Pontiac 400

[Takid455]

that is good info. I have built a few 455's and 400's and they all had the X X on the side. I didn't pay much attention to it as I figured it was a just another casting ID. I did thing about adding another X to it to make it hardcore instead of softcore. :bsjerk:

[jerrys85iroc]

Yeah i checked out the site, ill have to check back to that when i get a chance to look at my block, but it may be a few days.

But this is the only motor i have so either way this one needs to be rebuilt.

[Karch]

How much power are you look for? What's the budget?

Lots of options these days.

Where are you located?

[jerrys85iroc]

Well i would like 350-400 horsepower and a budget of 1500-2000, but i also have body work on the car its in which is a 1978 trans-am and in primer. Im in texas about two hours north of houston.

[Takid455]

not sure what machine shop rates are in your area, but 1100 will cover your machine work in the N. east. (boring, cleaning block and heads, valve job, balance rotating assy, install cam bearings and freeze plugs, ect) get a set of flat top SRS pistons, #62, 12, or 48 heads and a RA 4 or XE268 / 274 cam, headers, rpm intake and a custon shaker base. that whold put right in that 350 range. i think 2k is a bit cheap. I just did a 455 and just the parts (nothing fancy) and machine work cost around 4500. this did not include the exhaust. I did have the heads cc'd and bronze guide installed and upstroked the crank. you will probably drop 3k easy into your engine.

[jerrys85iroc]

Yeah i know thats why im trying to get some help because im 17 and dont have alot of money to work with and like i said the engine is not the only thing that needs work.

[Takid455]

if the engine works, leave it alone for now. focus on the other areas that need attention first. what ever you estimate for body work or engine work, double it and them some. that is what it will cost. don't worry, you'll have an empty wallet in no time. :shock:

[jerrys85iroc]

Thats the thing the motor needs rebuilt but i figured why not try to get some horsepower while im at it.

[HWYSTR]

There's a number of good machine shops in your area that can do the machine work for reasonable cost, no problem there.

Lots of good advice here, and suggest you do go to the PY forums for more Pontiac-specific expertise.

You can use the factory rods if prep'd and bolts replaced, though most will advise to use aftermarket. Before aftermarket rods were available though, everyone used factory ones with pretty good success.

A set of pistons is at least what you're going to have to replace, hard-part wise. TRWs are tried & true, though there are alternatives that may be less expensive, and lighter. The above mentioned will cover the short block.

Heads & cam are going to be where you will find gains. You're most likely going to have to rebuild your existing heads, valves, guides, valve job, etc. You can compare that with getting a set of earlier performance heads, 68-71 would be the years, and anything with a 2.11 1.77 valve size configuration would be good.

With a proper config, you can easily do 400hp, and if that's not enough, you can spray it.

As for thin web blocks, I've personally pushed them to over 600, and they survive just fine, as long as you don't run high stall and slicks. The guys racing pointiacs are the ones that have had issues, and most are a couple seasons, not right off the bat, unless they were doing something stupid, like a 300hp shot of juice on a radical full-roller setup.

I think it's possible to do it for 2k with some horse trading and assembling it yourself.

.