I never heard of this, where would I go to get the specs on this, as I have never seen them listed in any manual?
How would you go about measureing this, with a needle style torque wrench?
Do you think that maybe the block could be warped?
Just tried that, no go.
going to pull the torque convertor now. Be back in a few.
neonracer, I hope I’m wrong, but I think you still have clearance issues with that bottom end…
not sure where i seen that but i know i did somewhere.
Did you plastigauge the mains and rods, and did you check your ring gap as you were assembling this?
How was the end gap on the rings? Were they file fit, or exact fit? Typically around .008"-.010" compression ring endgap is acceptable, but up to .015" will work, but it might use a little oil @ .015".
What kind of bearing clearence do you have? I think on a 350 chevy, you need around .0025 max on the rods, and like .004 max on the mains. I am not sure if the 400’s are the same, as they have different journal sizes.
When you turn it over by hand is it really hard to turn over? Is there any noises that would sound like contact between the valves & pistons?
Do you have a 168 or 153 tooth flywheel? 400 small blocks typically had 168 for better mechanical advantage for the starter. What kind of compression does it have? If you got higher compression & 153 tooth flywheel, you may have issues.
Ring gaps were .011" -.013" They were exact fit.
clearances were .0025- .003 on the rods and .003 on the mains.
stock compression, and a 168 flywheel, I think i got it at advance and the part number was 04315.
I pulled the torque converter bolts from the flywheel, and pulled the plugs again, now it will turn over, but not as fast as I would think a normal engine does, it seems a little slow to me. No noise like valves wacking piston tops though.
i think chevy had two different starters. one is a high torque. not sure how to tell the difference.
I was going to ask about the torque converter, but you already pulled that. Did you attempt to turn this engine over before it was rebuilt, or was it already down to a block or long block when you got it?
the little strap that comes out of the starter body to the back of the selonoid. Std has one, high torque has two.
High torque has a copper sleeve between the strap and the selonoid. Standard don’t.
the little strap that comes out of the starter body to the back of the selonoid. Std has one, high torque has two.
yeah, that too. a combination of both is hi torque. sorry for not adding that little bit of info.
Don’t matter anyhow…the mini starters off the newer Tahoe makes way more torque than either of the old school stuff.
Thats what I run on my big block (from a 4.3 blazer is same).
Here is a pic of the GM high torque starter for yinz (arrow pointing at dual straps & copper sleeve). This is a Pontiac starter for my GTO, but they are the same except for the nose. Pontiac mounts to driver’s side of motor.
i got the mounts and all the rest off the car and engine is about to come out to be torn apart again. nitrousjunkie and yelo69 and tom vito came over to help… thanks guys.
Any time.
We’ll get this fucker figured out one way or another. It be ready for next weekend. Even if I gotta give up my 355…:madfawk:
good luck guys
Thanks,
I think we are gonna need it…:bigthumb:
Well we got the heads of yesterday, and were gonna take the bottom end a part today. But then Neonracer got sick(flu) and sick with a hangover, so we decided to just chill out today and wath the race. Then his kid (hog head) 
all through my living room, after he was fucking with my black lab puppy, and my dog took him out. So now we are hanging in the garage, and tossing around the idea of tearing this POS apart…
Update to come…
well everything is apart… the crank by itself spins free but with all the pistons in it it turns really tight… if its ok with you yelo69 and nitrous junkie maybe we can meet down at tom vito’s house towards the middle of the week. i usually get home around 5 or 5:30 in the evening.