400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Maybe not the perfect forum for this but whatever. Been shopping for 400’s to put in my ‘70 burb. Truck is stock but needs more torque. It eventually occurred to me that GM probably never put a manual trans behind these. I see aftermarket external balance flywheels available. No problem with my SM465 and stock bell housing? Any other issues?

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Gm-- did in fact--put manual transmissions behind the 400 sb. Nothing wrong with an aftermarket flywheel. You can also put a 454 flywheel on the 400 if you are building your own and have it balanced accordingly, if you want to run a 12'' clutch (11-7/8). It will fit the 465 and bell. GM used the same bell both small and big block.

Where are you locating a 400?? Been looking for a good core for my 91 'burb. I'm thinking of going with a Dart Block

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Yeah, I guess saying GM always did this or never did that is always wrong…just got back from getting a stock bore 400. Been looking for several years, mostly on Craigslist. Facebook is so bad. Most of them damaged, already maxed out on bore, or sketchy in some way. It helps that my paramedic/firefighter friend has lots of down time and finds a lot of these for me. He found the one I just bought. I won’t bore you with all the details, but it was complete and disassembled, the guy knew absolutely what he was talking about. And I had to jump in my truck and drive two hours to beat other people there. $450 non negotiable. I knew this was the one if I was actually going to do it. And I happened to be off today. Patience and luck, I guess. Maybe it’s easier in other parts of the country.

Now the harder part is finding a decent machine shop. Anything in the Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington KY area?

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Good score, have the block magnafluxed

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

That's great you got one. You'll like it. This is the small block 4wds needed. My '72 K/20 Highlander was a 400sbc/4spd/4.10/35" tires. I could have put a 2x4 under the gas pedal and it wouldn't matter. Great low end power. It hardly took any throttle to roll down the hiway

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Too bad so far away, I have block already done. Been checked and all the necessary stuff needed to be done. Ready to assemble..

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

I had a 79 square body K10 with a 400 SB and absolutely loved the motor's low end power.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

They are still out there. I have a 400 standard bore in my stash.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Try this, my buddy ran this for 15 years in a daily driver.

https://www.northernautoparts.com/Pr...ProductId=3906

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Thanks, I had no idea those balance plates existed. The guy I bought the engine from is retired but builds and sells engines to stay busy. Also drag races. He told me shops can internally balance a 406 but thought that would be overkill for me.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

I have a 20 over block with a hole in #6 cylinder.. as much as I love the 400s I've had a few issues over the years with them. Surprisingly I've never had one overheat. I'm thinking the Dart Block may solve those problems

https://dartheads.com/shp-blocks/

plus it will take a factory roller cam set-up

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Balance plates are for automatics

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Those Dart blocks are nice. The crate engine shortage has just about pushed me into pulling the trigger on one.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Me too, issue is 2k for just the bare block, but I have everything else minus 1 piston. Then there is changing the cam to a roller. No way I would go through all that and not put a roller cam in since the block is already dialed for it.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Wow go figure? buddy 's truck was a 400-SM465/NP205 guess he was wrong for those 15 years!

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

If you are looking at crate 400s, have you seen these? https://blueprintengines.com/collect...-hp-473-ft-lbs

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

Possibly

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

i highly recommend putting vortec heads and 6" rods on the 400, its an easy 500 ft/lb under 1800rpm with a rv cam

google the impersonator 406 magazine build

my thoughts regarding the original 400 blocks depend on your budget, machine shop connections and/or patience for engine swaps. the numerous anecdotes about cracked 400 blocks and heating issues that would could be avoidable if you pay for a dyno-test/warranty crate engine

i have an original block and vortec heads with 6" rods and the speedmaster intake. This makes the sm465, 4.10s and 35" tires very easy to drive.

Re: 400 sbc in a ‘70 K10
 

What was your final compression ratio with the vortecs?