Is this 400 a good starting point for me?
 

I'm really new to Pontiacs and just bought a 67 Tempest with a 326. I want to upgrade to a bigger motor, but am on a budget. I found this 68' 400 through Frank's Pontiac Parts and would like your opinion on whether this would be a decent engine for me to purchase so I can upgrade it to a more hi performing motor.

Here are the specs from Frank's site:
1968 Pontiac YC 400 2brl Engine with #15 Heads $650. Runs good. Complete engine minus A/C, exhaust manifolds & air cleaner.

http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/2165c4910.jpg

I called their shop and spoke to them. They said the engine is still in a car, but is in running condition. The engine smokes a little bit right now, but again my plan is to tear the engine down and rebuild it. Do you think this is worth it for me as an engine?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Johnny :cool:

That's a nice ride you have there. That 400 sounds like it will need a valve job soon. Or maybe something more expensive. I know it is hard to wait a bit. But the best course of action is to save enough cash up to do a proper build on a good 400-455 pontiac core.

I myself am doing a solid roller cam 428. And believe me it takes time to do it right. If you rush and blow up the motor you will be banging you head against the wall. :)

And because your car is so nice. You might want to put a kill switch on it. Especially being SoCal and all.

Any pre 75 400 block & crank is a good investment to do a build up on. All the rest can be changed or modifed for whatever goals you have set.

I say it depends on how hard, or easy, it is to find a good 400 core to rebuild in your area. $650 would be HIGH priced in my neck of the woods for that motor. I've got 3 400/ 2 455 core blocks/heads in my stash, and don't have that much in all of them.

Are you thinking of parting with any of them? :rolleyes:

i think that price is high...if you are patient you will find a 400 for less...got my 406 short block already balanced with forged trw's for $300.

Not really at this time, plus shipping would be costly. look outside the box, wrecking yards,local machine shops sometimes have cores in stock that could be bought. local Auto Trader and Ad rags. swap meets, just last summer I bought a complete 72 455, (hadn't run in several years) from a local junkyard they took it out and set it in the bed of my truck , $200 bucks! like Form406 said, be patient and sniff around, something will turn up. back in 1988 I paid $400 bucks for my first 400 (It's in my Lemans currently) while it was in peices,for a Stock overhaul, the 62 heads were rebuilt, and came with new rings and bearings,4 barrel intake,etc, however, I ended up boring it, new TRW pistons,Crane cam, etc, so after all that, I really paid to much for it because I didn't use alot of the parts that came with it! since then I acquired the other cores I have pretty cheaply,

What is your budget for a new motor? Do you need a running motor or one you can build up?

I guess my budget is somewhere in the $1500 to $2000 range. I'd like to get a running engine that I can drop in. It doesn't have to be top performance because I'm willing to wait a bit until finances build up and then do additional upgrades over time.

I found this link on eBay to a 455, what's everyone's opinion on this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rebui...QQcmdZViewItem

thanks,
Johnny :cool:

I would say that 68 is a good starting point. nice strong block and heads you can work with, (small chambers, I think)

only thing about that 455 that scares me is the rods with stock bolts and the heads don't have a place to screw headers too.

I would even try the recycler, seeing you are in so cal.

Keep looking
 

Walk the self service junk yards. Take a look around and see what is there. I got a 1968, 400 block and heads for under 50 bucks.

I want to keep my 1968 400 block, but I can probably find a 1964 block, 25K code (non-AC, big car) for under $500, with heads, from a running car.

Use some patience and some of the local info. Good luck.

Also check recycler.com and craigslist.

Depending on your abilities, you might want to source the shortblock separate from the heads.

As a side question...are you running a 2 speed auto in that? You may want to put a 3 speed or 4 speed auto in first, if the engine is running well, and take your time and save while you are at it.

There are deals out there...it takes patience and determination. If I find a great deal on a 455, for, say $200 bucks, I'll let you know.



To clarify, I'll let you know there are great deals out there :)

Seriously, good luck. Also, check out the Long Beach swap meet. Pomona is not very good for Pontiac parts these days, and tends to have higher prices.

That 400 for $650 isn't a bad deal, just not a great deal. Great deals are not found at a place that parts Pontiacs out for a living, but of course Frank has go to the trouble and expense to find and store the cars he parts out.

It's pretty much typical of the deals you're going to have to settle for if you don't have time to do the leg work to find one for cheaper.

It's a runner that you can drop in on a weekend and and have fun with right away, it will definitely out-perform the 326 you have now as it sits.

Definitely a good engine to start with.

Where at in Ca. are you located? I might be picking up a 71' 400 that you could get on the cheap.

SoCal Junkyard Pontiac 400
 

While strolling the local, self serve, junkyard today I ran across a Pontiac Motor that is ready to pluck. It's in a 73 Safari Wagon. It has 4C heads on it and a 2 barrel manifold with carb. The motor turns easily. We tried to get the timing cover and ran out of time. We would have had to hold the flywheel since the motor spun to easily to remove the Harmonic balancer bolt. There are 2 broken bolts where we tried to remove the cover, but this is easily fixed.

Here's the best heads up that you can get for a local, low buck motor. A short block will run about $110 + core. Complete carb to pan, flywheel to fan is about 175 + core. Currently it is all there.

If you're interested post again or PM me. I'll let you know which yard it is in.

If you lose interest in this find, I will post the location for other interested locals. I didn't want the heads and I have a spare 1968, 400 block already. The timing cover I'd take, but I have to work. Pontiac blocks leave this yard early.

Good luck,

I think I'll pass and let someone else who might be interested in the engine go for it. Thanks for the information though.

Johnny :cool:

:confused2

OK, Greg, you got me interested. Care to PM me which yard? I'd like to go for a few hours and scrounge around for some projects.

Thanks.

Check out the LA craigslist
 

Not sure where in SoCal you're located, but I was bored so I just did a quick Los Angeles craig's list search for Pontiac engine and found a couple ads for 400 engines that you might want to check out:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/pts/282000170.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/pts/282853126.html



And here's a rebuilt 350 poncho in San Diego:

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/pts/281895301.html


Maybe if that 326 is running OK, you can keep looking and hold out for a 455 or 428...