Mishri
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2012
- Posts
- 21
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Great Falls, MT
- First Name
- Jake
- Truck Year
- 1976
- Truck Model
- K10
- Engine Size
- 400
So right now I have the original 400ci v8 in my '76. A guy I work with who everyone says is an awesome mechanic has said he'd help me get everything working right again and running well.
So I wanted to just rebuild the 400 and i'd like a little bit more power over factory, it does have an aftermarket cam right now installed in the early 80s. it was last rebuilt in 1988 and I just think it feels down on power from what i can remember. my dad says it only has 50k miles on it since the rebuild but im pretty sure it has 150k miles on it, that was 24 years ago and he daily drove it for awhile.
anyway, on to the question.
So the guy willing to help me with the rebuild says he has a 350 with a good set of heads we could drop in there instead (i'm guessing he'd take the 400 off my hands) he also said we could put a 400 crank in it and make it a 383. My dad says he'd prefer to keep the 400 in it because its not a very common engine but if he would do the swap for free and it's a brand new engine it might be ok.
What are your thoughts? trade for new 350 or just pay the guy to rebuild the 400? I'm leaning towards keeping the 400. Also i would hopefully be helping him with the rebuild so I can learn. I simply don't have the tools or knowledge to do a great job is the only reason I don't want to try it by myself.
I think the offer of the 383 would include me buying a new 400 crank as he wants the 400ci engine. and he may even want paid to swap out the 350 for the 400, I don't know yet.
also my daily driver is a 98 GMC jimmy, and compared to that the truck is pretty slow, so i'd just like to get it up around it's acceleration/speed. my toy is a modded 2012 mustang 5.0, so I don't need anything as fast as that
Thanks for the advice in advance.
edit: also, my dad said I should just do a compression test, if it's good then there is no point to rebuilding it since it doesn't look like it's burning oil. it's leaking oil out of the valve covers but that is an easy fix.
So I wanted to just rebuild the 400 and i'd like a little bit more power over factory, it does have an aftermarket cam right now installed in the early 80s. it was last rebuilt in 1988 and I just think it feels down on power from what i can remember. my dad says it only has 50k miles on it since the rebuild but im pretty sure it has 150k miles on it, that was 24 years ago and he daily drove it for awhile.
anyway, on to the question.
So the guy willing to help me with the rebuild says he has a 350 with a good set of heads we could drop in there instead (i'm guessing he'd take the 400 off my hands) he also said we could put a 400 crank in it and make it a 383. My dad says he'd prefer to keep the 400 in it because its not a very common engine but if he would do the swap for free and it's a brand new engine it might be ok.
What are your thoughts? trade for new 350 or just pay the guy to rebuild the 400? I'm leaning towards keeping the 400. Also i would hopefully be helping him with the rebuild so I can learn. I simply don't have the tools or knowledge to do a great job is the only reason I don't want to try it by myself.
I think the offer of the 383 would include me buying a new 400 crank as he wants the 400ci engine. and he may even want paid to swap out the 350 for the 400, I don't know yet.
also my daily driver is a 98 GMC jimmy, and compared to that the truck is pretty slow, so i'd just like to get it up around it's acceleration/speed. my toy is a modded 2012 mustang 5.0, so I don't need anything as fast as that
Thanks for the advice in advance.
edit: also, my dad said I should just do a compression test, if it's good then there is no point to rebuilding it since it doesn't look like it's burning oil. it's leaking oil out of the valve covers but that is an easy fix.
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