SB Chev 355 or 406

[Rich Biebel]

Build a 383....best bang for the buck in a street engine.

Stock 350 block...none of the 400 block problems...

I built lots of them....and with all the piles of inexpensive rotating assemblies out there now it's a no brainer and easy to do. You don't have to use a Stock GM 400 crank or the short GM 400 rods...

Only minor issue is rod to block and cam clearance and it's not much of a problem with any stroker type h beam rod.....

Stroker type rods usually clear a small cam with no problems.....

Easy to check during a preassembly...Only 2 pair of rods ever get close to the cam lobes anyway...




A decent stock block with little or no core shift just needs a little grinding at the bottom of the cylinders for the added stroke..

The cam to rod clearance is real easy to check.
I used strips of cardboard, or clay and a mirror....

A 383 has great torque and a perfect street strip engine...




400 blocks are nothing but problems...

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

Build a 383....best bang for the buck in a street engine.

Stock 350 block...none of the 400 block problems...

I built lots of them....and with all the piles of inexpensive rotating assemblies out there now it's a no brainer and easy to do. You don't have to use a Stock GM 400 crank or the short GM 400 rods...

Only minor issue is rod to block and cam clearance and it's not much of a problem with any stroker type h beam rod.....

Stroker type rods usually clear a small cam with no problems.....

Easy to check during a preassembly...Only 2 pair of rods ever get close to the cam lobes anyway...




A decent stock block with little or no core shift just needs a little grinding at the bottom of the cylinders for the added stroke..

The cam to rod clearance is real easy to check.
I used strips of cardboard, or clay and a mirror....

A 383 has great torque and a perfect street strip engine...




400 blocks are nothing but problems...

Don't ever go by core shift its a poor indicator compared to actual cylinder placement when the mold is put together.

I have seen block with zero core shift fail a sonic test and I have seen many blocks with very poor cores shift pass a sonic test.

The only real advice is sonic test for true results.

[Rich Biebel]

The reason I mentioned core shift is on one engine I built it was off so far that rod clearance at the bottom of the cylinders was way off from one side to the other. I had to use a different rod than what we originally picked to get clearance without excessive grinding at the bottom of the block but only on one bank.... The cam hole showed the offset where it was machined flat at the face and that is a real good indicator...


Factory blocks can be way off...for sure...

[Ed Wright]

I wouldn't build a 400" without a Bow Tie or Dart block.

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

The reason I mentioned core shift is on one engine I built it was off so far that rod clearance at the bottom of the cylinders was way off from one side to the other. I had to use a different rod than what we originally picked to get clearance without excessive grinding at the bottom of the block but only on one bank.... The cam hole showed the offset where it was machined flat at the face and that is a real good indicator...


Factory blocks can be way off...for sure...

Again don't go by the cam plug hole its not a good indicator for cylinder placement. Sonic test is the only way to go.