350 or 400

Sep 21, 2004 3 Replies

If you guys had your choice which would you build? The 350 or the 400? I've heard good and bad about the 400. It overheats if you don't build it right, but it has more torque. 400 cost a little more to build. I got a 350 out of a 78 chevy that had a blown head gasket. Got a 400 out of a



76 GMC that I used for plowing snow until 2 years ago. It's going in a
1953 Chevy.


Hi, The Chevy 400 was what the call a siamese motor. The cylinders had no sufficient water jackets. The cylinders are very close together. You can use the crank out of the 400 and put it in your 350 and a big bore kit to bring it to 383 cu. in. This will give you a lot more power than the

400 could ever do. They are also very dependable. There's plenty of performance places that can help you as well as some hot rod magaz> If you guys had your choice which would you build? The 350 or the 400?

This requires machining the 350 block for the 400 mains. Most machine shops are familiar with this procedure, since it?s so common. You should also use the shorter 350 rods which requires special pistons. The 383 is a good motor and kits for building them abound. If I had both motors on hand it is probably what I would build.

You could put the 350 crank in the 400 block and make a 377. Not as popular, but the parts are available.

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