400 SBC build

General engine tech -- Drag Racing to Circle Track

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Monza355
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by Monza355 »

1980RS wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:52 am
tcb3274 wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:37 am Any other comments?
My 406 with Stock 906 Vortec's went the best of 11.49 last night with the Elgin 1165P hyd cam.
That’s really impressive. What’s the rest of the combo ? Sounds mild enough to be a great street/strip deal
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by 1980RS »

Monza355 wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 5:20 pm
1980RS wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:52 am
tcb3274 wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:37 am Any other comments?
My 406 with Stock 906 Vortec's went the best of 11.49 last night with the Elgin 1165P hyd cam.
That’s really impressive. What’s the rest of the combo ? Sounds mild enough to be a great street/strip deal
Thanks. It's 2nd gen Camaro with a flat top piston .030 speed pro's, 5.7 rod, scat crank that balanced. Stock oil pan, GM Vortec dual plane intake 1.6 intake rockers and 1.5 exhaust. Cheapo 1 5/8" headers. 10 Jeg's 4100 stall and 4.10 gears with a 30" tire. The car pulls really well for those head with the stock GM valves and the heads only had a valve job. Next set has bowl work and some epoxy in a certain place that went close to 250cfm on the intake and 190 cfm on the exhaust. Will be adding a set of Super Comps also. Same intake and short block.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by F-BIRD'88 »

What is the mph and 60 ft on your Camaro.

Stock full street trim car weight or stripped down "bracket racer" light weight.?

Using the 1.6-1.5 rocker split makes sense. on that cam

Good job on the gm vortecs. The compression ratio is quite aggressive with flat tops and 64 cc heads on a 406 sbc.
Had not seen that specific cam till now.. Downloaded the newer Elgin cat.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by Ericnova »

1980RS wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:07 pm
Monza355 wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 5:20 pm
1980RS wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:52 am

My 406 with Stock 906 Vortec's went the best of 11.49 last night with the Elgin 1165P hyd cam.
That’s really impressive. What’s the rest of the combo ? Sounds mild enough to be a great street/strip deal
Thanks. It's 2nd gen Camaro with a flat top piston .030 speed pro's, 5.7 rod, scat crank that balanced. Stock oil pan, GM Vortec dual plane intake 1.6 intake rockers and 1.5 exhaust. Cheapo 1 5/8" headers. 10 Jeg's 4100 stall and 4.10 gears with a 30" tire. The car pulls really well for those head with the stock GM valves and the heads only had a valve job. Next set has bowl work and some epoxy in a certain place that went close to 250cfm on the intake and 190 cfm on the exhaust. Will be adding a set of Super Comps also. Same intake and short block.
I'd love to see this combo on the Elgin 1195-P solid or 1196-P solid cam...or even the 1090-P solid
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by 408 Nova »

Old School wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:40 pm
tcb3274 wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:47 am Well, Im down to three cams. Not sure how they are going to work out with my 10.5 compression, but here they are.

All are flat tappets.

Mike Jones cam - 284/288 and 228/230 @ .050 for .528/.528 lift on 1.6 rockers and 110 lsa

It appears this cam will be around 195 to 210 psi cranking compression on a guess.

Luanti cam - 285/285 and 235/235 @ .050 for .537/.537 lift on 1.6 rockers and 108 lsa.

It appears this cam with its 108 will put cylinder pressure higher around 210 psi to 220 psi on a guess.

Luanti cam - 284/292 and 241/249 @ .050 for .525/546 lift on 1.5 rockers and 110 lsa

It appears this cam will be around 210 to 215 psi on a guess.

*** All these cams overlaps are with in 3.

We could retard the cams some to help bleed off more pressure. To me 220 is about all I want to see for a 93 octane pump gas motor. Others say for a street car, they would like it at 180 or 195 psi. I like the 195 to 200 area myself.

Now if these guesses are based on a 64 cc head. If I got to a 70 cc head, the compression comes down a half a point.

The quench on these build will be right at .040 and it will have a good solid tune and cooling system. The cooling is a 4 core aluminum rad with 2500 cfm fans.

Anybody have thoughts?
It really doesn't matter. They will all run within a tenth or less of each other. If I had to pick one it would be the 235 Lunati on 108.
Back in the day, I ran 7.20's at 93 mph in the eighth with this Street Master cam. 3300 lb. 72 Nova, TCI Super Street Fighter converter and Turbo 350, 4.10's, 9.5:1 406, Performer RPM intake, and a 750 double pumper.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by 408 Nova »

tcb3274 wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:36 pm This is all great information.

I just got back from the machine shop and block is already .040 over....so the machinist says its junk.

Back to square one.

