.06, i'd be little nervous about overheating unless the block was sonic tested. i am very happy with mine being .030 over.

That was pretty much my point.

DO MA NEU!

Too late.. At this point, bore size is irrelevant. But stay tuned... If she fails u guys will be the first to know

Set me straight...
 

Tried my best to degree in cam tonite... Can't make sense of the info I got

To start, installed the cam gears dot to dot, as in cam dot on bottom, crank dot on top, make sense so far? This results in TDC on compression stroke, cam dot up, crank dot up? Right? I hope so..

Locate TDC w/piston stop. Reset wheel to 0. Rotate clockwise from front of engine. Cam card states intake opens @ 9.5* btdc, which I believe is @ 0.050. My findings were 9*, good so far? Where does the 4*adv come into play @?

Cam card says intake centreline is 106. I got 105, again, not sure how to apply advance?

And intake closing point.... Is where the wheels come off, or not, I dunno... Cam card says 41.5* abdc I cam up with 53... What happened??

Seat to seat... This is a mess to... Intake opens 34*btdc and closes 100* abdc

To recap, I'm lost, need advise, again. 0.050 duration is231/239. Advertised is 282/290 Lunati20120712

Where does this put me in terms of DCR now?

I spun this engine over about 40 times tonite, pretty consistent on data, but I can't interpret it

The 4 degrees is ground into the cam when installed straight up.(dot to dot)Are checking off the lifter or rocker arm?

When the dots on the gears at dot to dot #6 is at TDC on the compression stroke. For #1, the dots are both at 12:00. Could make a little difference if you're checking at #1 cylinder.

Intake centerline is good 105-106 is within 1 degee. The difference your seeing at intake closing point is the cam card measurement is figured @ .006 lift and your figuring .000 lift. Your Seat to seat 314 is bigger than advertised duration 282 again because of the cam manufacturer basing it on .006 lift to .006 lift. The 4 degrees is ground in.

I was starting to get frustrated last night to say the least... I guess at this point I'm good to button it up now.

I had been checking off the valve

I went home today, put basepan, timing cover, damper all buttoned up... Cleaning up tool, cam locking plate on the bench - forgot to tork in cam. Tear it down and redo it all. I swear I've redone every bolt on this engine 3-4 times! I suck.... But it's close now!

Better safe than sorry. Wait till your driving it, every little sound will have you wondering....

DO MA NEU!

Humor me... Wtf is do ma neu??

Feel like crying
 

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe86edd5.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psd3f259e1.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8f728486.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psc905aaaf.jpg

That's rite.... Just dropped it on the floor. Crane failed. Don't know why I bother doing anything at 10:00 @ nite... Oh ya, that's the only chance I get:banghead::banghead:

The crane failed because part of it is missing. There should be support bars from the top of the vertical bar down to the back horizontal bar. There is no way you could expect that to lift any weight the way it is.

After looking at the pictures again, I see the support bars laying on the floor beside the crane.

It's just an oil pan, looks like it should have been a slow drop.
I've seen a very expensive 540 bite the garage floor when the idiot that tried to use a tricycle engine stand and hit a pebble on the shop floor about the size of a pea. Cost that guy a pan, valve cover and tear-down.
Add the straps (the ones laying on the floor) and it will work fine after you get the base straightened out. I've lifted way more with no issues on any of the shop cranes I have.

Thanks bashcraft, that's exact what the wife said :toetap:



Those straps were about 2" to short to use in any of the holes...
Bought this thing off a buy/sell website locally, used. Now that I have my hindsight clearly focused... Thinking it was already leaning forward. Never used one before, so wasn't sure. Just kept going.... And u see the result

I took the weight of the engine, and went to loosen the bolts... But as soon as they were lose, it shifted, first thought was the jack is creeping down, gave it a few pumps... Haha and I actually watched the ram for a second - didn't step back and look at all of it. Not creeping, pulled the bolts... Last one over 1/2 way out, and crash! Called it a night

Are you sure the support bars were too short? Because the main mast should be canted rearward like this which would probably be enough allow everything to align up.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg

:willy: I thought those were extra parts!!! :willy: Hopefully the damage is minor and easily repaired. Check oil pickup to pan if it caved there.

