BluePrint 400 Crate Engine First Start 

Gentlemen

15:00

Not all heros wear capes

Thanks

A true legend

Thanks, I wanted to give people a really good idea of what's involved with the first fire of a crate motor.

Same here brother! I've got a '73 stingray that I'm thinking about slapping this bad boy in!!

@@rcorn79135 especially back in the day. Lol. There's a few beers involved where I come from! If I didn't know something I'd offer somebody beers to come help me work on it. It was a good way to learn.😎

Yea, You find out the extinguisher doesnt work!

We have the 396 in dads 70 Camaro along with a Tremec 5 speed. Check those videos out on my channel. We haven't gotten the car out of the shop yet but soon we hope.

Thanks

It does.

I can't wait to get this in my 70 Chevy truck. It has enough cam to sound good but not so much it doesn't want to idle. We just got a BluePrint 396 in dad's 70 Camaro SS. Go check that out. That engine is pretty awesome as well.

Good luck smogging it if your in Cali and putting it in a 78.

@@georgealmeida7382 I'm not in Cali. You couldn't pay me enough.

Only way to ride in Cali is with a pre 74👍

It does sound pretty awesome. Can't wait to get it in the truck.

It's got a decent cam. I forgot to check vacuum, but I will be running this engine a lot more. It's going to get warm in the next few days. Got to get that oil leak on the valve covers taken care of but that seems like the only issue so far.

@@mossman381 it is a monster we have one

Why do you keep leaving the same comment on my videos? I heard you the first time about your bad experience with BluePrint. I already have the engine so there is nothing I can do about it. I have to run it and hope it's a good one.

Glad you enjoyed it.

I found out these heads are made for center bolt covers and older style covers. There are some grooves that need some silicone when using the older style covers.

I appreciate that!

I installed this engine in the truck already. Check the playlist on the 70 Chevy truck to see it.

BluePrint has recommended a Wix filter. I have never had any trouble with K&N but I will use what they recommend.

I try to do things right the first time. Even if it takes a little longer. Easier than fixing something after. I am human and do make mistakes sometimes. It happens to all of us.

Yeah, I just don't like the idea of having the carb open. Anything can fall in and cause a major problem.

We don't have a lot of miles on them yet but so far so good. Dad has a BluePrint 396 in his 70 Camaro SS.

@@mossman381 cool how's his 396 been holding up/ yall also got any videos of it

Only if you have the fire power in the ignition to utilize that big of a gap to jump that spark across the electrodes on the spark plugs. Otherwise it makes it worse

500hp so it is pretty rowdy.

Just needed to crank the engine over more to get fuel to the carb. I didn't need to mess with the carb at all.

Yes, roller cam.

The paperwork I got with the engine said that if the engine arrived with the vacuum advance hooked up to run it that way. Mine came with it hooked up. After talking with the guys at BluePrint they said to disconnect it. They said they had engines go out with them hooked up but they shouldn't have been. I really didn't see much of a difference on the run stand running it and not. I will do what they tell me and not run it.

Thanks 👍

I had a pcv valve in the system.

Don't tell Blueprint that lol. No stock engines run strictly a pcv system, always have a low pressure side vent also, they make breathers that will go in where that oil fill plug is without a grommet but usually no baffle adds to annoying part of the Holley, M/T covers. I have a set of the Holley's with simple baffles at both low pressure vent and PCV vent. You might get a lot of oil in the intake with only a PCV system and no low pressure vent @@mossman381

BluePrint watched this video. Once I got this engine in the truck and started driving it, I put a vent on each side. I had to go back to the BluePrint valve covers with baffles because I was getting oil sucked into the pcv system. And I had a vent on the other side, and it was pushing oil out of it. BluePrint actually recommends a pcv.

I think they are around $6k not fully dressed. After you get everything on it to run you have $7-8k in them.

I just ordered the exact same engine except will be running two fours on it which I already have the setup but longblock was 6900 delivered

No fuel in the carb.

I can't remember the exact numbers right now but we have a BluePrint 396 in dads 70 Camaro and it runs a factory style brake booster fine. The 400 and 396 are pretty similar engines.

