Hey guys I need some advice for my new 77 Vega street car project....
I have:
-400 block 2 bolt main with no crank
-350 block and crank

I plan to use some ported 882 Heads that I have laying around, I also have access to a new XE274 cam cheap.

What do you think I should do? Put a stroker crank in the 400 block, destroke it with a 350 crank or just build a 400?

Thanks in advance fellas smile.gif

Just thought of something else
Is it possible to use a crank other than a 350 to de stroke a 400? I realise I'll have to use spacers for the main bearings but if the main journal diameter of a shorter stroke crank is still 2.45 then whats the diff?

I have about a half dozen 400 cranks in my garage....

A 327 crank in a 400 block would produce 348 CID. That's the same bore 'n' stroke as the original W block 348, by the way.

I don't understand why you'd give up the extra cubes in a street application, though.

See it depends. Since we are talking about a vega here, you havent got a lot of weight to move. And I know from experience those cars can be squirrely and hard to plant to the pavement. If this vega of your is basically a street car with a mostly stock chassis and maybe some mods here and there, for the most part you would probably do better with a 350 crank in that 400 if you are building a pretty hot motor cause the vega will have enough trouble putting that power to the ground and a 400 will further aggrivate it. But, if this is a drag car and the chassis is done right from front to back, build the bigger motor and use a 400 crank. Heck build a 421 incher if you want. I just would not go bigger than that in a production block and even thats sometimes pushing it, but its do-able. If you do destroke it, the 327 crank would work too, but thats not as common and pistons for a setup like that would most likely be more pricey than for a 377(400/350crank).

Kinda depends on your RPM plan.
With the 274 hyd I would just build the 400 as I am with Schurkey here.
Not a big fan of removing cubic inches unless there is a valid reason like class rules & you can build a very mild 400 that should easily make an honest 350HP, possibly 375 with your heads depending on how good they are "ported".

If you are going to build a destroker, you can buy a brand new cast Scat 3.5" stroke crank for about $230.
Also a 400 for the same price.

If you want a 3.250 stroke pistons are not a problem, I have done a few & SRP has a flat top that works just fine with a 6" rod.

Choices,,,, choices :rolleyes:

Or a 3" stroke crank for a 325.4" motor at .030" over bore on the 400 block!!

Try to put the longest rod you can, (probably up to a 6.25" long rod), in her and a good HIGH rpm solid cam with good springs AND make a "wrap her up to the moon" sorta motor..

But the car would have to be geared and tired right to be able to use the high rpm capabilities of the motor tho!!

pdq67

hmmm....Choices indeed smile.gif
Whats messing me up is this little Vega. The car is so light that you could pick the back end up off the ground, and the front isn't much heavier. If it were a mid size or full size I most likely wouldn't have a hard time with this.

Is there such a thing as too much torque? I just figured that the torque from the 400 might cause some problems (traction?)

A destroker seems to have some advantages. Seems like a short stroke and big bore would allow me some good power but it'll be at a higher rpm.

A big bore and longer stroke will give me more inches. And I've heard the saying "there's no replacement for..." The engine could also be pulled and used in another application if I ever needed an engine.

What are your plans for the back of the car? Unless you are going to address traction then yes too much torque will hurt you.

Now, if you be plannin something like this,,
http://wsm.ezsitedesigner.com/share/scrapbook/19/190264/Vega_2.JPG
Fremont Raceway circa 1976

then,, torque probably won't hurt you :D


If you ain't going to make it hook then I would probably just build the short stroke 350 or your 350 block with a vic jr & more cam to kill the low end & would not get too excited about DCR numbers regarding the cam.

As far as rod length goes,,,, I have my own opinions about the perceived benefits of long rods but suffice it to say if the rod is long enough to hook the crank to the piston you ain't gonna see any magical 50HP gains :D

Right Mike,

I'm just going by what I read is all..

Main point is to make her a short stroke, high winder!!

pdq67

Nice ride Mike !!!

hmmm... everyones insight has been very helpful.

Since it's for the street and I may not keep that engine in the Vega for ever and ever...

I think that I'm just going to make a 400 and put a big solid cam in it, with a tunnel ram...or whatever I can to kill a little bit of low end torque. If I want to use it in another car I can just change the intake and cam and she'll be pretty much set :D

The work involved in making a destroker seems like a bit much and will get me an engine that will work in a a similar light weight vehicle.
I like the thought of being able to use an engine for more than just one set up.

Thanks for the help guys smile.gif

i hope you've got frame connectors and a cage for it, no matter what engine you use. my best friend had a vega about 10 years ago, had a 305 in it already with no frame connectors or cage. it was fairly quick for a 305, but we figured the 350hp 355 that was in his wrecked nova would really be fun......it twisted that vega up like a pretzal, and it wasn't even hooking very good. first time he climbed on it we heard some body mounts tweaking...we drove it into town and then when we went to get out of the car his door wouldn't open. LOL!

Its not totally uncommon to blow the rear hatch window out of em too if you hook with any kinda power. Check out the Chris Alston chassisworks subframe ties. They do a very good job of stiffening those cars up, and they already have a conventient location on em to mount a cage, but its not completely necessary to cage it if you arent going to run on stickies, or if you just wont have a ton of power.

The Vegas Monzas Sunbirds ect all had serious problems planting power. The stock 4cyl with stick would wheel hop to no end. More power made it worse and body flexed with it.