:bigears

Just leave everything loose until you get all the bolts on the lift started. Then just crank it back into place. You just bent the flange a little. Make sure you check the pan and if it dented, I would pull it. Just to make sure the oil pick up didn't get shifted or worse, pop off!:willy:

Recovery mode
 

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0787ba4b.jpg

Actually doesn't look bad, think I'm safe...

What a clusterf*ck :willy:
I'm cracking up here-I'm sorry Lol :rofl:
We all have been there in some way or another, myself more than once, more than twice....

Previous comment is right, you have the main mast on backwards if the straps won't fit. It should lean backwards.
I have a nickel that says you won't do that again...

... Well, I see the err in my ways, I bolted the mast up tite first.. Which for whatever reason stood it straight up/a little fwd. I bought it as a pile of parts, didn't have a pic of one to work with, and I didn't look for one... Too big of a hurry...

Had I looked into it a little further, I would have left bolts loose, pulled mast back, may have been the cure... She's too bent up too tell now, and I haven't had a chance to look it over. Either way... My little "Jonny" fires rite up @-20c and got me fixed up last nite... Who needs a crane
=>Nothin runs like a deere<=

Really appears to be no damage, so I installed the flex plate last nite, and I'm moving forward... Just glad this fail didn't happen over the side of my car:thumbs:

Realistically that crane didn't cost much, and came with a free engine stand... Or most of one, lol

Update
 

Bolted on starter, Holley 110gph fuel pump and edelbrock water pump, not without issue, I have #8810, which was for 69-70 vette, it appears what I should have had was 8812, for 79 vette, big deal?? It's on now

Revised crane😜
 

Got out hammer and fixed her up, gave a test run, think it's ok

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psd3495b61.jpg

Finally
 

Ok. Finally got to hear my monster Growl last night.

Been a couple weeks in the making but I got it fired up. After the whole crane fail thing I need a break for a bit, did some other small projects and come back later. So when it was time I started off with a carb overhaul. Edelbrock 750. Have had this carb since '99, never really got much use of it, and always doubted it was much good. This would be my second attempt at a carb rebuild, did one a year or so that ran, but i was never really proud of it, so 1 more try, right?. So i stripped it down, soaked it for a day or so in a special blend of seafoam/gas and other solvents i had in the garage. Stripped it down, cleaned it up, looked good. Calibrated it 1 step rich in both power and cruise modes. The calibration is greek to me, but have all parts to retun to stock and start over. so far success.

OK. Feeling it again. Added Oil, and primed it with Summit Priming tool and drill, while cranking over with breaker bar. Not bad, looking good, lots of oil thru pushrods, all good. Might as well stab dizzy, This went on for over an hour, what a chore, got it tho, one whole plug wire off, but i have lots of room to play with now (Not in car). Sat in this condition for a week, while life was in the way again.

Strolled into garage one evening, breaker bar still on floor, figured id give it a roll, just 'cause. Got this weird Ting sound as I cranked it. Well that got me going, could hardly sleep for 2 days over that, Night mares of tearing it down and starting over. Untill I went out another night pulled the dipstick and it was all bent up... Was catching on the crank, Phew... i think. rotated it a half turn on the tube, squishing it all outta shape in the process, but ting was gone. OK

Couple more days pass. Got a chance to get in there again, this time to rob all the pulleys and belts off the car and give it a real mock up. This was going good, until I tried to mount the fan… that "Incorrect" waterpump is indeed wrong. 5/8 pilot shaft on pump, 3/4 pilot on fan. Start tearing thru my SBC junk pile, scored a 5/8 fan. Will fit this app. Perfect, Soldier on. Alt/crank/water pump pulleys and belts installed, not without one more pump struggle... the pulley was too deep to fit the pump, customized a spacer to get it shimmed in perfect. OK.

