I’ve been a fan of the small block Chevy 400 since I pulled one out of a 73 station wagon in 1976 And built it for my 73 Z 28 Street Camaro, soon I accumulated a couple of more blocks, and complete engines went hunting those early 70s station wagons they were loaded with these motors, Had 4 bolt mains. I absolutely love these motors ran them for years always heard about overheating problems. Never had an issue. Used a 350 head gasket as a template for the 400 block drill the appropriate steam pocket holes and that’s basically all I did It does require a lot of induction compared to the 350, so with the proper castings, it was an extreme port job large Intake an exhaust valves It was a motor of epic proportions. I ran it on the street for four years big hydraulic cam 11 1/2 to one compression automatic with 3500 stall converter 4 .10 out back 11 second street car those were the days.

Just wanted to tell you what a great job you're doing on your videos , and I envy how organized your shop is , thank you for sharing your knowledge with us 😊

I've been running a 400 sbc in my short bed square body people always telling me how problematic they are this video gives me a peice of mind keep the videos coming

Very good video , great explanation of bearing installation. Creating the bearing scraper from the old camshaft is a great idea 🏁

Very happy to see the camshaft as the first thing in the engine. I see so many builders assemble the short block before putting the camshaft in.

Back in 2021 after the PERA webinar, I communicated with Ron Sledge of King Bearings and he told me how to use and old camshaft as a bearing scraper. It took a little time before anyone responded to my Craigslist ad but I did get 2 shafts to make the scraper. Now that I am prepared, I have yet to need it but that day is coming.

👍 I enjoyed listening to your tips.

Liked and subscribed. Hello from the Netherlands. 😊 I’ll never built an engine but I very much like to watch other do that. I particularly like how you you explain the details and why (not just how) you do things. Thank you for making these videos! Eduard. Oh and your video production quality is excellent too!

You have so much knowledge thanks for sharing that with us

Good luck on the dyno my favorite times.

I use the universal cam bearing tool you showed & have ran into tight cams often. Line honing the cam tunnel is one option, but I've found scraping the cam bearing to be the quickest & easiest option. I've had bent roller cams as well (Thanks UPS/FedEx). I straighten them in V-blocks. Doesn't take much to make a cam get tight. I also install two, test fit cam, install another bearing and then test fit after each one.

I prep my bearings before I install them. On the back of the bearings you will find their stamp that is above the surface of the bearings. I burnish that down with 600 grit paper so I have 100 percent contact with the saddle.

I have several 70's SBC1 400's that were converted to top hat sleeved 500ci SBC1's. Easy stuff really, And you eliminate most of the problems, with a Big bump in cubes and a extra 200hp. All of it is old Hot Rodder tech, really old, and it's easier to do now with the new stuff.

Excellent video. I've built some 327s, a long time ago. I just picked up a 1974 std bore 400 to build for my 68 Impala. This is really going to help, thanks! I am looking for 10:1 compression, but don't know about the cam, so many options!

Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I subscribed. 🙂

I did a re-ring job on a 318 for a buddy last summer that had jumped time and I used that universal cam tool and the cam would not even enter the 4th journal. I had plenty of old Chevy cams that were cut for clearancing but I didn't have not one old Dodge cam as he wanted to reuse his cam and lifters. I put some pressure against it and spun it enough to lightly scar the bearing enough to show the high spots then I took a razor blade and stood it straight up and scraped the highs till it finally slid in and stopped showing any signs of rubbing. Most shops around here have a stock of old cams for this purpose. I always cut mine on about a 30° angle across the journal and as I cut down into the journal I tilt my wheel at about a 45 so it leaves more of a knife edge. I don't know what other shops are charging for splaying oem blocks but for what a local shop quoted me I can buy a Brodix/Edelbrock/Blueprint cast iron block for about the same price.

