Long story short. I had a 4-bolt main 400 (.30 over TRWs) and tore it down, looking to rebuild it. I had some cash at the time and just bought a new one instead.

#s on block: 3953511, 71, conv1, 511, 3 freeze plugs

It has sat apart for a few years. Dry and still oily. No trace of moisture.

The cam is a Crane 292 with about 500mi.
Cam bearings present
Lifters are labeled as to where they went. int/exh/cyl#
Pushrods are good and straight.
Cylinders still have some cross hatching visible and no head gasket leaks
Crank is fine and all lower bearings are present and in original locations
Rods have pistons attached and are stamped with cyl# on both rod and cap
Rod bearings look good, but three halves are MIA (Clevite77 with part#s)
Heads are stock iron (3998993 low perf. junk) with exhaust (ceiling only) and intake porting.

Questions:

Should I just clean or dingleberry hone the cylinders or do I have to get them machined?
Can I reuse the crank bearings?
Can I get new, same part# rod bearings and replace the missing pairs or get all new?

Its time to build a 400 for my beater S-10.

Clean her up, re-lube everything and put her back together IF everything is still there. If not, buy new bearing sets and go!!!

And, imho, that 292 cam is too big unless you are right at 11 to 1 CR!!

Been there, know all about it at 9.5 to 1 in my 406 w/ a Melling 292/230, .480" jobber!!

pdq67

Nice!!!!

The cam is a 292 .507. No too big for a 400, I think.

Pistons= TRW #L2467, Flat top w/valve reliefs.

TRW application chart shows these used as forged pistons for a 378 (@30 over) stroker motor w/5.7 rods at 9.9:1 compression.

The crank is indeed a 400. (2.650" main journals)

Does anyone know what the compression will be? Flat tops with 69cc heads (according to book by David Vizard).

You have iti apart,, I sure would not put it together with used bearings. There too cheap to re-use old ones. BUT,, WTF is up with that piston ID,, a 378????
+.030 on a 400 with a 350 stroke (3.48") is 377.48,, someone is rounding up?? and it is a large journal crank? , no spacer bearings to lay a 350 crank into the 400 block or anything like that?? The old TRW part number is indeed a 377 piston for 5.7" rods. But you need to take every consideration in figuring out what crank you have. Only custom (aftermarket) 3.48" stroke cranks fit the 400 block without spacer bearings. And as I understand it, because of the limited availability of 400 blocks those bearing spacers are getting pretty hard to find. In fact,, I think I remember Chris saying you can only get spacers and use stock 350 bearings now. No one stocks the old 'spacer' (extra thick shell) bearings. Make sure you have things sorted out before you just slap things together. You have some unusual combinations of parts there that requires the 'right' bearings.

What Marv just said.

The journal size is that of a 400. Also, the TRW piston # is L2467 (a flat top w/2 valve reliefs. The crank is a GM casting.

I bought new rod bearings today. Clevite 77 CB663P. (Exact same replacement part of what is in it now and measured the rod journal to make sure it was the stock (not over/under) size. All good.

I'll have to check the main bearings for replacement.

Thanks for the insight!

As far as the pistons are concerned, I have no idea why they are what they are. The motor was supposedly built by a racecar builder. Maybe he was a little funky with the parts.

Maybe it is just a 400 crank, 5.56 rods and flat top pistons?

That piston is also listed to use with stock 400 rods, 400 crank in a 400 block. Compression with a non decked block and composite head gaskets will be in the 10.4:1 range with 69 cc heads.

Thanks for the info rustbucket79. I do have 69cc heads. Looks like it will be able to use the 292 cam after all.

Cleaned the block yesterday and picking up a full crank bearing set tomorrow (taking back the conecting rod set for credit).

This will be a good spare motor and maybe enjoy a small hit of N02 as long as it stays under 6000RPM.

Glad I'm not the only one! I've got a 350 in the garage that I had machined and ready for a kit and never went any further. Been sitting for 10 years in a climate controlled environment, but don't figure I can just throw a kit in in now....

:screwup:

No problemo!

Glad I'm not the only one! I've got a 350 in the garage that I had machined and ready for a kit and never went any further. Been sitting for 10 years in a climate controlled environment, but don't figure I can just throw a kit in in now....

:screwup:


I do not see why not if you clean it up or it was bagged.