OK, Sat again for a couple more days. Managed to install Plugs and wires on to distributor… joke, using Mallory dizzy and coil/cap. Never again tho… had to pull the coil to get wires on poles. Stupid I thot. My opinion, and does not express or imply the views of corvette forum...lol. Any way, done deal

Got home yesterday, Wife has a friend over who happened to bring her husband… Sweet, not used to an extra set of hands around, (besides my 3 yr old). So off to the garage we go. Installed the headers. OBX side pipes - Not a slam dunk like id read. Had to put the die grinder onto 4 of the holes, (Same 2 each side - 2nd one in from front and back) but success. Next was some mad customized rad support on the engine stand. (Red Green Special for the people that know who red green is...) but again Success. Rolling right along now, install rad with old scrap hoses, and fill with coolant, we then plugged the holes in water pump... lol. Went without thermostat for now. Rolled it all out to the bay door. Plummed in fuel lines, custom fabbed up kill switch and starter button. went to town for gas and ready to go.

Hit the starter, and what a grinding sound… added a shim, nope, added 2 shims nope. Made a real mess of the flex plate. Not sure the issue, but very soon after… starter quit all together… didn’t even get it hot. Skip white ebay special for those who are keeping score. So off to the scrap pile of parts, fished one out, its smaller than i expected, maybe off a V6 or something, anyhow, bolted it on, shot of gas thru the carb, and vrrrrom... wow.

So all in all success so far, it runs… now for tuning, and prep car fur surgery… as long as I get it between the rails by spring

http://vid1358.photobucket.com/album...pstjoqo1oo.mp4

:canadaflag:

Special thanks to all that contributed to this project, its far from over, but it feels like the worst is over any way...

Congratulations on getting your engine together and running.It sounds healthy and I'm sure spring can't come soon enough.Do you plan on dyno tuning in or out of the car?:thumbs:

It says "Folding Shop Crane" Made in China. Looks like it worked as advertised!:thumbs:

:D:D:D:D:D:D:thumbs:

Red Green, lol! So, how much duct tape has gone into this project?:rofl::cheers:

76, Cant really see myself dyno tuning, Just cant see myself dishing out the cash for it.... Unless i some how get myself in a situation that i cant get it running how i want it, but even then, id probably be doing it in the car. No sort of dyno machine within 150 miles of me anyhow.

Mako, i folded that crane up like noones business... once i reverse engineered it with my precision tuned Hammer tools, its working fine now

resdoggie, although no actual duct tape was used in the engine, a few time it felt like it was going to get to that point... Its kinda funny when little things come up like... whats gonna hold the rad, then ya gotta drop the engine tools and grab measuring tape & saws, then back to wrenching, forgetting to plug holes while pouring in coolant, classic, and not being able to come up with one to fit either...haha, stand there with a finger in the hole, while trying to swage down to right size. Maybe even a little "Mr Dressup", with all the "lets see whats in the tickle trunk, like spare starters, pulleys, brackets, wiring harness...HAHA. Wife got a laugh out of it, i cant ever find a wrench i want when i need it, but i knew where to find stashed chevy parts that havent seen the light of day in 5-10 yrs... and she thinks im not organized...Jeez

Gonna Order a new flexplate and starter, any recomendations?? Pretty much sold on this unit
http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...9526/overview/

Mostly Because i can use all 3 mounting holes, the other night i had the option between both starters to use both patterens, and the starter definatley twisted under load, hoping using 3 holes will help out a bit

Who doesnt love a 3-holer anyways:lol:

New starter
 

Well, my new power master starter showed up yesterday, along with flexplate and flex a lite 7 blade fan. Installed starter and flywheel. Whirled over just like it should. Fired rite up.... Gonna make it hard to not keep playing with it...

Now for the next phase, engine removal:rock:

Will the shenanigans ever stop?
 

Well, in the last cpl weeks I've pretty well wrapped up my garage overhaul, and I gotta say I'm impressed with my workspace. Got the place 1/2 tidy'd up today ( ran outta attention span) and decided it's time... To yank engine.

Car is sitting on wheel dollies, but it's not high enough to get under the car. So I figured I'd throw some wood under the wheels, piece of cake right? Oh ya, went perfect, car was at just the right height to work on from above and underneath. Perfect. Just give it a shove to position it just right..... Crash! When I rocked it front wheels rolled, spit their dollies out. Drivers side dolly jammed up into the rocker, did some damage. F^€£ sakes!