I have not run the BluePrint 350, but you can get a fully dressed 350 for what a 400 long block cost. So there is a pretty big price difference. When you start buying all the little things the engine needs to run it adds up quick. If you just want a cruiser the 350 should be plenty. If you are racing or mud bogging, you probably want the 400 with more hp. I went with the 400 because I wanted the 400ci for the build I was doing. I would probably go with the 383 if I was doing a build that didn't matter what the cubic inches were. I tried to work with BluePrint to get a few more of their engines so I could compare them better because I knew people like you would be asking about other engines. It would be nice to give better advice with real world driving of these engines.

I changed the valve covers. The heads are designed to run center bolt and older outside bolt valve covers. So there is a groove that needs silicone if you run the older style covers. Didn't know that at the time. Little bit of silicone and no more leak.

Here is the intro video to this engine: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nGkYD-kCCxk.html I believe it's rated at 511hp and 532ft lbs torque.

@@mossman381 Thank You Sir, I will check it out for sure! 👍

Yes, it's the same as all sbc engines.

It's hard to believe it's leaking from every gasket. Are you sure it's not a valve cover leak that is running down the engine making it look like all the gaskets are leaking? The BluePrint heads are set up for both older valve covers and the newer center bolt covers. There is a groove by the mounting bolts that needs silicone when running older style covers.

@@mossman381 If you saw the oil under my car, you would be like "WTF"...and I used RTV on those grooves. This has been a total disappointment to me, I don't even drive the car now because of all these leaks.

That doesn't sound good. We have two of the BluePrint engines. My dad has a 396. So far we have no leaking issues after silicone on the valve cover grooves. What valve covers are you running? What breather setup do you have on each side?

@@mossman381 Standard chrome BP valve covers, pcv drivers side, summit cloth style on pass side.

Sounds to me like your pressurizing the block possibly don't have your pcv system properly setup .if you have one at all

This motor is in my 70 Chevy truck. We have a BluePrint 396 in dads 70 Camaro. I would be scared to hit the throttle to hard because it has crazy power.

I don't remember the cam spec but you can go on BluePrint's website and get that. I think the happy idle is around 700-800rpm. Vacuum isn't that great. It's around 12in at idle maybe a little less. They say to have good power brakes you need 17-20in. I have this motor in my 70 Chevy truck. The brakes are not that great having 4 wheel drum. I actually have a LEED electric vacuum pump installed that works really well.

@@mossman381 Thanks for the reply , keep making those videos everyone really enjoys them

Hey mossman i bought the blueprint 427 this morning, i figure a person only lives once. lol

Dyno sheet said 511hp and 532ft lbs torque.

Those were headers from Dads 70 Camaro. The car was so low they hit the ground all the time. The are ceramic coated Headman Headers. I don't have a part #.

I think 3 years. It's about $6500 for the dressed 400. You will need other parts to get the engine running.

You need to run premium fuel if you have higher compression no matter what type of heads you have. Most older cast iron headed engines are low compression and you can run low octane fuel but not all of them are.

Those BluePrint heads are made to work with center bolt valve covers and the older style covers. There is the groove cut into them that needs RTV. Check out my BluePrint 396 assembly video and I show that.

My thoughts also. Too much pressure in the crank case. My 350 would weep oil from the timing cover. Once I added a a PCV to the engine, it completely stopped.

I have heard some complaints about BluePrint but I have heard complaints about every company and every product out there. They sell a lot of engines and most seem to be good. I sounds like they tried to make it right. It's hard to believe you got two bad engines. Are you running a pcv valve? I was running one on dads BluePrint 396 and it sucked oil into the carb. These are high compression engines. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little smoke while the rings seat. If you run the engine hard or at high rpm in the break in period that might cause a problem. Did you follow all the pre start up procedures?

@@mossman381 no pcv did all start up process since we are talking about start up don't u think that the dyno run they do is actually when rings would seat iwas told they are on the dyno for almost a hour how are they getting real numbers if it's not they did stand behind their stuff so I guess that's all a guy can ask for

I don't know how long they run them on the dyno. The break in time is 500 miles so I don't think an hour of run time is going to do that. Even new cars you are suppose to run at different speeds for the first 500 miles while everything is breaking in. You aren't suppose to run high rpm or run it hard. I would say you aren't getting the real numbers with the engine so new. I would guess once everything is broken in properly your hp and torque numbers will probably increase.

Those are Hedman Headers from a 70 Camaro.

Ill be putting the same engine in a 92 c1500 and cant find square port header to fit my truck they look like they may fit

​@@rmorris79What headers did you end up going with? Got a 1990 c1500