Thank you for your knowledge and videos USA 🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇸

Lots of good information. Especially the trick with tight cam bearings, I have done that in the past on a 400 with an old cam to gain the clearance needed. However, I am disagreeing with the using two different mfg bearing halves to get the clearance needed. Bearing halves are fitted from the factory for each other, you do not mix and match them ever. Yes, he gained the clearance by using a one thousandth larger bearing half, but he only gained that extra clearance on 1/2 of the bearing. By measuring across he got the number he wanted but it is actually not consistent across the whole journal, only half of it. You are better off, running both halves of the one thousandth larger bearing, or sticking with the original bearing. I was also under the understanding from other machinist that original four bolt main Chevy 400 blocks are prone to cracking, and you are better off with a two bolt main block and ARP bolts.

Awesome

Its hard to get the number 1 cam brg. Straight, so my hubby places the block upside down on a bench after he has chamfered the back side of the number 1 hole, disassembles the tool, slides it in from the back of the block,assembles it in the block, and drives num. 1 in from the back side.

The machinist who changed the cam bearings on my engine honed the bearings after installing, putting a crosshatch on it. I dont know how common it is but seem to be his way of doing things. I did notice that the original bearings seemed to have been on the tight side.

First of all I do not bash people for their assembly techniques but since you said you are open to learning I thought I would go into a couple of things that you can do better. 1. Factory GM blocks often have a problem with the cam tunnels. Especially BBC and Pontiac blocks. While scraping in the bearings to get the cam to rotate freely may work it does create another problem. If the cam tunnel is not strait it will lead to excessive clearance in one or more of the cam bearings. This will cause an internal oil leak. The bearing crush in the cam tunnel should be what you should be concerned about. Mark Jones has a great video on this, look up engine building 201. He goes thru the procedure on a BBC which usually has more problems. 2. The problem with the hammer mandrel cam tool is that it can mushroom the bearings as it gets installed. The BHJ cam bearing installer uses a draw bar to install the bearings. It is pricey but if you do many engines a year it can pay for itself fairly quickly. You can keep the mandrel hammer types to make the correct OD of the bearings in a lathe. 3. On the 400 with the splayed caps. When you have the caps installed by your machinist take the bearings and crankshaft to him so when he does the line hone he can give you the oil clearance that you specify. That way you won't have to buy an extra set of bearings. I do commend you for showing the trick of mixing the bearings many people don't know that. For an engine that has not been line honed that is a great solution. The rule of thumb for bearing clearance is a .001 per inch of the journal diameter. So if a 400 has a journal size of 2.65 you would want .00265 minimum and for performance apps. add another .0005 to that. I know that you are following what the factory spec. is, but throw that out the window. Mahle has my recommendation on their website. While your .0005 bore gauge is better than plastigauge I would recommend a bore gauge with a resolution of .00001 to get the most accurate readings. Mititoyo has one that is reasonably priced. This is what I have. I really want the Sunnen long reach one but can't justify 2K for it. 4. For your cam installations. I don't know how you are doing these but I noticed on your blue print sheet from what I could see of it that you didn't have column for piston to valve clearance. Since I do not know how you are going about this I will just give you an example of what I do. I will map my P to V from 6 degrees retarded to 6 degrees advanced. That way I won't have to pray that I will not have a problem on the dyno. Cam timing is also a great tool to achieve a proper dynamic compression ratio. DCR to me is the only way to really guaranty a pump gas friendly engine. A 13:1 static compression engine can run on pump gas if the cam is timing is set correctly. 5. I would recommend Dyno sim 6 to help with your engine combinations. Also for Dynamic compression I use the Wallace racing calculator online. Hope this helps happy engine building! Keep up the good work on the video's Best regards BK

Very informative and interesting video. 💯👍

I'm in the process of building a SBC 400. I'm using Flo tec cylinder heads should drill steam hole or not. This going in a street rod. I love your videos. Thank you.

The old ream the bearing out with an old cam is BAD news! there is a reason the bearing is tight. Usually the bore has an issue such as a deep scratch or nick, which if you understand, has a raised area. Sometimes bore on the 400's can be too small. Solution is to hone cam bearing bores, not gouge up the cam bearing which can cause an issue later. I know, but that's the way it's been done for umpteen years people say. Well just because it was done that way and got by with it doesn't mean it's the way to do it still. Afterall would you clearance your crank or rod bearings that way?