Pressed forward, fabbed up some little wheel chalks, put it back how I wanted it, gave it some shoves, good to go now, I hope. Either way, moving forward, removed all engine accessories, brackets, A/C hoses and such.... My shenanigans cost me 1/2 my night, but in the end, some progress was made.

Just about ready to abandon this project. Things aren't so hot up here with the price of oil and such... The household budget has been hacked to nothing, so the rest of this project is gonna be penny pinching focused. At least I've already got most of my parts, and should be ok for at least the power steering overhaul, and engine swap. Not looking like a tranny Chang is gonna happen this year.

Only had an hour or so tonite, but managed to get the headers off, but not without mangling the oil press sender and probably the temp sender as well... But, headers are off, starter, flywheel cover, and spark plugs are now off. Hopefully tomorrow it's ready to lift... Just tq converter bolts/fuel lines/bellhousing bolts, and motor mounts to go

Proof!
 

Pre job safety mtg
http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psy1qyhyqf.jpg

Positions every one
http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...pss302ojfa.jpg

Good effort out there...

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7goqgohx.jpg

Now... While I'm at it......:rock:

Well, this has turned into a zero $$ project now, pulled all the power steering parts out, put in the new parts I had, reused all the tiered ends, they felt fine anyway, installed new pump onto new engine, think I'm pretty well ready to drop in. Leaving trans and tq converter as is, hopefully it's ok?? What do you guys think? Just doesn't seem rite to put a new converter onto old/worn trans, I'll just run as is and use it on a new trans whenever work picks back up??

Strange predicament, when I work, never any time to work on car, now work is slow, have all kinds of wrench time but too scared to spend a cent on parts for a "toy"

What stall and what cam, sorry for not rereading the entire post.

DO MA NEU!

0.050 duration is231/239. Advertised is 282/290 Lunati20120712

412 ci, idles around 850-950, fairly lumpy, but comes on hard and fast, don't think it'll be a dog of the line, but I won't know until I put it together..

My real concern is the stock tq will be loaded all the time, will this destroy it?

What size stall do you have now?

DO MA NEU!

Stock th350, no mods at all, have a 2400 stall on my bench, not sure I want to waste it on this trans.

I'd want a 2400 to 2800 rpm stall converter.

DO MA NEU!

That's why I bought it... But it's was for a new trans, that just isn't happening now, or at least until oil is @ $75/bbl.

Question of the day is, once I install it, it becomes used, and probably not recommended for use with a new trans => wasted cash. Or run it stock and hope for the best - if no good, could always just install it at that time. Engine is out at this time, would be pretty easy install, I'm off all this week, gotta say I'm putting my engine between the rails. But will have too wait 3 months before I can realistically try it out

I feel ya with lift Cost and and all.

DO MA NEU!

Oil patch is cut back pretty hard here...

Been fooling with my advace curve some more today, with relatively no success, swapped back to factory plugs, old dizzy cap and rotor, out to lunch now with my pit crew

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2xbg6icb.jpg

I would stay with the 1800-2000rpm stall converter that comes with the c3 trans.

I suggest this since (before I took a walk on the wild side), I rebuild my engine in 1999 with a somewhat slippery TH350C. The C3 launched much HARD with the rebuild (I mean, it didn't just 'chirp' the tires anymore) off the line. It still had a tendency to slip under acceleration around 40mph which kept me from really enjoying the experience.

It wasn't until I stepped up to the 700R4 and 3.54 gears that it smoked the tires off the line (my 700R4 had same stock stall in range of 1800-2000rpm) and BARKED the tires going into 2nd.

If I were to refresh an L48/L82 engine, I would keep the stock stall converter... even if I were to step up bigger trans and diff ratios. The C3 converter is right in the 'sweet spot' (IMO) before you really need to change it (ie. to compliment a cam that requires "more than stock"). I've endeavored to keep my cam in that 'range' of performance that fits a stock converter... lots of fun to be had :smash:

I've got an hour or so to decide... Lol, just ran it up a few more time, pretty satisfied with the timing curve. Ended up ditching Mallory dist cap and button, something was amiss there, reused cap and button from car. 2 heaviest springs in mr mr gasket kit, all in at 2800.

