Pontiac 400

[jerrys85iroc]

I have a pontiac 400 and it needs rebuilt and i also would like to get some power out of it. Any suggestions? Has anyone budget built a pontiac 400?

[67bird]

First suggestion is buy Jim Hands book. It will be the best $25 you will spend. From there we really need to know what power band and budget you have. What heads do your current motor have? What casting number is the block? I would start with the book as it will answer most of your questions.

[jerrys85iroc]

Where can i find that book?

[dylanCamaro582]

performance years is a good site for anything pontiac. theres a thread over then on street engine combos. most of them are 400/455 strokers to 460's.

here's the link: http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...d.php?t=520102

[wick]

Before you do anything, find out what year block you have. Make sure it its a pre-'74 block or one that has X X on the side.

[jerrys85iroc]

Its in my 1978 Trans-am and its numbers matching.

[wick]

Is it the TA6.6 220hp 400 or just the regular 400?

[Takid455]

Is it the TA6.6 220hp 400 or just the regular 400?

no difference in the blocks. all had the same casting #'s

the amount of performance you can get is proportional to the size of your wallet. the main question is the the intended use of the car. without that, your just pissing in the wind.

[wick]

no difference in the blocks. all had the same casting #'s

the amount of performance you can get is proportional to the size of your wallet. the main question is the the intended use of the car. without that, your just pissing in the wind.

The casting #'s are not the same.

[Takid455]

The casting #'s are not the same.

fill me in. I'm intrigued. what was different?

[wick]

fill me in. I'm intrigued. what was different?

Did you go to the link? Apparently Pontiac went back to the earlier block for the 220hp motors and even stamped them with the old (good) casting numbers. I just found out about this about a month ago, I had no idea about it. Some of those guys over on PY have much more time than I to figure out things like that.

I wanted to build a 3" main motor instead of the 3.25" but I had the 3.25 455 motor already. I looked for a few weeks for a standard bore 3" 400 to no avail but did find a '78 220hp standard bore with the X X on the side of the block. Someone told me they were good blocks so I did some research and found what was written on PY. Once I stripped the 400 I compared it side by side to the 455 and they were almost identical.

[Roadrage David]

The short block part hase been written bij Jim Lehart from http://www.centralvirginiamachine.com/ who is my engine builder. he hase 4 ore 5 engine resepys in the back of the book.
to me he is the nr 1 guy that builds my engines and nobody els. he gives you free advice. he,s known for his ecselend engines and builds one hell of a 406 long rod engine if thats where your afther. altho a small touwn shop hes umongst the very best and most noligeble Pontiac man there is. ps my fresh engine car combo http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=BtgHOAzyTbg

[Roadrage David]

ps dont use a 400 thats dated afther 74 cause they are casted with thinner main webs!! and dont hold up more then 500 horse. the eurlyer 2 bold blocks can take 700 hp ez,

[67bird]

CVMS is a well known Pontiac engine shop. They can steer you in the right direction. As far as the block is concerned, if you plan on keeping the car, I would replace the stock engine. I would keep the stock engine to put back in the car for a later date. If this is of no concern then I would think that you could have an adequate level of performance increases with the motor.
The book can be purchased at any Barnes and Noble or Borders or even EBAY. Just do a google search for high performance pontiac engine books or for Jim Hand. You will find it. It is red with a Pontiac engine on it. It has lots of info.
Realistically what is your horsepower goal? 350 or 400 horsepower is not unreasonable for an iron head combo.

[rohrt]

Jerry,

I have a lot of pontiacs in the family with me and my two brothers. You can make a fun driving car with your 78 400 you have as long as you don't go to wild. If you plan on buying a stroker crank then yes get a different block.

Some suggestions for you.

You could bag the block and put it in storage and look for an older 400 to build.

If you looking for a budget build and don't mind using your same block then:
Get 2.5 inch exhaust, headers or RAIV exhaust manifolds. Step up to a bigger cam of your choice. Look into a set of gears for the rear depending on what you have now, I always liked the 3:23 or 3:42 gears. Send your quadrajet to Cliff Ruggles for a rebuild. If you have the 6X head see if they are the 6X-4 or 6X-8s, (4 is prefered) and have them ported or consider the KRE heads. You could port them yourself if you follow the Jim Hand book. Last put in a shift kit in your tranny and maybe a higher stall converter.

You can do all of this one step at a time have a real fun car. My .02.

[rohrt]

Rats how do I delete a double post?

[jerrys85iroc]

Its the 6.6 400 and im planning on making the trans-am pro-touring so should i stick with this motor or maybe save it for a later time and get somting else?

[wick]

http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...light=xx+block

Go to the last page of this thread on PY and you will see the difference in blocks and casting numbers. It will also show you how to tell the difference.

[GetMore]

If it's the 6.6L then it's an Oldsmobile 403.

[jerrys85iroc]

No its the pontiac 400, trust me if it was the 403 i wouldnt have bought it.