What does a 396 bore and stroke to?

[CamaroJesse]

im wondering how many cubes I can get from my 396 BB.

thanks

[bbcc]

Theoreticly a 454 crank and a .125 overbore would net you 447.4 ci. But this leaves you with paper thin cylinder walls, even on the thickest factory blocks. Don't even attempt this much of a punch without sonic testing the block, regardless of engine family. The problem with the baby rats is finding off the shelf pistons that will 1)fit your intended bore size, and 2)have the right dome/valve relief configuration. Your only other option is custom pistons, and for a bottom of the line forged slug with no coatings, ports, custom ring land configuration, upgraded pin, etc etc, you are looking at $150 a slug. Never-the-less, given the stock 396 bore of 4.094" i would recomend no more than a "30 over" 402 piston. This will give you a 4.156" bore, combined with a 4.00" crank from a 454, will give you a displacement of 434.1 ci. Keep the bore concervative so future rebuilds can take place should the event of engine failure ruin your bores; aswell, a thicker cylinder wall will be inheritly more rigid thus prviding more positive ring sealing. Not to mention keeping with a common size will provide you with a few more options for dome type.

I hope this helps you in your quest for more cubes/power.

cheers, bbcc

[Adam's 55 Chevy]

Either build it as a + .030 / .040 / .060 396ci or sell it and buy a 454ci block and do the same but with a 4.25" crank. BBCC is right that you can get almost a 454 out of a 396 but why when the proper blocks are out there and still relatively cheap in comparrison to full on one time build of a 396 block and thats not accounting for core shift.

Personally I would sell the engine complete and save the money for a 540ci long block for your Camaro.

[RobM]

i would keep it as a 396.. some guy with a restored car would want it and possible shell out some good cash for it..... what it out of any way?

a 454 is pretty comon to find and makes a better all out performance engine

[rocketman]

396 is a nice combo on the street, and you can always tell them its a 540.

[CamaroJesse]

if i were to make it a 434 how would that help or hurt me? Will it bring my revs down? Will i make enough more power for it to be worth it to stroke it?

[Adam's 55 Chevy]

If you stroke a 396 block with a 4" crank you will probably have to relieve the bottom of the cylinders aka the 454 blocks. Your cylinders will most likely not have the reliefs in them to clear the crank counter weights as the 3.76" crank clears without them. If you have then all well and good. It is a home mod BUT it is very easy to get over zealous and break into the water jacket then you have a junk block unless you want to 1/4 fill it with block fill.

If you want to keep what you have then I would build it as a + .030 as has already been reccomended. 500hp is not that hard from a 396ci. If you want something bigger sell what you have and go buy that instead of having to live with lots of compromises with the 396 block.

[EFI69Cam]

396 is a nice combo on the street, and you can always tell them its a 540.

Or better yet build the 540 and tell them it's a 396.

[pdq67]

There are some 396 block's that will swallow a complete stock, 454 rotating assembly FINE!! (Same block's, different bore)..

I'd try to insert a wooden pencil between the cylinders through the freeze plug holes first!!

If it doesn't slide between the cylinders, it's a good candidate for sonic checking to see if it will bore to 4.250"!!

And, fwiw, I figure that my "TSC", '75, 454 P/U engine will swallow a 4.375" stroked rotating assembly w/ min./no(?) grinding b/c it swallowed my 496's rotating assembly w/ NO grinding at all!!

pdq67

[sactownauto]

Theoreticly a 454 crank and a .125 overbore would net you 447.4 ci. But this leaves you with paper thin cylinder walls, even on the thickest factory blocks. Don't even attempt this much of a punch without sonic testing the block, regardless of engine family. The problem with the baby rats is finding off the shelf pistons that will 1)fit your intended bore size, and 2)have the right dome/valve relief configuration. Your only other option is custom pistons, and for a bottom of the line forged slug with no coatings, ports, custom ring land configuration, upgraded pin, etc etc, you are looking at $150 a slug. Never-the-less, given the stock 396 bore of 4.094" i would recomend no more than a "30 over" 402 piston. This will give you a 4.156" bore, combined with a 4.00" crank from a 454, will give you a displacement of 434.1 ci. Keep the bore concervative so future rebuilds can take place should the event of engine failure ruin your bores; aswell, a thicker cylinder wall will be inheritly more rigid thus prviding more positive ring sealing. Not to mention keeping with a common size will provide you with a few more options for dome type.

I hope this helps you in your quest for more cubes/power.

cheers, bbcc

What size cam would you use to get the most hp

[Barrrf]

I run a 396 bored .060. Becomes a 408. Not exactly a rev monster but she sings at 6k RPMs.

But to me it seems to be a waste of monetary funds. From what Ive seen it would cost me 50% more to build a 454 block up to the equivalent horsepower of a semi budget LS build. Im assuming none of the part I have in my 396 would transfer over to the 454 (always trying to save a buck).

Granted I haven't done much research on it - I may be a bit stuck on the LS swap thing.