Kinda rallied myself into the Thot process, if I can buy a tranny down the road I'll spring for another converter at that time...

Not sure, will decide later today when I swap engines on the hoist and stand. But Im goin for it tonite.

Live update
 

With the cam you are running you need at least 2400 stall.A 3000 stall would be even better with a built transmission.If your transmission is still in decent shape you should be fine.Maybe add a secondary cooler if you are worried about heat.They now make very efficient high stall converters that do not have the negative heat issues with them.What brand of converter do you have?

I don't think you'll need much stall - just the aftermarket one you have now, but not the stock one either. If it's rating is based on a 350 ci engine then we know it will be higher for your 400
Go for it !

(how's that for ten different opinions on stall speeds ?)

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7fufvvt4.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psawuzicnl.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psxos7cpa7.jpg

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2tneemtd.jpg


I left original tork in...can always undo it at a later date:hide:

Not bad for a cpl hrs, wouldn't fit with fan, had to pull it, got it in with alt and starter on, but in the end had to pull both to get headers in

Motor mounts on, tq bolted up, bellhousing tight, starter back on...

Calling it a nite:rock:

The higher The CI the lower a given cams operating range. The higher the CI the higher the bottom end torque. Convertor will probably be fine. :thumbs:

I'm hoping so, went ahead with stock to start, I still have it on the shelf if I need it, if I don't need it, I still have it when time comes for new trans.

Got the header gaskets on there and mounted up headers today, that's it.

Still got 3 months or so before driving season, but I'm gonna keep picking, even if all I have to look forward to is roasting tires in the garage:thumbs:

Notice the pool of red under the car... Managed to yank the trans dipstick outta it's hole and pinched it right off, trying to tip engine sideways to get headers in... Live & learn I guess.

Let me say, the other night when I dropped that engine in, I was on a high, it was awesome....

Then, reality, 1 whole evening spent installing headers properly... I hope

1 whole evening reinstalling a/c unit that may or may not even work, but without that belt on I could never stop the fan from squealing

After finishing up a/c realize fuel pump is hitting the frame, quit for night, went to bed with nightmares of pulling engine out of car

1 full evening removing/ installing fuel pump, no success, realigned bottom 4 times, no luck, quit for night, quite disenchanted.

Another full evening spent last 2 try's at realigning, got a spot to work, install fittings, run hose, oh man, what a battle to get the right amount of hose to allow it to not kink, and not so long to droop down to far. Install power steering hoses, and rad hoses. Pretty frustrating too spend a week of evenings, to realistically be no further ahead,

Next battle, somehow intertwined trans cooler lines into the header, in a manner that I'm not sure I could have done if I did it on purpose... I just hope the header won't have to come off.

Lost count of how many times I've layed on my creeper, and then promptly bashed my head into the sharp corner of wheel dolly...ugh
My hands and arms look like I've been strangling cats in my spare time.. Taking a day or too off from garage, starting to feel like my creeper is gonna get more miles on it than my car

Been picking away again

Spent an evening removing trans lines, and untangling trans line from headers, also changed out dipstick in trans, had to get wife to help me there... Actually 2nd trans dipstick tube on this car since I bought it

Got all the vacuum hoses on car hooked back up, swapped over all linkages on carb from old one, plugs, wires, are in, jumped up 2 heat ranges on plugs, (had some on my shelf) another experiment. Valve covers back on...

Just need to drop in battery, hook up starter wires, permanent install on side pipe tubes, fan & fan belts, getting close now!

:willy:I just drove my car:willy:

Wicked! Can't even say how awesome that just felt!

Tell us more!

Well, that's about. It really, it's still full on winter here.. So I only went about 2 miles up the road and back. Probably shoulda went with the stall converter, lugs it right down when u put it in gear, but really it has no trouble revving up tho, seems to have tons of power... Don't have a summer day to test it out on, but the way it planted me in the seat was awesome. Will have to wear earplugs to ride in it... Wonderfully loud!

