400 motor...practical for H body?

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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby res0o7eb » Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:27 pm

DENCOUCH wrote:Okay Tom,

I bought the motor today. I spoke to my wife about it, and she told me to go ahead and get it, and it would be my Birthday present. Kewl wife, that is for sure. :D
Congratulations, Mr. Couch. And Happy Birthday, too!
DENCOUCH wrote:I am believing that this is going to put me in a position, and create a situation that perhaps, we shall discover exactly what it takes to get this job done. I suspect that I shall be facing issues with headers, steering and perhaps the starter, but we shall see.
Thanks guys for the moral support. I am convinced that staying with Pontiac will be of importance later on down the road. What the heck, building it is almost as fun as driving it, no?
Yes, you are a true Pontiac pioneer.
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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby chevyart » Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:36 am

hey 72 ss didnt the old pontiacs with the 421s have 2-4s on them i thought the 3 dueces stareted in 64 on the 389 cu in engines. i think the 421s were around 1962 and 1963 just memories chevy art ps remember arnie the farmer besick. he was the pontiac king back in those days
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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby 72 SS PNL » Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:28 am

the 421's lasted a few years , and used several carb set ups , 3 deuces were used on them and pontiac is more known for 3 deuces , than dual quads , which is the reason for saying to use the 3 deuces
first and best car owned 72 GT(changed to SS) panel wagon

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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby Sunula66 » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:43 am

Hi Dencouch, and Happy Birthday too!
Cool wife is right! Still tryin to convince mine that I need stuff for the Sunbird :lol: that she needs to finance! :shock:
I've owned lotsa Blue Blocks, Ram III's and the 390 horse 428 Poncho and luvved'em all and would consider this a noble effort, But, the 400 SBC is a lot less work for the same amount of effort with perhaps less tempermental end results should be considered and don't forget that 7.5 rear end now with that Bigblock Torque!!!... :shock: If you do the Big Blue Block, Don't forget to pop off the Oilpan B4 you put it in, These monsters don't have enuf clearance between the oil sump pickup screen and the bottom of the oil pan and usually end up becoming restricted or even sometimes plugged reducing oil pressure and crank-bearings spin as a result :bang: found out the hard way myself, spun the bearings and snapped the camshaft in three places redlining through the gears one day, one tough engine and "still ran ,"very poorly"of course, [Ram3, 400x400hp]
If you plot this swap, start the "hunt" for the rear end change out, or consider Bob Gumms post and "beef it up" as it will help. Just food for thought...Ron...
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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby DENCOUCH » Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:03 pm

The interior has been gutted out, and a lot of sheet metal that was in back of the rear seat & truck floor has disappeared. Yesterday I returned home with $42. worth of 2X3 rectangular tubing and some .125 mild steel plate.

My guess is that it is time to start putting stuff back together again.
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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby DENCOUCH » Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:47 pm

Okay, my garage is full of car and tools and lifts and stuff, so the only place I have room to fabricate is the driveway. Oregon is not known for anything but rain this time of year (or the Spring and Fall either), but something happened and we had nice weather today, so I welded.

Image
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Re: 400 motor...practical for H body?

Postby Rickracer » Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:37 pm

Here's some pics of a Colt I did at my shop, might give you some ideas:
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As you can see, the front of the fabricated frame rails extend right into the factory unibody subframe to tie it together as strongly as possible, and there are 6" x 1/8" squares welded to the rockers everywhere the new subframe attaches to it. It doesn't really show up too well in the pics, but there is a piece of 2"x3" welded to the subframe across the rear of the car to provide a very strong attaching point for the rear of the frame rails. This car was supposed to get a nasty small block and some 18"~21" wide street tires, so it was set up to be pretty low, (top of the wheel tubs at the bottom of the rear windows) , and had 24" between the inside of the wheel wells and the outside of the frame rails, I really wish the customer hadn't run out of money and I could have finished it, (turned out he was trying to build it on a $3500 credit card that turned out to be a $300 card). :rolleyes: Took me years to sell it, even though I had a clear title and all the parts, the car was running and driving with the stock 2.0 and auto trans when it came into my shop. :? :(
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93 S10 RCSB, Hyd. Roller Vortec head 363 ci SBC, 2800stall lockup 700R4, LS Front Brakes, Narrowed F*rd Exploder 8.8 disc brake 3.73 posi rear, 8.0s@89 mph, (all motor, haven't sprayed it yet...)and tows the Vega to the track too
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