drvnmsbessie

Hello all, I'm new here and am a bit out of the scope for your site but still have some questions your expertise can help me with. I live in Alaska and am the president off an offroad club ( Fairbanksoffroadlions.com ) so all my question here will relate to performance offroad.

Here we go - I have a sb 400 from a '72 caprice. I have read that it has a net hp of 170, not sure of the tourqe. I also have a wasted 350 with a performer intake, Pete Jackson gear drive, shorty hugger headers, accell coil, Accel 300+ ing. I want to build this engine to aprox 250-350 hp & 400 lbs of tourqe, I also want to run TBI and serpentine system. I have read until my eyes have popped out and read alot of different things, here is a list of ideas and questions I have.

- I am considering putting Vortec heads on it but will a non-vortec (TBI style) serpentine system bolt to the Vortec heads and older block combo?
- will the after market intakes for Vortec heads support TBI?
- should I go with Vortec or a after market aluminum head?
- is a roller cam/rockers worth the price?
- stainless valves, studs instead of bolts for rockers and main caps?
- cam size
TBI or the new 625 truck avenger offroad carb I have
- bore to a 406

I'm sure I'll have more questions but this is a good start. I have enough pars to build a good engine but a mechanic friend has told me if I put Vortec heads or all the upper end stuff I have accumulated on my old higher milage engine it won't last long. He suggests start on the bottom and spend there then go up. What I want is the hp and tq as mentioned before to be in the 2500 - 6000 rpm range. Please advise. Thanks!

drvnmsbessie

Anyone?

built91Z28

250 HP shouldn't really be a goal for a 406. I think no matter what you slap on there, you'll get that. I think roller cams are worth it due to durability reasons. For the specific cam, I would call orbe mail comp, crane, whose ever cam you want to run and ask for a recommendation. But your going to have to first figure out what heads your going to run and what intake. The cam needs to match the rest of the motor. Don't fall into to the bigger is better way of thinking that seems so popular when people buy a cam.

As far as boring it to a 406, this would be determined by the machine shop. Wether it stays 400 or you bore it to a 406 isn't going to really matter for performance. Boring is just to clean up the cylinder walls if they need it. My guess though is that it will need to be bored if it has never been before.