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I have two 400 cores sitting here, one chevy the other Pontiac. I am always hearing about how fast a chevy is or how much better they are, etc. but the thing that really makes me wonder is how most say they are so cheap. So the idea came to me,why not build them both, run a trans with a dual pattern like a 2004R so I can swap the engine easily with only headers and mounts, then stuff it in something like the 75 Buick Skyhawk I have laying around and see what is faster, gets better mileage for the least amount of money in it. So its a tight budget build, and the sbc is going to end up in a truck so I want it to live longer than a couple passes.
They share the same bore and stroke 4.125x3.75 so its really close to an apples to apples comparison as long as we use similar parts. Like no aftermarket aluminum heads, gotta use factory iron heads, hydraulic flat tappet cams, and any compression ratio we can get with whatever piston we can put in it. I can run lots of squeeze cuz Im an ethanol type of guy.
So for $100 I got the Pontiac core, its a 73 400 standard bore, and along with it came some #48 heads, they have 2.11 intakes and 1.77 exhausts, screw in studs, guide plates, a 14 degree inclination, and a 67 cc chamber. I get 400s cheap all the time, usually way less than $100, but this was from a machine shop that had it sitting on the floor. In essence its like starting with a 1969 Ram Air III 400 and going from there.
The chevy is a .030 over 400 that a bud of mine built a few years back to stuff in his 3rd gen, he went to an LS1 instead and I ended up with the short block for $500. Balanced, hyper slugs, not a bad little starting point.
I have the Pontiac planned out already, stock stroke, stock intake, stock heads, mild cam around 230/234 and headers. A nice street engine that should get decent mileage and make some good power. So to keep it relatively close, lets use a similar grind for the chevy engine. The one thing undecided on the sbc is what heads to run. Since the Pontiac is running 69 vintage heads, is it fair to run Vortec heads on the sbc? That is what I have planned, but I wonder how close they are to the #48s.
So on a tight budget how would you guys spec out the chevy so it gets good mileage and makes good power without being more expensive to build than my Pontiac?
They share the same bore and stroke 4.125x3.75 so its really close to an apples to apples comparison as long as we use similar parts. Like no aftermarket aluminum heads, gotta use factory iron heads, hydraulic flat tappet cams, and any compression ratio we can get with whatever piston we can put in it. I can run lots of squeeze cuz Im an ethanol type of guy.
So for $100 I got the Pontiac core, its a 73 400 standard bore, and along with it came some #48 heads, they have 2.11 intakes and 1.77 exhausts, screw in studs, guide plates, a 14 degree inclination, and a 67 cc chamber. I get 400s cheap all the time, usually way less than $100, but this was from a machine shop that had it sitting on the floor. In essence its like starting with a 1969 Ram Air III 400 and going from there.
The chevy is a .030 over 400 that a bud of mine built a few years back to stuff in his 3rd gen, he went to an LS1 instead and I ended up with the short block for $500. Balanced, hyper slugs, not a bad little starting point.
I have the Pontiac planned out already, stock stroke, stock intake, stock heads, mild cam around 230/234 and headers. A nice street engine that should get decent mileage and make some good power. So to keep it relatively close, lets use a similar grind for the chevy engine. The one thing undecided on the sbc is what heads to run. Since the Pontiac is running 69 vintage heads, is it fair to run Vortec heads on the sbc? That is what I have planned, but I wonder how close they are to the #48s.
So on a tight budget how would you guys spec out the chevy so it gets good mileage and makes good power without being more expensive to build than my Pontiac?
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