Looks like if I want to do this, a 400 SBC build...going to have to get a new aftermarket block.
Why is he calling your block junk at .040" over? I've ran and seen a bunch of factory 400 blocks that were reliable at 600 hp that were .040" over.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by tcb3274 »

408 Nova wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:52 am
tcb3274 wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:36 pm This is all great information.

I just got back from the machine shop and block is already .040 over....so the machinist says its junk.

Back to square one.

Looks like if I want to do this, a 400 SBC build...going to have to get a new aftermarket block.
Why is he calling your block junk at .040" over? I've ran and seen a bunch of factory 400 blocks that were reliable at 600 hp that were .040" over.
Well I believe its a combo deal. I dont have alot of money. It will be work on it as I get the money kind of deal. He does alot of volume in race stuff and well used street stuff. I just think he didnt want to work with me.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by novafornow »

Maybe, just maybe, he has seen too many crack and doesn’t want to be blamed when it all goes to junk.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by rfoll »

tcb3274 wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 7:43 am Hey guys, got a 400 SBC thats a 4 bolt going to the machine shop to be checked out. Anyone think this is a bad idea for street engine? I plan on a 10 to 1 engine with a cam that makes power to 6000 and hoping for 475 to 500 horse. Again, its just a cruiser engine, no track time or anything like that. Car is a chevelle with a 4 speed. Any combos?
I thought some might want to re-read the original post. It's not a competition engine.
So much to do, so little time...
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by tcb3274 »

If I understand how to calculate CSA and Port Volume for a engine, this is what I came up with.

For a 406: 6000 rpm CSA = 2.23 6500 rpm CSA = 2.42

This leaded to figure out my 406 port volume: 6000 rpm port volume = 200 6500 rpm port volume = 216

So, based on this information, if I plan to turn the 406 only 5800 rpms to 6200 then I should stick with a 200 intake runner. If I want to turn the 406 6500 rpms to 7000 rpms then a 215 to 220 intake runner should be used.

My question is since I will be turning 6000 to 6300 with the 406, wouldnt the 2.02 valve be better than the 2.08 valve? Now if I jump up, just 200 to 400 rpms, then that 2.08 valve should really show up.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by RevTheory »

novafornow wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:10 am Maybe, just maybe, he has seen too many crack and doesn’t want to be blamed when it all goes to junk.
Quite likely the deal. Nearly everyone has a story of one that made 800 hp for years and one that split or Lord knows what at 500. I had a .060+ 350 that I couldn't keep cool to save my life at well under 400 hp and .060+ 383 that made much more power that I never had a problem with.

If I were a shop owner, I can't say I'd take that chance.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by 1980RS »

F-BIRD'88 wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 10:55 pm What is the mph and 60 ft on your Camaro.

Stock full street trim car weight or stripped down "bracket racer" light weight.?

Using the 1.6-1.5 rocker split makes sense. on that cam

Good job on the gm vortecs. The compression ratio is quite aggressive with flat tops and 64 cc heads on a 406 sbc.
Had not seen that specific cam till now.. Downloaded the newer Elgin cat.
60ft's were 1.56 to 1.62 depending on if the car hooked up. I was unable to get the car to flash stall as it just blew the tires off so I had to foot brake it so it would hook up. Car is 3260 without me in it and I am 180ish so that's 3440. Thanks on the heads, all I did was my own 3 angle valve job with the old Souix stuff I have. I sure would like to try a 30° and after that a 50° to see if the car would pickup. Because I did not clearance the rods I cannot run my 1090 Elgin cam but, I did see you can get it in a small base circle grind. When I put the Vortec Bowtie heads on I will get one of those cams as I think it will work perfect for that 406. Goal is to touch the high 10's with it.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by F-BIRD'88 »

What was the MPH?

When the time comes, (fast burn bowtieheads) try the Isky 201549 or 201547 VS a Elgin e-1090p.. If small base circle is needed add a SBC to the part# end or Call Isky direct .
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by 1980RS »

F-BIRD'88 wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:46 pm What was the MPH?

When the time comes, (fast burn bowtieheads) try the Isky 201549 or 201547 VS a Elgin e-1090p.. If small base circle is needed add a SBC to the part# end or Call Isky direct .
Best MPH so far is 115 but I am sure if I used the SV Vortec intake it would be a couple of MPH faster. I use the 1090P cam as it's dirt cheap and makes decent power for the money. My other higher compression 406 went the best of 10.98 with the 1090 Elgin.
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Re: 400 SBC build

Post by F-BIRD'88 »

There is now a new holley strip dominator for vortec heads that is 1" shorter than the super vic vortec and the PP Hurricane single planes It is The same carb height as your current Eddy Dual plane RPM hirise manifold.

Gives you some under hood room if not running a hood scoop .. You can always play with carb spacers from there

The 115 mph makes sense on that car. current 406.
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