published 12/21/23, If you like the outdoors, prepping, hunting, fishing, cars, racing, cats, dogs, cooking, and just being alive. You may find something of interest here.
It's just like the bronze valve guides used in the turbocharged Corvair Spyder and Turbo Corsa - you can bet your happy ass GM didn't put them in there for no-damn-reason.
I've heard that GM had a bad batch of 396 blocks, they gave them a slight over-bore out to 402 CID, and sold them to the public as 400 small blocks. Any truth to this urban legend ?
Don't feel bad. I completely built one, put it in the vehicle, and didn't realize I'd missed putting in the F-ing oil gallery plug the port-side head half overlapped in the back until I started it and oil went everywhere.
A pair of zz style corvette heads were the first aluminum heads I bought to swap onto a 76 stingray with a low compression L48 350. Back in the late 90s. A high Energy 268 cam, a Holley 600, a Chevy dualplane highrise intake, and good exhaust really woke that car up. The only complaint I had about that swap was that practically the entire top end, valve covers, intake, gaskets, etc... all had to be chosen to be used specifically with those cylinder heads. a set of Richmond 3.90 gears and a 2800 converter really made it snappy. By the way. Those heads came new from the factory complete with the studs and guide plates torqued, in place, and ready to run. So, to anyone who thinks that engine building is above my head. Think again. @Osbshowersyndicate that doesn't refer to you. But somedays I get the most absurd comments. Have a great day and thanks for the reply.
I'm planning on some more videos. I started a new job in February and getting settled in with that temporarily took the focus off the fun things. Thanks for asking! Have a good day.
You can easily drill steam holes by hand, no problem. You can also NOT drill them and never have any issues? Even if you are running on the street with 12:1 pistons and red lights every 100 ft. 25 different couples can go on 25 dates with total disregard towards babies and "germs" they may or may not have. 24 of them will not have any issues, HOWEVER, the 25th couple ends up with twins, warts on things that shouldn't have warts and lots of time spent in domestic relations and family court. All of this could have been avoided by a few extra minutes to drill holes or just purchase and apply coverings and life would still be great. The same thing applies to steam holes on a 400 SBC. While kids are expensive? blocks, heads, cranks, pistons and rods along with all the other moving parts can add up! Keep your 400 happy with steam holes and when your attached drill is on the move, protect it too! It is much better to have something you may never need then need something you don't have. Simple, easy and cheap may save you a LOT of cash and time?
Ben building and runing 400 sbc since 1975 have one in my 77 gmc over 800000 miles never ben hot .just drill the dang holes clean up casting flash run good gaskets you wont have any heating truble..
I have NEVER had any issues with both my engines I have over 50 years, 406& 408. I use a high-flow water pump. I live in Arizona and never have an overheating issue.
Hey I got my heads back from the port shop. ended up going 2.055 intake valves (because I had em sitting here) but it picked up from 225 cfm at .5 lift 243cfm @.500 lift. With basically just smoothing the ports and de-shrouding the valves. So fyi these likely flow 15-20cfm below advertised depending on the head. 243cfm should be enough to hit the 500hp mark. And the gains were all positive through the lift of the valve. The heads max at that lift out at no reason to go over 0.550 lift
Loved a video you did about the Refill bottles BUT - You paused the comments so here I am to cry. If you cannot take the asshats that have complaints or disagree with you, Just don't post at all. If I see video that do not allow Open Honest (and chicken shit troll) Debate, I Thumb it down, and consider Not watch if not blocking the channel. Wanted to ask a question but wasn't allowed. Good luck.
I have several lamps that I keep for emergencies, and even when they are completely out, the oil evaporates. But, when the lamp is not out, and just glowing,you get a heavier smell of combustion, and it is difficult to tell if it is out without looking, which is why I have a small hand mirror I use to look down the chimney at the wick, on the wall mounted lamps. the other lamps I can easily pick up, I just pick them up and look. Another thing I like to do, is to lower the wick about 1/8 inch below the wick tube, to slow evaporation of oil. Even so, after a year, a wall lamp may lose all of the oil in the reservoir to evaporation, and it will need filling again. It must be the oil isn't as heavy as it used to be, or I am just lucky, and not having to light the lamps very often!
