons in the kit that you are referring to are they available outside of a package deal.

One other thing, do you save money going the kit route or is it about the same either way? Thanks,

Joe
 
Mine was not a kit, sourced separately. My buddy got a good deal on the Manley rods, so I kinda did it the hard way. Not as many "kits"available as there are now either. I used Diamond pistons, they will make you anything you need, but are not cheap. Very nice quality though!
 
they have kits here
http://www.flatlanderracing.com/scatsr-chryssbforged.html

and the scat kits for the 400 block are the cheapest i could find other than 440 source

they are fulll scat-built kits, you can even get it balanced
i like the 452c.i. and 500c.i. kits
roughly $2000 and you get a steel crank, if you get the right kits they come with rings bearings everything balanced also. not a bad deal actually
 
just do a 451... bare minimum performance, you're looking at 1 hp per cube. Thats using the worst chrysler heads and manifolds an eddy performer and 750 eddy carb with 11-1 comp and 509 purple cam. if you were to do a better build and went with alum heads, an 850 holley carb and some fat *ss headers you could easily reach 525+

http://www.arengineering.com/articles/451.html
 
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