I'm impressed:woohoo:

Might be a while before I get to really road test the car
 

Update
 

Last week I took my car out for a short burn, say 5 miles each way. Got onto some nice dry pavement. No trouble to burn all the way thru first, and into 2nd. Car has no shift kit, test passed.
Tried a couple rolling starts, say 20mph, again roast tires with ease.
Definitely no shortage of power down low. I will confirm that I should have ran with a stall converter, even with engine warm, want to lug it down too far at idle. Don't believe it would require 2400 stall, but more than stock, with throtte, no trouble at all.

Today was 2nd run. Went for about 20 miles total, trying not to be on the throttle so much to see if I could get a sweet spot that the exhaust wouldn't deafen me, no luck, too loud... Guess I'm officially getting old. So I moved onto another phase of testing, passing cars, quite fun actually. Comes on real strong with 4bbl, think I have that jetted right? Know idea how to fool with that, yet. I truly believe it's too rich at the moment, will be pulling plugs over the next couple days.

Then, the unthinkable...https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-driving.html
Wtf. Gonna be doing a frost plug there I'd say.
But, just before this, I had just passed peak power, which according to my tach was right @ 5500 rpm. Sound about right? I dunno, car tach has never been that high. But once I crossed it, it fell off fast, but it seriously pulls hard from off idle, right to 5500, loving it so far.

Your power band matches your cam specs very well.I 'm glad your build is meeting your expectations.:thumbs:

I'm quite happy with setup, and with the cash I have into it really. I'm sure there a bit more in there, and hopefully I have all the kinks out by summer time.

Would have like to have paired up a new trans, maybe a new carb... But the wallet is locked up on this until further notice.

Work is slow, money's tite. So glad I got it sitting between the frame rails. At least I'll get to cruise this summer

It's all over.....
 

Something was wrong, looked in the mirror, nothing but smoke, about 2 miles from home. Whip car around. No power, but running. Pin it, hope for the best. 1.5 miles from home, knocking pretty hard, zero power. Foot to the floor. Let off throttle to turn in the driveway, dead. Coasted right to garage door.

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...pss0jykyhr.jpg

Clearly a vacuum leak here...

I know there was 8 Pistons in here...
http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psyakc5rol.jpg

Oh, there it is...
http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psbrs4ulau.jpg

Well, "while I'm at it".... Just as well to check the bearings
http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...psu0nzqr1b.jpg

So, upon final inspection... Heads are slightly damaged but will be salvaged. Ummm I guess the valve covers and timing cover will be saved, carb will see another day, intake is ok, but filled with nice creamy, coolant oil blend. Timing gears & Dizzy looked ok, but that's where it ends.

Cam, trashed,
Lifters, trashed,
Block, trashed,
Crank, trashed,
I think 4 Pistons trashed... But 4 good Pistons aren't worth much to me,
Even blew apart the base pan and sheared off 3 bolts.

All trash, for what it's worth... Didn't even get thru a week of spring, let alone the summer, less than 500 miles.

Ouch.....that sucks. Time to search Kijiji for a new $200 engine...Quick hone, new rings & bearings, then just drive it for the summer until the oilpatch comes back.

Ur tellin me. Losing more days in the middle of this shift again.

Had a gathering last nite for wife's b-day... Got a little excited, and car paid the price. My buddy was over, we pulled the 305 outta his monte, he's pickin up a new 383 in E-town tomorrow. Pushed his out, pushed mine in, pulled it. For a second I considered throwing his 305 in...

Gonna have to review my options, got a 350 on my stand already need an overhaul, my l-48 is in my old dumptruck... Lmao! That ole girl never ran so good��

Dude nailed it.

Yes you did.

OP, find an engine to hold you over, plan save and pray wti and Brent come back.

So is this the result of .060 overbore instead of .030 over? As Bluedawg was saying early in this thread, most 400s I've seen are .030 over.

Im not sure, but taking out 4 pistons I guess either that or maybe over Rev?

What happened to the other 3 pistons?

