[Sampson]

I have a 400 sbc bored 0.40 flat top forged TRW pistons 750 holley what heads ,cam & intake will work nice to get 400 - 500 hp for the street 2800 stall 4:56 gears

Also does the heads have to have steam holes drilled in them or can I run it with no steam holes drilled.

[Robinson Robin]

If you can afford em use some afr heads, make sure they are drilled for steam holes though for street driving or your gonna run into over heating issues

[DoubleVision]

Only problem I see with your combo is the pistons, no matter what heads you use, compression will still be too high to run on the street with pump gas without it detonateing itself to death on the short 400 stocker rods. I`d suggest a pair of Dart Iron Eagle heads with 200cc intake runners. a edelbrock performer RPM intake or the like, a comp cams magnum, 244 duration @ .50 with 501 lift. the iron eagle heads come in several combustion chamber sizes, you`ll need the biggest one you can find if you keep your pistons, if it were me, I would sell the TRW`s and get a good set of 350 rods and use some D dish pistons that would yeild a desired compression ratio in a field of around 9.8:1 and a max of 10:1. and yes you MUST have the steam holes drilled, if not steam has no place to escape and the engine will run hot.
Also make sure you set a Quench distance of around .040.

[Sampson]

Thanks DoubleVision with the heads ,heads & intake you suggested with a holley 750 Dbl pump mec what HP range would I be in ?

Oops sorry DoubleVision you say detination will be high on the street with pump gas , what if I mix 94% octane fule with a 110 or 114 % octane fuel will that save my motor ,

[DoubleVision]

Yes you could mix the fuel and be safe, you can also add marvel mystery oil to be of futher aide, but keep in mind, race gas is expensive, and it will empty your wallet fast. just make sure the quench is set at .040, this will aide power and help keep detonation at bay. I would make sure there are no sharp areas on the piston tops or in the combustion chambers, if there are hot spots can develop and will cause detonation problems. the cam`s overlap will help reduce compression at lower RPM levels, but it makes up for it in the upper ranges, so listen for detonation very very carefully when you rev it. also, use the best ignition pieces you can afford, use spiral core spark plug wires, route them correctly and carefully, do not allow the number 5 and 7 wires run paralell to each other, try your best to keep them at least a half a inch apart from one another. these steps will all help to control detonation.

[Sampson]

Thanks DoubleVision but you now have me stumped on the quench ? what is that & how to I got to .40 ?

[DoubleVision]

Quench distance is the distance between the top of the piston and the flat section of the head, go to the knowledge base on this site and go to engine, in the search field type in Quench, you should find out everything you need to know there. Quench is very important, and it`s one of the biggest things over looked.

[machine shop tom]

I like the idea of usinng the AFR heads. They are definitely horspower producing heads and the fact that they are aluminum will help protect against detonation.

[firestone]

If you got a set of AFR 195cc heads with the street CNC porting package ($1300 assembeled), and ran a cam with around 245@.050 like mentioned before, you would be looking at right around 500 hp. Also, the AFR heads can come with 74cc combustion chambers, Using a compression calculator on the internet, I came up with 10.9:1 with a flat top piston with no valve reliefs and a 74cc chamber on a 400 with a .040 quench. If your piston has valve reliefs, this will drop the compression more still. If you are sure to get your quench to .040 like mentioned before, your motor should run on premium with the parts you have and the AFR 74cc chamber heads. Aluminum headed motors will run easily on 10.5:1 on pump gas. 11:1 is the limit from what I have seen, and the motor has to be built with the right quench, so 10.8:1-10.9:1 should be ok with premium.

Good luck,
Adam

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Check the link.

http://hotrodders.com/showthread.php...189#post251189

So many imaginary motors...so little time.

[Sampson]

WELL 4 JAW JUST TO LET YOU KNOW , AS YOU DID NOT ASK FOR ANY INFO ,, I DO HAVE 2!! 400 SBC ON THE BENCH & i AM NOT SURE WHAT WAY TO GO WITH EITHER ,, ONE IS ALREADY BUILT BETTER THAN THE OTHER ,, YOU KNOW YOUR RIGHT WHY WASTE MY TIME WITH YOU , AS FOR THE MANY QUESTIONS I HAVE ASKED YOUR THE FIRST ONE WHO EVER QUESTIONED MY QUESTIONS , SO REALLY WHO DOES HAVE TOO MANY MOTORS & TOOOO MUCH TIME ON THERE HANDS,!!??

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Well considering you have had a 390 Holley, 650 Holley, 750 Holley and a Carter/Edelbrock as well as a number of intakes on these engines and your still asking "how much HP do I have" I have to assume your pulling our legs.

In one sentence you say you have an Edelbrock manifold and on an other you say they are junk? Many of us here have seen this type of post before, there is nothing wrong with asking questions but for god sakes man how is anyone supposed to take your posts seriously? All "how much HP do I have" posts end up in "Introduction to Hotrodding" in case your wondering, because only rodders with little experience ask such questions. Now it's ported Brodix heads and 12.5:1 compression and over 600 lift cam and you still need to ask if you need the steam holes? C'mon buddy I wasn't born yesterday.

You can always make me a liar and post some choice pics of your ride and it's engine bay. That would feel great wouldn't it?

BTW: I am not the only one who has noticed, I received PM's regarding your posts. Don't shoot the messenger.