[NeighborsComplaint]

I would start with a 455.

[HWYSTR455]

The best starting point for a stroker build is a 67-73 or so 400 block. They are out there, plenty of them. You might not find them in your back yard, but there are plenty of them available.

.

[64speed]

Well just because I had a do nothing day today I called Butler and Kauffman. Got conflicting answers. Butler told me to build the 389 into a 421 based on the cam that GTOFREEK specd for me and the parts I have already acquired. I called Kauffman and they told me to use the 455 to build a 467 because basically there is no replacement for displacement. I think I am gonna use the 70 HO 455 block I have and use the 4.25 stroker kit that Butler sells. I know 400s are out there but they are not here. I know where 3 67 HO engines are complete from air cleaner to oil pan but the owner wants 1500 a piece and they are not running. Have been sitting for at least 20 years in his garage. I cant pay that for a core. I check Craigslist everyday in my local area and either its way too high or its gone when I call.

[Greg Reid]

I dunno... $1500 doesn't seem like crazy money for a complete '67 HO 400...?
BUT, having said that, if I was looking to build one engine for a working project, and I already had two 455s and a 389 to choose from, I would not be engine shopping.

[64speed]

Well the weather was nice today so I worked on the car a little. Got the clutch and brake pedal hung, Ran all new brake lines and removed the heater and all its attachments. Can anyone tell me what the thread pitch for the studs that hold the booster and master cylinder to the firewall are? I have lost the nuts and I need to mount the booster.

[SRR]

A few pictures would make this much more interesting. Nice to see you bringing it back to life!

[64speed]

I found the nut set online from inline tube

[Jerry H.]

I got a line yesterday on a pretty complete 400 engine that supposedly came from a 68 Grand Prix. It hasn't ran in a few years so it would need a rebuild. It's over in Cleveland, GA. If you are interested I can get you a price.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

...if I was looking to build one engine for a working project, and I already had two 455s and a 389 to choose from, I would not be engine shopping.

No doubt... What's going on here?

Why would you NOT use one of those 455 blocks? The only reason I can think of is if you were going to be road/endurance racing and were concerned about the larger main journals.

For a street engine there is NO reason to not use a 455 block.


That said, what's the going rate for bare 400 blocks ('70 - '74 castings)? Do stampings really make a difference?

I have three in my garage, 2 were originally 2-bbl applications. I know where I can get a couple more that have "desirable" GTO application stampings on them.

[64speed]

If you were closer I would buy those 400s from you

[Will]

Originally Posted by 64speed

If you were closer I would buy those 400s from you

LOL... why?

Buy a rotating assembly for one of your 455 blocks, a set of aluminum heads, a roller cam, and go run bottom 12s or faster (potentially a lot faster). A 455 block will not hold you back in any way, shape, or form.

[NeighborsComplaint]

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just build one of the 455 blocks you have. Are you looking to buy every 400 in town on speculation to sell at a later date?

The hobby is in its twilight years. A bunch of 400 blocks doesn’t sound like a wise investment unless they are from rare HO or RA engines.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

The hobby is in its twilight years. A bunch of 400 blocks doesn’t sound like a wise investment unless they are from rare HO or RA engines.

Originally Posted by 64speed

I know where 3 67 HO engines are complete from air cleaner to oil pan but the owner wants 1500 a piece and they are not running. Have been sitting for at least 20 years in his garage. I cant pay that for a core. I check Craigslist everyday in my local area and either its way too high or its gone when I call.

......

[64speed]

It’ll never rust again

[64speed]

Well as I posted the the body shop looks like I am gonna have between 7500 and 8000 in total paint and final bodywork. Another American Legion member turned me on to a guy that helps disabled vets so he is doing it for 4000 plus cost of materials. As I have said before the outside will be silvermist gray and the inside will be dark blue. I have to save because I want the chrome done so I can get it back fully assembled and my recent dental trips have depleted my savings. I have a lot of stuff I can be doing in the meantime so my resto won’t go stagnant. I financed the AMD work with a credit card and I won’t go down that road again so cash is king. Hard to make headway though with two kids a mortgage and a disabled vet and wife’s teacher salary LOL. I am very fortunate that my wife supports my passion and even lets me hang car related things in the House. I have a Texaco restroom sign in our bathroom and a beautiful painting of a drag strip tree hanging in our bedroom and all she says is at least it matches the colors.

[64speed]

Well after the debacle with my dental bills earlier in the year and a few other expenses that I hadn’t expected, work on my car slowed to a crawl. I got all new brake lines run and the master and booster mounted as well as my pedals hung but that’s about it. Well my wife hates borrowing money for any reason but we had used a Lowes card to do a kitchen renovation last year and had another card I had put my dental work on etc. and of course the card I had 7000 dollars on from AMD. Anyway I finally talked her into consolidating all that into one payment with the agreement that I wouldn’t use the cards to buy car parts anymore and would pay cash for everything. The consolidation freed up a lot of money so it looks like I am back on track until the next big crisis. Anyway I sent my first load of trim out to be chromed, I know the window moldings on the side are stainless and are supposed to be polished but someone had pop riveted a few of the pieces on so I had to have the holes repaired which left me with getting them chromed. I found a local guy that is going to polish my grill and headlight bezels as well as my trunk trim in exchange for deleting the displacement on demand system from his 5.3 2008 Silverado. I found the guy that is going to do my bodywork and paint for 3800 plus materials so now it’s just a matter of putting money back which should go at a steady clip after June. June we got Pontiacs in Pigeon Forge plus our annual trip to Folly Beach the next week so June’s money is pretty much spoken for. If any of you are gonna be at Pontiacs in Pigeon Forge let me know cause I want to see your cars. Well that’s where we are at right now. Still got a lot to do but hopefully I can do it sooner.

[64speed]

Well I lucked up again! I found a retired gentleman that used to do aluminum and other metal polishing here at hi tec plating in the town over from me. He still has all his equipment and he agreed to polish my trunk trim, headlight bezels, and grills for 300 bucks plus an old Ruger single six pistol that I haven’t shot in 20 years anyway. I figured the price was two good to be true so I took him one of my headlight bezels and let him demonstrate and after about 30 minutes he had a section of it looking better than I could have hoped. I’m sure Paul’s plating could do better but it’s not worth 2000 to me for something I am gonna drive. I have a place right here in town that anodized metal but I don’t think I am gonna reanodize them. I will just polish them as they need it. Now if I can just put together the money for the paint and bumpers I will really be rocking along. Going to Pontiacs in Pigeon Forge in June so hope there are a couple of early a bodies there to take some q’s from.

[1968GTO421]

Making GOOD progress. Very familiar with how life's other expenses can slow down a project car. Keep on plugging along,. you'll get there.

[64speed]

The guy polishing my grills today called and asked me about the black paint on them. He basically said he didn’t want to charge me to polish something that I was gonna spray black over so what do you guys think? On the 64 do you like the blacked out grill of the Lemans and GTO or would you polish the whole grill and go for a different look? I am on the fence either way. This car will not have any GTO trim on it except for the engine turned dash bezel but other than that I am not putting a GTO hood or anything on it so blacked out is not a necessity. On the regular tempest models is the whole grill polished or does it still have the black around the outside curves?

[64speed]

Just found some pictures on google images and they all look like they have black on the outside edges except one I found that was in popular hot rodding that looks like the whole grill was chromed. That’s a tough decision to make.