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67CamaroDork
08-22-2012, 10:13 AM
Howdy -

In my 67 Camaro I have what appears to be a rebuilt (or very well maintained) 400 from between 1970 and 73, that from the engine casting numbers (3951511). I've had the car about 3 years and it runs fine, nothing fancy, but runs fine. I'm looking to seriously increase the HP in this car. I've been looking at new SB engines that push 500 HP, and would like to switch to fuel injected also.

My question is, for the same money and ultimate performance should I have the current engine rebuilt with add on's that get me the same, or close HP as a new engine?

I'm looking to ultimately upgrade the entire engine bay, I have no issues one day looking under the hood and seeing a supercharger too if it's worth the investment. So, either new engine, or rebuilt and update the old. I've been looking in the DFW area for engine rebuild places and am a little unsure how one goes about picking someone they can trust to do a good job, which makes me lean toward the new engine route. I want to be comfortable with this decision but struggling to pick a direction.

I'm hoping there are some opinions, and/or experiences out there that can help me make this decision.

thanks - !

AintQik
08-23-2012, 04:54 AM
My experience, which aint worth much. If you can find a good machine shop you can trust then rebuilding is a great option. I am finding fewer and fewer of them locally so I've been buying built shortblocks from reputable folks. Without the machine shop, I'm dead in the water, so its been working out that buying something out of a crate is getting it done.

67CamaroDork
08-23-2012, 07:26 AM
I'm seeing the same, hard to get a good feel for anyone who can do this, the web normally is good for research but not in this instance. I think it might be time to hit the local auto parts stores and ask around, may have to hit the pavement to find someone who might could do this, and if I were to get a new one it's not something I'm comfortable doing either, I've never replaced an engine. Yup, time to hit the pavement old school style. Thanks for getting my brain started.