440 stroker VS 400 stroker— what one and why?

[not so famous bob]

My dads 440/505 auto doesn’t rev nearly as fast as my 400/470 4 speed. But he’s an old fart, lol, and probably shouldn’t drive a car that’s faster than his brain can think (love ya dad).

My 440/505 revs almost as fast as my hot 406 sbc did ! I am really surprised at it . when its warmed up, doesn't run worth a crap till it hits 190* .

 

[IQ52]

A 700 HP 451 would be a very special beast.

 

[wyrmrider]

but the short rod ratio may limit upper RPM power?
will take a different cam than a long rod motor and will give you a different torque curve
the short piston and short rod is not a good combination for longivity

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

Either will run with the right parts. The 400 has a few advantages over the RB. Most have already been mentioned. If I had either I would pick a 400 to start. If I only had a 440 block It wouldn’t bother me to use it if it was right for the application. I went with the low deck in my rr so I could fit the factory air cleaner under the factory hood with raised port heads. Great motor, I built it as a pump gas 511. Not sure I would change anything on this particular combo. It runs exactly how I expected.

 

[Cranky]

I'm one that would always go with the larger bore just because of that (plus all of the other reasons mentioned) but it would also depend on what I had on hand. Thing is, 440's and 400's have always been on hand for me.....

 

[rumblefish360]

I'm one that would always go with the larger bore just because of that (plus all of the other reasons mentioned) but it would also depend on what I had on hand. Thing is, 440's and 400's have always been on hand for me.....

Yeah, and some people have all the luck!

 

[Cranky]

Yeah, and some people have all the luck!

Well, only have 1 400 block left and 1 440 complete. When I was doing builds for others, the search was always on and well, guess there was some luck involved lol. One of the things that helped out a lot in getting a few was that my truck had a lift gate on it

 

[not so famous bob]

Well, only have 1 400 block left and 1 440 complete. When I was doing builds for others, the search was always on and well, guess there was some luck involved lol. One of the things that helped out a lot in getting a few was that my truck had a lift gate on it

I agree, if I had it to do over , it would be a 400 block. I had a 440 before I knew better. My #5 plug is directly behind the steering shaft, and very close w/ the raised port heads, can get it out, but not back in w/o raising the engine or pulling the steering column out of the way/ sucks !

 

[Sweet5ltr]

My opinion, if you have an inexpensive factory rotating assembly, spend the money in good cylinder heads (Trick Flow 270cc) instead along with the proper valvetrain; run the standard-stroke RB engine. The added torque that comes along with displacement is only functional if you can carry it high enough to make horsepower. If it's truly going to cost $20,000 to build a mild stroked B/RB engine, really look hard at a Hellcrate instead of investing $20,000 into a 40-year old block. I'm sure Andy F had near (or much more) than $15,000 invested into his 470 build to make over 700-hp on the dyno, surprisingly, the Hellcrate is actually a great deal (only maintenance required is changing the oil - 3/yr unlimited mile warranty).

 

[not so famous bob]

My opinion, if you have an inexpensive factory rotating assembly, spend the money in good cylinder heads (Trick Flow 270cc) instead along with the proper valvetrain; run the standard-stroke RB engine. The added torque that comes along with displacement is only functional if you can carry it high enough to make horsepower. If it's truly going to cost $20,000 to build a mild stroked B/RB engine, really look hard at a Hellcrate instead of investing $20,000 into a 40-year old block. I'm sure Andy F had near (or much more) than $15,000 invested into his 470 build to make over 700-hp on the dyno, surprisingly, the Hellcrate is actually a great deal (only maintenance required is changing the oil - 3/yr unlimited mile warranty).

I have over 700 h.p. "by two diff. engine formulas", and I don't have near $20,000 in mine !! One formula says 723, another ,supposed to be the real deal w/ nhra dragracers, said 753 w/ a hotter cam than mine. Don't remember the names , but Wallace racing wasn`t one of them.