A 350 is 4.00 bore and can usually go 30 over. Most won't sonic check to allow .040 over let alone .060 over or 4.060. That said it has been done with no regard to sonic testing with varying degrees of long term success. A 400 has the same bore centerlines. It is already a 4.125 bore stock. Many aftermarket blocks will allow up to 4.185 bore but they have thicker cylinder walls, thicker decks and improved, redesigned cooling jacket design. I believe World has a 454 SBC that has a 4.250 bore but that block is totally redesigned and I would not trust it's long term durability no matter how it was designed or what alloy it is. A stock GM 400 is different, the slightest core shift, not perfectly centered and concentric bore will many times not allow even a .030 overbore when sonic tested and it would be rare to be able to safety go .040 over. That is one reason I recommended he drill the steam holes, to give it every opportunity to live. Higher HP and thin cylinder walls increase hot/cool variations distorting the cylinder walls and rigidity is decreased. Maybe he floated the valves and cracked a piston, I wasn't there but a .060 over 400 stock block is a recipe for disaster going in. The 434 engines you see built are using a 4" stroke and 4.155 bore in an aftermarket block most with raised cams.

If you look at the first photo in post #265 were the rod is through the cylinder wall, the cylinder wall looks pretty thin and broke like the piston broke through. Really sorry for the op's loss hear, but it's not like most of us havn't found our selfs there also.

how much per mile?

i said nothing this entire time. my good friend is one of the best engine builders in the world.NHRA. pro stock world champ,B-gas world champ,APBA pro stock undefeated,B-stock world champ,modified world champ etc. why boat engines?? cause you gotta buy four engines in order to look inside-----$220,000 .protest is held in covered tent the person putting up the money for protest CAN not enter tent only owner and judges. From the top; boss will not build 400,406,412" unless done with 6" RODS ,no exceptions!!!!!! this is were the torque comes from, time at TDC.5.565" rods are useless not even good paper weights.constantly trying to put rod out side of block (and it did)..060 contributed in combination with 5.565 rods on weaken cylinder walls.BEST 400 block is 1970 to mid year 1972 4 bolt main block .september of that year they lighten block thus 4 bolt main 400 block got bad rep! two bolt main ONLY with splayed main bearing caps and angle drilled. (hope the boss don`t read this forum).this is all from Richie ZUL engines. my opinion is not important however i would love to help this brother out some how.especially a father of two young boys.

So.....Exactly what RPM were you at when this thing exploded?.....

V2racing, I didn't disregard the advise given, I'll get to that in a sec

Bk, this was in fact .06 over. The other 3 Pistons, had chunks of the missing piston in them.

Blu. Never really tallied up how much per mile, but, consider I already had the shortblock, I'll get to this later. So only real money was heads and cam, heads will survive, roller cam and lifters are the only real loss, cpl hundo really all in, call it a dollar per mile - helps me sleep.

Cap'n bob, I've been following your thread, I just don't have the resources available to pull of a high dollar build ( mostly the hi dollar part lol)

Stocker, on the night in question, I topped off at 5500, made it my hi water mark, I had in fact achieved 6300 rpm about 3-4 days ago, when I took my dad out for his first rip, it actually smoked for about 3 miles after, but cleaned up. After this run, I went back to a firm 5500 limit, mostly because of the blowing out the frost plug incident

The real expense, the heads, are good. :thumbs:

In summary...
 

So a little recap

I first acquired this engine in 1999. My pals were putting together 350's I had to one up. Just how I am. Purchased a 1974 1/2 ton w/400. Pulled it outta the bush, and actually was racing it home with a pal, and.... Blew it up. Not this bad, but none the less.
Had to tow home, total cost, about $650. In perspective at this time, my big pay days - lots of hrs, would get me $850 for 2 weeks.
Tore engine out, gave truck to a cousin, to gain good karma... Sent engine to machine shop for machine work. All of this very much against the wishes of my grand father, who was my chief influence in the world of SBC. Machine shop called, engine is trash. A real shot to my ego, had already told all my chums I was building a 400. Ask shop to find me a block, and they did. Had them assemble short block, again the the angst of my grandfather, ( he wanted to build it) had to buy everything, including heads, which were "882" no chance at special heads at that time.

It was a stock overhaul, except for flat tops, and edelbrock intake and carb(that I already had, and still do actually). All in all I think I had about $3500-$4000 into this thing, baddest rig goin amongst my friends, put it in my 1/2 tin 4x4. Had a great time with it. Lost track of how many starters I went thru, and flywheels. Oh man... Finally had it up to snuff. Packed up my life, and headed "out west". Originally from New Brunswick.

