Thinking about throwing a junk 400 sbc together for dads chevelle.....

[73Nova]

Well i have a 509 400 sbc block laying in the garage, it has a small ridge in the cylinders but its almost non existant, the problem is that its already .030 over. Should i just ball hone this bad boy, toss some cheap internals in it, drop some swap meet iron heads on and have some fun? Im talking about going cheapo style. A cast scat crank, cheap moly rings, hyperutectic pistons and chineese 5.7 rods. what do you think? IS there any problem with an old ball hone? Anyone ever done one of these? Any advice? Anyone got any parts laying around?????

[Freiburger]

I'd sonic it and for for 0.060 if you can. If you decide to go dingle-ball, you at least have to ream the ring ridge.

[min301]

If you plan to dingle ball it, first measure the amount of bore taper, more than .005" is too much. Ditto on the ridge reaming.

[Eric68]

Too bad you cannot leak down the cylinders -- if it does good on a leak test maybe you could just run it . . .

If you cannot just run it, would it clean up at .040? The 509 is probably the best candidate for .060 but many 400's are pretty thin even at .030" over. DEFINATELY sonic check. DEFINATELY hone with a TQ plate.

I would not do a dingle-berry hone on a 400 personally, they are finicky with ring seal. The head bolts being so close to the wall tends to create distortion at the top of the bore. You can see evidence of this by looking for shadow areas where the cross-hatch gets worn away.

[min301]

I agree completely.