When using two different bearing sets to increase the clearance, would you put the thicker half on the load side, meaning the cap, or does it make any difference?

When you use the strong caps, can you additionally use a girdle, and what is the best girdle perhaps, or a known of in use girdle?

For tight cam bearings I think I may have first tried to use a drill and emery paper wet after fastening the cam down with room to go run the drill motor and emery paper just like polishing a crank but go all the way around the bearing making a circle where as the crank spins when polishing it,I hope that makes sense and no disrespect meant

I would say the first real muscle car was the 62 Plymouth fury super stock. But the GTO gets all the credit due to production numbers. The fury had a 413 max wedge with a lot more power than the GTO .

My newest favourite channel. I'd p9ve to see what you can do with a 10.4l gm motor

I'm picking up a 406 short block this afternoon ìts a 509 block what brand splayed main caps did you use? I know you use good parts and I trust your opinion.

I have to disagree with you a impala with a 409 4 speed came out before the gto I would have to say I think that would be your first muscle car great video

Did you measure the bearing and the camshaft bearing journal diameter, or did you just install the cam and determine by feel?

What about installing pipe plugs in the block's deck? Pros, cons, recommended or not?

400 block Grove in one the sleeve it, like doing that.

2 or 4 bolt engine has "Select fit" bearings from the factory . I had found that out in1972 , thought someone messed up the answer was "NOPE" ! Yes I am old....

I built a 400 ABC with jump heads back in the 80s with, comp cams 280, .480 lift and had it in 78 c10 rcsb, I was 17 . That ole thing ran good. What #s you think? I built several more after that. 👍👍

What is your quench on these engines? I noticed you said pistons will be .030 in the hole.

ya know i was wondering if it was ok to mix bearing halves brands

You sure like a KB piston! If you don't mind me asking.... What is your top priority when choosing a piston?

Do a solid roller cam dome just a little better then j e flat top pistol.

I`m a old guy and in my shop and my home I have a few old Clevite bearing catalogs. I call them "The Bibles" I tell all the guys that I`ve worked with to set everything up to the clearences in the bible, reason being you can just about garantee the rotating assembly will not fail for a long time unless abused..One question...Where did you find those 400 small blocks? I had 17 of them and never thought I`d go through them so fast and now I can`t find one without a bunch of core shift. I enjoy your videos, looks like we both went down the same paths about at the same time.

Work for 35 years we check all cam shaft new cams have Ben bent up too.010 we will straighten all cam new cam are all bent

For me the muscle car era started when high compression ratio and high octane fuel hit the scene. That would be the early 60s.

IMO the first proper muscle car was the GTO, but the beginning of the muscle car era started with the high perf 392 Hemi cars and the fuel injected Chevy cars in the later 50s

were are you located I need a 400 Chev built

I understand that opinions differ & there are some "muscle cars" that do not meet my definition of a muscle car but I like to think it's a full bodied 2 door car that has a back seat & will sit 4 people. And the engines hp equals 10% or greater of the vehicles overall weight. = "muscle car"

i was told all 400 chevy blocks have 3 freeze plugs per side..your 1st engine only has 2...whats up with that ?

do you build/sell engines? thankyou

I am not grasping the idea of different size brains on the top and the bottom. It would seem to me that one side would be bigger than the other

I don’t really like the 509 blocks over the fact they’re the only ones that have the factory 4 bolt mains, they’re cast thinner than the 817 castings which are 2 bolt only.

Would you not think that putting a 348 truck engine in a passenger car in 1958 is same thing?

Don't you think that the necessity of the amount of horsepower you make compared to the amount of torque is subjective to the vehicle and the size of the engine, even for a street engine?

Roller cam

You sound just like nick from nicks garage 😂

377 build

First real muscle car was Chrysler Hemi in 50"s. And NO.. it was no pontiac in 64..

One thing i see a lot is people are always putting cheap pistons in why dont they use a good forged piston.

Warning do not use cloyes they are now made in Taiwan and China n many people are having big problems with the quality

A lot of ads

How do you avoid heating issues on the 400? Whats the best water pump ,thermastat and radiator combo for a 550 to 600 hp motor? Thanks