Over the next year or so, I destroyed a 700r4, and a turbo 400 trans. Settled on a th350 w/stage 2 shift. Then promptly took out a diff. Picked up junkyard duffs and carried on. Fell asleep put truck in ditch, jumped an approach, and somehow split trans case in half. Replace trans again. Then one night went to pick up a new girlfriend... Hit the key... Just mashing up starter gear. Canceled date, took truck home, pulled engine, said good by to a 20 some year old truck, that I could have had a brand new one for the cash I spent. Truck got about 25-40000 miles with this engine. Sat on engine stand since late 2001.
Always wanted to use it on something... Enter corvette world. Found a use for ole 400.
At the outset of this project, I was never gonna spend a dollar in the bottom end. Well aware of the large overbore, and still haunted by now late grandfathers curses of this engine. I didn't even pull a main cap. I didn't care, there was only ever gonna be one more use for this engine... Boat anchor. Having held onto it for 15 years, I wasn't throwing it out. Noway, no how. So I went ahead with this project, and thread. I had no misconception that it wasn't gonna last forever... Cheap, fast, durable...lol
It was a calculated risk, I took it. I'm glad I did...had my kids in the garage for all of it. When we first tore it down, it was my dad, myself and my boy (who has my grandfathers name) in the garage. They both were there for the first refire, almost on the anniversary of my uncles passing, who was there 16 years ago when I fired it for the first time. And my dad and boy were there the nite I took it out in pieces. It was awesome, every minute of it. Not to mention, that car went like mad! It was a blast, they wife even took it for a rip, she couldn't believe it.
It almost feels good tho to finally close the 400 chapter.

So this is where I'm at...
 

After I swapped in 400. I promptly moved my ole dumptruck into garage, and pulled its engine. It's no doubt the original engine from that truck, 1981. Still had all its smog equip intact. And I swear the original rubber. Truck hadn't been plated since '84. Anyhow, it's got a bad cam, or lifters or both, almost no valve movement on #7 &#8. Out with its engine, and transplant in my L-48. Now, here's the thing. The clutch on that rig is toast, so it's gotta come apart again, I didn't have one on me at the time, and realistically, I Thot I'd get a month or 2 outta 400. So here's my question, forget corvette for a minute, think of a setup for a 350, whose realistic final destination is a "dump truck" 1981 C30 with Muncie SM465 and 4.56 diff. Wanna keep durable in the equation, and cheap too. But will require lots of tq. I'll fab this up using 882's instead of the 624's that are on it, throw it in my car until winter and swap back.
We did 1.5 engine swaps this weekend, so we're gaining experience all the time. It's quite soothing doing this work when your daily driver is not the one your working on

Nice story. Rv cam, maybe xe256h with 1.6 rockers and a performer intake. Remember, plan save and wait. Took me 2 years to build my 400" and might not get the chance to do it again if the crude don't come up.

i would think after careful cleaning in mineral spirits the roller rockers are good as as well as roller lifters,roller timing chain,sprockets. actually you need 400 block,6" rods and crank i have new forged (plus .030 forged) flat top pistons and matching hasting racing rings.

It is a shame your 400 came apart.I would advise an aftermarket block and rotating assembly when the opportunity arrives next time.Your 195 heads will also make a pretty stout 350 or 383.Hopefully things will fall into place so you can get the vette on the road again.

Ya, it sucks, but I knew it was coming... Just hoped I'd have had more time. Now I'm on the brink of corvette season, and no car. That's the only thing I'm frustrated over... Not the engine itself.

Still got my buddies Monte Carlo in the garage... This has turned into a large project. $#itty cause we're both on shift, but we got 3 nights on this thing and still not ready to turn the key. In the last month or so, I've done an out/in/out with engine in vette, out/in on chev truck, and an out/in on this monte... I'd swap engines anyday on the vette by myself, than do either of the other 2 with helpers. Vette engine swaps seem much easier... Gotta get it outta my garage so I can start another overhaul...