Replying to your Don't refill 1lb propane tanks. I ran over one with my tractor and smashed it all up, didn't explode and torch ran when it was hooked up to it lol
I've run many 400's in my car without steam holes. Thousands of street miles, hundreds of passes, 7500+ RPM, idle in Los Angeles traffic, a couple Power Tours, 100+ degree weather, 200 shot of nitrous, as much as 14-1 compression...you name it-no problem. On the recent Power Tour to Las Vegas, my alternator belt took out my electric water pump wires when it came off, and on the return to the pits after a pass the Autometer temp gauge was pegged (maybe 300°?) No problem. Regular old Felpro 1004 gaskets, never even blown one.
Refilling disposable 1 pound cylinders and can you really do it "safely" is hotly debated subject. I have a good dozen of the Flame King 1 pound bottles and 2 of their 14.1 ounce version (aka blue torch bottles). They're way more durable than the disposable tanks and more cost effective in the long run. Last I checked it varies from $4 to $6 per pound of the disposable compared to $0.75/lb when you refill your own with the proper equipment. Rough guessing 4 lbs per gallon at the last time I filled my 20 lb tank at $3 per gallon for an apples to apples comparison. More meth to the equation, I use on average 6 pounds per year at $6 a pop break even point is less than 5 years factoring in the initial cost of the filling station kit and 6 refillable cylinders. The only issue I had with them in the last 5 years is one of them started to develop a leak when I inserted the bottle to the appliance cause by a faulty O-ring that is under the plastic guide. I contacted Flame King regarding this and they sent me a repair kit at no cost to me.
Yeah, I didn't expect to put them to real use, so soon. I agree that complacency and normalcy bias are the greatest killers in emergency situations. Thanks for the feedback and have a great day.
@MrHowlor5 please bear with me. I'm am getting to the jig. Life threw some major changes my way and some of the adjustments are going a little slower than I'd like. In the mean time I'm completing work on the roadster that the old 400 will eventually find a home in. Thanks for the feedback and have a good day.
Weigh it in grams, it's more accurate. I don't open the bleeder valve until after the pressure has equalized in both tank, it saves gas. The Mr. Heater Fuel Keg tanks weigh almost 200 grams more than the Flame King tank.
Thanks for the reply. I was totally unaware of the difference in wieght between the two bottles. Obviously, I don't have a Fuel Keg to use for comparison.
How come you have to tighten the bottle so much? I'm asking because when I attach one of these to my heater, I don't need to use a strap wrench or pliers. (Thanks for the video, trying to decide on one or th eother)
I included the strap wrench to demonstrate a means for people who have problems with their ability to grip and twist with bare hands. Thanks for your feedback. Have a good day.
I plug every damn steam hole I can. They will flat screw up an aluminum head with any kind of BTUs generated in them. I’ll take a person’s money if they insist.
Hey Matt, where are you located. I am in Northwest Arkansas. Didn't you say that you were a Tool and Die Machinist? If you could post a phone number or email I would like to contact you. We can take the number down afterwards. I always liked the Turtle deck bodies.👍 Have a great day.
I plug them it don't matter the application. All the 400s I built have never had a heating problem, you can't buy an aftermarket head with steam holes.
I've built and am building sb400s.... For years now.... Edelbrock has ther own warranty guidelines on using their heads on a 400 wen drilling... I noticed in ma years that earlier 4 bolt blocks r shit... Steam holes always hav cracks.... Ther thin n the crank webbing and prone to crack w studs. Best to use longer rods, N always overcool w big radiator... Never went over .030 wen building... Building a low compression turbo mover rite now.... Only thang stock is da block.
Looks great Matt. Certainly a good way to check it. And anyone can do this at home. The valve job is probably pretty good without physically looking at it. You probably have you a good set of heads. I like the chambers in the heads.👍 Have a great day Matt.
