Dan87IROC-Z

I am planning on building a 377 (400 block, 350 crank) next summer for my car. I want the 377 so I can have a high revving engine, capable of pushing 7500 RPM and making 450+ hp.

Where did you find a block?
Did you use a 1 or 2 piece seal block?
Where did you get the crank?
What kind of balancer did you use?
I want to use 6" rods, can that be done? If so, how?
With the power I plan to make, I need to forged internals, right?
I plan on feeding this with a Mini Ram and AFR 195s, will those work with the 400 block?

Thanks a lot, I'm sure I'll have more ?s as I go on my way!

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End with 2.77:1 Gears.

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Accel High Flow TPI Baseplate, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Catco 3" High-Flow Catalytic Converter, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Transgo Shift Kit, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition, K&N Filters, Jet TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET: 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

RB83L69

I'm going to assume you aren't going to want to spend so much on this thing that it's literally worth its weight in gold...

1. Junkyard
2. 2-piece. There's no such thing as 1-piece 400 blocks
3. Junkyard - steel 350 truck shaft; you could use Eagle, Lunati, etc.
4. 350
5. Yes. Get pistons for 400 bore, 350 stroke, and 6" rods. Bring wads of $$$$
6. Always a good idea above 6500 ROM, hardly essential in what you are doing IMHO
7. Yes

The simplest way to do this is to use a stock unmodified 400 block, bored as necessary; forged flat-top pistons; stock 350 rods or better, either PM ones like 10101688, or forged, in 5.7"; the best rod bolts you can get, ARPs at the minimum; steel crank; and the bearing spacers available from Comp (check them out in their catalog on their home page). IMHO there's no particular need for the 6" rods, especially if you want to drive this on the street for more than a couple of thousand miles, because the longer rods will locate the piston pin so high it will be under the oil ring.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

[This message has been edited by RB83L69 (edited October 01, 2001).]

AlkyIROC

A local racer has a first gen f-body. He blew up his 350 this year and needed a replacement. He was running mid to high 11's. He picked up a 377 that someone had built without really knowing how much HP the engine was making. He now runs low 11's and high 10's shifting at 7500 rpm with 5.13 gears and needs to slow it down. He disconnected the secondary butterflies on the carb to make it a 2 barrel and ran 11.3's.

Just goes to show that even a 377 can make tons of high end HP. Don't forget that that's all above 5500 rpm and a street engine rarely gets above that.

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Follow my racing progress on Stephen's racing page
and check out the race car

87 IROC-Z SuperPro ET Bracket Race Car
461 naturally aspirated Big Block (times are for the current engine)

Best ET on a time slip: 11.447 altitude corrected to 10.99
Best MPH on a time slip: 119.42 altitude corrected to 124.86
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP: 493
Best 60 foot: 1.586

Racing at 3500 feet elevation with a typical race day over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car, 91 454SS daily driver, 95 Homebuilt Harley

StCr19

Yeah, I looked into a 377. You'd really be better off with a 383 or 385 on the street. A 377 would be very nice for racing though.

agawam

Try sallee chevrolet they sell a rotating assembly for 377 with a scat crank that has the 400 main size so bering spacers won't be nessesary comes with 6" rods and srp forged pistons for about a grand www.sallee-chevrolet.com

jcb999

I am of the opinion that you should never throw away cubic inches. Unless your required to run a 377 for a maximum displacement or already have some real big rearend gear (like 488), I would go with a 400.

Chevy hiperf made two identical motors a while back. One a 383 and the other a 377. They had tfs heads, vic jr intake and a comp XE solid roller. They were within 1 hp of each other. The 383 made a little more torque below the peak and the 377 a little more above. Nothing spectacular. The motors made 450 hp at 6000. So, there is no need in twisting it to 7500 just for that hp level.

Build a 400 (especially if you are going to start with a 400block anyway), put 10 percent less rearend gear than you would use on anyother combination and it will last longer. The biggest pain is connecting rod clearance with cam. And if you don't make any fast decisions, that can be a non-event.

89ProchargedROC

could you point me in the direction where on the site thatis?

i couldn't find it

Dan87IROC-Z

Thanks for the advice guys. I know a 400 would probably be better, but I want a 377. I have already decided that, its pretty unique and there's other reasons too. But thanks again guys!

------------------
1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End with 2.77:1 Gears.

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Accel High Flow TPI Baseplate, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Catco 3" High-Flow Catalytic Converter, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Transgo Shift Kit, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition, K&N Filters, Jet TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET: 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)