I am thinking about building another short block. Would an aftermarket 400 steel crank be a good investment or would a standard 400 cast crank be just as good shifting at around 6,000 rpms? I am planning on putting 5.7 rods in as well. Would like to keep the compression ratio around 11.00 to 1 like the one I have now has.

Another question. Can I use my current style pistons which are TRW 2467F flat tops with 2 valve reliefs with the 5.7 rods? Currently I am running the stock 400 rods in my current engine. If I can use the 5.7 rods with that paticular piston how will it affect the compression ratio? I will be running the Comp Cams 294S with this motor.

I can't say about the stock crank taking 6000 rpm passes for repeated times. I would compare what it would cost to get the stock crank inspected and turned if necessary to the cost of the aftermarket cranks out there. I picked up an eagle crank and it was right on spec and the machine shop checked out fine when I had the rotating assembly balanced.

I seriously doubt you can use the pistons that were designed for the stock 400 rod with a 5.700" rod. The 5.7 rod is .135" longer and would pop the piston out of the deck and smack into the head.

How much did you pay for the Eagle crank? Jeg's has them for 650.oo. Summit has a forged crank for 590.oo. What part# piston would I use to get 11.00 to 1 compression with a flat top piston with a 5.7 rod? I will go with a forged piston. Would a 5.7 powercoated rod be better for the money than the Eagle rods?

Compression is going to depend on volume of heads, how far the piston is below deck, and gasket thickness. So without knowing what you have, I put a link to store I found useful looking at what pistons give what compression ratios.

http://www.flatlanderracing.com/trwchevy400.html

I can't say anything about powdered rods since I have no experience with them. I went with aftermarket rods after looking at how rough my stock rods were.

Ask yourself if you need forged crankshaft. Are you going to be spraying the engine? Cast pricing is alot less than forged.

Also, make sure to have the 5.7 rods cam clearanced for the 400.

Hey thanks for the link to the pistons. Very informative. I think I seen what I needed. Flat tops with 2 valve reliefs which yeild about 11.06 to 1.

I was just talking to my engine builder and he was telling that if I keep the RPMS to a max of 6,000 rpms it would be better to keep the 400 rods. He says they make more torque. He was saying a heavy car needs the extra torque. Any thoughts?