Thread: Coolant in cylinders; fresh 400 sbc build

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Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

i have seen 400s with a cam and intake change that flat ass ran... go back and read post 72 he did say he was keeping this engine stock so why put him thru a knothole backwards ? just put some big CC 350 heads on it with seam holes and be done. like someone posted on back on 72 ??

Thank You! Finally it seems someone is seeing where I stand and where I'm going. Good news is that I just found out that a guy in my 4x4 club just might have a set or 2 laying around. Hope to hear from him soon.

Pat, I'm not sure what you mean by "plugging" the holes, Can you explain that to me? THanks

Read post #90 again

yep i seen that back in 81 we put a stock 400 sbc in a ford truck after the 6 lost a rod .the 400 came out of a old chevy wagon .my cousin wagon we called it the dog boat .dog for it had been hit so hard on one side you could not open the back door and car dog track so bad it almost used to lanes. boat that thing was huge great for the returns on the empty beer bottles

The 30/30 Isky was designed for a 327 and the 400 tamed it a bit but it still had a bit of a lope. Oil hadn't gone down the toilet yet and the cam is still good as I have it out in the garage.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Read post #90 again

I did, and thats all I'm really trying to do but I thought I'd throw in a few off the wall ideas to see what people thought. Right now I'm just looking for some decent heads real cheap and maybe a 5 finger discount

OOOPS... Tech is right.....L31 stuff has too small of chambers.....my bad. They work great on a 350 motor though.

mike

What is the diameter of the cylinder compression ring of the head gasket for a 350? What I'm asking is that can someone measure one and let me know the diameter you come up with

Originally Posted by Bigbzc

What is the diameter of the cylinder compression ring of the head gasket for a 350? What I'm asking is that can someone measure one and let me know the diameter you come up with

If you don't get an answer, call up FM (makers of Fel-Pro gaskets) and talk with an engineer. I have had to do this several times in the past. Once you're on the phone with the operator who answers, be patient. Tell her/him that you are seeking technical information pertaining to a certain cylinder head gasket for a Chevrolet.
Federal-Mogul Corporation
World Headquarters
26555 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, Michigan 48033
248-354-7700
The coolest guy I ever got hold of was an engineer for TRW. I called about a certain piston and he sent me inside engineering info that was unavailable anywhere else on all high-performance TRW pistons.

well here you go f1014 with steam holes 4.200 ..039 thick if you drill steam holes f1003..4.166..041 thick or the victor 5746 4.100 ...026 may need holes or tin F1094 4.100..015 will need steam holes

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

well here you go f1014 with steam holes 4.200 ..039 thick if you drill steam holes f1003..4.166..041 thick or the victor 5746 4.100 ...026 may need holes or tin F1094 4.100..015 will need steam holes

Heres what I am thinking. The gaskets I have now are 4.200". All I need is something smaller and drill holes in the gasket. The 4.166" might work, a 4.100 will be .026" too small and would overlap into the bore. I will take the heads to the parts house and see if I can get a gasket that will work

if your block is at 4.030 to 4.060 your head gasket should be abit bigger so the fire ring is not in the bore so 4.125 should work fine but the .039 4.125 is 8.7 cc and the 4.185 with steam holes done is 10.2 cc the steel shim is 4.150 and 5.4cc all will work with steam holes added

Ok, here's what I did, (I don't exactly recommend this but it seems to have worked for now)
I reused the 350 heads that were shaved to the max along with stock 350 head gaskets. Carefully drilled the steam holes in the gaskets and put it all together. In worrying that the drilled gaskets may not seal right, I smeared a small amount of FIPG around the drilled holes. I put it all together and I am no longer getting coolant in the cylinders. Compression on the cold, non-broken-in engine was right around 150psi. It runs fairly well with the exception that if I rev it hard it will stall as it returns to idle unless I pump the throttle. Thats obviously a carb issue so the next thing will be to rebuild the quad.

Thank you every one for all your advice

In the latest news, she runs ok. Found out the the vacuum advance is not working and causes it to stall if I get on it. I'll fix that soon. The other prob seams to be the carb and I have the original in the works of a rebuild. The weirdest thing though is the transmission. Remember that I acquired this project without knowledge of other probs it may have. When I rev the engine, ATF shoots out the dipstick tube. At idle, the dipstick shows no fluid. Engine off, it shows a liitle over the full mark. I'm thinking the breather tube might be clugged. I don't think I over filled it. In 15 years + I've never seen this on any type car.