[updated:LAST EDITED ON 11-Jul-02 AT 04:55 PM (EST)]hey i just got off the phone with a local machine shop here and they quoted me a price of $175-$200 to offset grind the 400 crank to 4.15 stroke and reduce the journal to 2.12 inches, $40-$50 to narrow the rods, and $3 to hone the small end to .925 for the chevy pin. all together i should have about $400-$500 in the machine work to put this together. the pistons still raise an issue with compression but i'm looking for a head gasket .060 thick to help with the machining cost. it may be cheaper just to have the pistons milled of but i'm guessing the head gasket would be cheaper.

anyway i'm still trying to figure out the heads. i'll get to them later i guess. once i get this all figured out i'll post what it cost me to build it.

i checked with sce nad they recommend putting wire rings around the holes it the head. that adds alot of machining price to the cost. it would definitely be cheaper to have the pistons machined off to the right height. anyway i'll keep looking for other options.

later...

 

did some more research and found a set of KB claimer pistons with a compression height of 1.430. i need 1.417. since the claimer pistons are on the cheap side it might be worth buying them and getting the machining done instead of looking for a custom head gasket. gotta go and do some more research.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, WHAT DO I DO NEXT??? HAHAHAHA.

funny way to relax, huh?

later.......

 

>>...an new economical 4.17" iron crank for a 351W for $264
>>from Speed-o-motive. I'm think there could be a way to make
>>it fit a 400.
>
>OK I'm not saying you can't make it work .. But .. the crank
>from a 351W is about a 1/2" to short on the snout end of the
>crank and it's missing the build-up that the timing gears
>rides on.
>other then that all the mains will match up but the counter
>weights are smaller then the 400 Crank.

$264

counterweights - i was under the impression that the CW's being smaller was a GOOD thing from a high-rpm standpoint, but i don't know jack about balancing. would one of the above cranks require heavy-metal slugs in the CW's to balance, since the the longer rods you'd use in a 400 block would be heavier?

build-up for timing gear - sounds like one of the parts you have to remove to run a 400 crank in a 351W - holds the crank gear further out from the front main? wouldn't a machined spacer work for running above crank in a 400?

shorter snout - does the balancer "bottom out" on the crank snout? whenever i've changed or installed one, it got tight when there was still a good bit of travel left, so i couldn't tell whether it's the end of the crank or the timing gear that stops it. seems like a spacer might work here as well though...

the spacers would be cheap & easy, but radical balancing sounds expensive
would it work?

 

when i get home ill run the nums on the dd2k, but looks around 450-500hp.


its usually more work and money to make a 351w crank fit a 400 than it is to do an offset grind.

look at a 4.2 crank, if I rem right, it will make the piston math work. A 4.2" stroke and a .030 bore is 428 cid.

 

is there a place to get an "evaluation copy" of that program?

 

they usually have it on sale on the web,

www.motionsoftware.com

 

 

just thought i give ya'll an update. got the crank sent out and got the rods. had a set of stock chevy pistons laying around so i'm just having them machined down to fit. gotta get the block done later. money is tight right now. hoping to get it done for christmas.

later......:P