Originally Posted by WildBillyT (Post 784435)

I have heard some interesting things about the blueprint shortblocks. Sub par machine work and wacky parts quality.

Personally, I know you may hate this answer but I'd try and get what you have already going. I remember your engine from years ago and it sounds like a strong runner as-is. That way you can cut your teeth working on it and then when you move on later you can have a more estabished skill set.

Originally Posted by WayFast84 (Post 784454)

The car was faster than my ls1 car. But if it breaks again I'm a couple hundo out of the tube and then have to change the camshaft to something under .480

I changed the rocker arms to 1.5 from the 1.6 I had with no machining but
I beleive the problem is the retainer to guide clearance because the machine shop did not install the drop in springs required and I can no longer find them.

the car needs the valves adjusted and it should run, but I couldn't figure it out and don't want to screw it up since my valvetrain is so sensitive..

Originally Posted by WayFast84 (Post 784425)

I've been thinking about the 84 a lot lately and want to get serious with it. Its got a 2 bolt 400sbc that was supposedly rebuilt and the topend will be getting replaced but that's not been decided yet.

So pretty much I was thinking about a few options:

Blueprint forged shortblock, 355 or 383
Buy a 350 have it rebuilt
Or rebuild the 400(again?)

I don't plan on racing very much while I'm in school but eventually I would like to be at the track a couple times a month which is why I want forged.

Say I run 64cc heads, what pistons would I want in my motor for pump gas? What's the real difference between h beam and I beam rods? If I went with a 383 the heads wouldn't need steamholes because its the design of the 400 block and nothing else, right?

With machine work, assembly, block and parts how much should I expect to pay? Under 4k?

Originally Posted by WayFast84 (Post 784482)

I've seen the motor before. It looked fresh but I don't have receipts and it's still just a cast motor. The heads would most likely be replaced with aluminum vortecs or etecs. I'm sick of having heads off and not making the car any better.

Originally Posted by WayFast84 (Post 784516)

Is it possible I have the valve guides ground down with the heads on the car?

Originally Posted by Slow Z (Post 784520)

As for 12's you should be able to do that by accident with any 400ci motor with Vortec heads and a cam with more than 210 @ 050 duration.

Originally Posted by WayFast84 (Post 784525)

It's never held together long enough to get to the track.. Ive had it to numerous shops. one of them had the cylinder heads cleaned decked and reinstalled them(they never noticed a problem). It's why I don't want to really waste any more cash here and put together a new motor with heads that are good out of the box.

Originally Posted by Dirt Reynolds

[*]Retainer to guide clearance is the primary Achille's Heel of the Vortec. For valve lifts above .460" they need to be checked for R-G clearance. This varies from head to head. Some find they can get .480" and slightly more valve lift fine. Others will find .460" about the limit. Always check R-G with any performance cam above .460".[/LIST]Great, I'm interested in Vortec heads, but am concerned about retainer to guide clearance. What can be done about this, and, are there any places I can buy Vortecs already modified for use with high-lift camshafts?

Good question, easy answer.

Scoggin-Dickey sells Vortec heads already correctly modified for use with high-lift performance camshafts. They also sell a complete kit which has the modified Vortecs, intake manifold (Edelbrock Vortec), rocker arms, etc to basically bolted on your existing short block.

Sallee Chevrolet has an interesting solution to this problem (from their website):

The Sallee Chevrolet solution is to use Crane Cam’s 10309-1 drop-in valve spring and retainer kit which is good for .550” lift with no machining. The installed height for this Crane Cams kit is taller and the lower part of the retainer is shorter. The “AVERAGE” clearance between the retainer and seal is .575” for this kit. We have found that some of the Vortec heads, coming from the factory, do not have the valve seals driven on all the way. You need to check that they are before installing this kit. If they need to be driven on all the way, we have found that a 3/8” drive - 1/2” socket fits the valve seal just about perfect.As with all modifications to performance engines though, you should always measure to assure that there is proper clearance and fit.

Comp Cams sells a tool that will cut down the size of the Vortec valve guide and is around $50 or so.

Another method is the infamous Vortec retainer "ghetto grind". If the camshaft being used only requires a stock 1.25" diameter single-wound valvespring, it is possible to only need to grind off approximately 3/32" off the bottoms of the stock Vortec retainers with a grinder or on a grinding wheel to achieve enough R-G clearance to run up to approximately .530" -.540" safely. I must caution here that R-G clearance must ALWAYS be checked to verify that there is in fact enough clearance - also include allowing for coil bind. One other thing - you must remove the dampner in this modification. Don't worry -- the stock Vortec valveguide being much larger in diameter than other SB heads will act as sort of a dampner and I never noticed any RPM issues related to lack of running one when I did this mod. Although myself and others who have done it this way have had no problems, I must caution this basically for those on a strict budget and cutting down the guides either with the Comp tool or at a machine shop is the best way to go. However, I'm of the opinion that since it works well within the noted constraints, then you're really only out your time to grind down the retainers. The choice is yours.

More to follow. :cool: