Rebuilding 406 sbc

No where near enough info. We need details. All of them.

johnsongrass1 said:

No where near enough info. We need details. All of them.

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Like what everything else is stock. Not sure exactly the compression. I want pump gas.

Putting that kind of time and money into the stock heads is a complete waste of both time and money. Es[ecialy those old 1970's smogger castings.
For roughly the same cost outlay, you could have a decent imported performance aluminum head that will make a lot more power and be more pump gas friendly.

X2 with Eric. Buy all of the head you can afford and nothing smaller than a 220 runner in anything other than an AFR. A 227 wouldn't be too large.

The same can be said for the rods. An aftermarket rod will be twice the rod of a set of stock 400 rods, and the same price by the time you have the stockers shot peened, magnafluxed and sized with new bolts. And then can go internal balance if you choose.

120 mph is a high 10 second car in most cases. The only parts you will reuse are the block and crank. Im betting the block will fail. Putting really good race parts in an old 400 block is not a good investment. Build a 360 hp torque monster and go spin the wheels off of something. Vortec heads and 400 short block.

Moosecountry said:

120 mph is a high 10 second car in most cases. The only parts you will reuse are the block and crank. Im betting the block will fail. Putting really good race parts in an old 400 block is not a good investment. Build a 360 hp torque monster and go spin the wheels off of something. Vortec heads and 400 short block.

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After re-reading and the 120 mph brought to light, I agree ^^^ with Moosecountry.
All your going to re-use from the stock 400 engine is the block and the crankshaft, and maybe a handful of minor items.....but the heads, connecting rods, pistons, rings, cam, lifters, pushrods, Valvesprings, rocker arms, oil pan, oil pump, timing set, harmonic damper, and pretty much all the tins are all going right onto the scrap pile.

You can't get there with a stock shortblock short of a turbo or some nitrous....and with stock pistons you will be on borrowed time from the start.

LSX for the win

Turbo FTW lol.

Time to get honest with yourself.
Maybe try building all you can afford now, and see where it lands.
Someone asked for details. What car is it going in, is a big detail you missed.
What car?
Weight?
Gears?
Tires?
Transmission?
Details, man. Details...

Heads are crucial on a small block. Going full roller Valvetrain will likely be more expensive than a really nice set of heads. I ran 122 in the quarter with a relatively stock bottom end 383 and dart 230 cc iron eagle heads with the largest comp cam extreme energy flat hyd cam 250/256 at 50.. no power adders and it held up for a few years before eventually bending a rod. The 400s are a little more brittle though. You never did list any car details though?>?