i have a 1979 chevy small block 400 cid motor and am going to twin turbo charge the truck. somebody mentioned to me that because of the displacement that the cylinder walls were to thin for high boost or high nitrous applications. the engine is standard bore. thanks for all answers and help.
yes……it,s strong enough……I have seen then with supercharger,s…….the only problem you might encounter would be overheating from the punishment.
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6 Users Responded in " is a small block chevy 400 strong enough for forced induction? "
I don't think the 400 would be the best for that,probably be better with a 350…
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yes……it,s strong enough……I have seen then with supercharger,s…….the only problem you might encounter would be overheating from the punishment.
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41+ year,s wrenching.
Pull the casing number off the block and take it to your Chevy dealer. Ask them if they have a spec sheet on the block. From there you should be able to find out how thick the walls are. If it's a virgin block, they should be thick enough to handle the boost. The bigger concern is rather or not the stock or OEM Head gaskets will handle the pressure. You may need to go wit ha 3rd party gasket. Also be sure to replace the head bolts, over time the bolts will fatigue. You put that much pressure to the heads you'll blow them off the block. I've seen it happen more then once with Twin turbo V8's. This is another reason why most v8's are super charged.
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Wow, good for you. It's good to see someone still involved in hotrodding these days. I'm reaching way back in years here, but this old gearhead has, I think, your answer.
As you noted, the 400 mouse motor has siamesed bores – no cooling jacket between the cylinders. The upshot is that the block tends toward warpage from overheating, better thought of as insufficient cooling. Head gasket leaks, cracks, are the result in many cases. I've been out of this 25 years now, but I would not use the 400 mouse. I'd look for the last of the high-deck truck blocks (if I remember, part # 350000) with a 4-bolt main and run or punch and run with that. Had a friend back in Tennessee years ago who bracket-raced his 400 in a Camaro. He never got a reliable ability to dial in the Camaro with that super mouse in it, and it was a sinkhole for every heat-related problem you ever saw. A four core radiator helped a lot, but even having the already broken in block align-bored (not merely align-honed) didn't do the trick. I'm sure you'll hear from some diehard 400 fanatic about how wrong I am, but I raced the bootleg circuit for years and, no mere myth, the small-block Chevy is the finest production gas engine ever made (for two main reasons). Just don't bother proving it with a 400 mouse. Leave that to the grocery getters. And stay away from the 400 T tranny while you're at it – high pressure problems.
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I'd agree with Steve…the 400 may cause you problems with overheating with their "siamesed" cylinder walls and also if it's not a 4 bolt main block with the kind of boost you may be running. Better to punch out a 350 or go big block. A twin turbo setup should compensate for any loss of a few cubes.
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I agree with most of what Steve said. The only thing I would slightly diagree withis the factory 4 bolt main.4 bolts are ALWAYS better than two,but with that amount of boost,you want a bullett proof bottom end.Your best bet is to use a factory 2 bolt main block. Use aftermarket splayed 4bolt main caps.The splayed caps are stronger.The outer bolts are drilled at an angle to acheive this strength. With a factory 4 bolt you can't use a splayed cap. You will have the block at the machine shop for something any way so have them machine the 2 bolt block for the 4bolt splayed mains.
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