got a great deal on a 366 or 396 BBC

[grumpyvette]

FREE IS A GREAT PRICE!
ID GRAB IT! but even at a low cost these can be a deal, as most guys won,t even consider those tall deck small bore truck engines as a base for a build up. as they are considered to be boat anchors at best...
366T = 3.935" x 3.76"
396 = 4.096" x 3.76"
402 = 4.125" x 3.76"

IT makes spending cash on components to boost performance a far better deal,on the total cost, but I would only buy components I could RE-use on other BBC engines,IVE always felt the 366 BBC would be a decent base to work from if your engine combo was turbo charged, because of those smaller cylinder bores provide better cooling and theres more head seal area,between the bores but its not going to be worth the effort really,in most cases, since a 402, 454 or 502 block can be purchased fairly reasonably and some of the rest of the components can be reused like the heads, rods and crank, oil pan, valve train(except for pushrods and used lifters)but anything you can do to a 366 is likely to produce better results with a 454.
most 366 blocks Ive had tested will easily bore to fit a 396 or 402 bore size pistons and you can swap to 6.386" rods to match the taller deck height.
(yeah youll want too fill the coolant passages, around the lower cylinder walls up to the lower edge of the freeze plugs too strengthen the rather thin cylinder walls, and shorten the un-supported length with epoxy block filler and steel shot slurry)
Ive had several in my shop, I gladly took the cranks, dampers, rods, heads, valve covers, oil pans, etc. and just gave the blocks away, but if you get a tall deck 427 they make a great base for a tall deck 496 stroker.
but I always had a machine shop check the bore wall thickness to see if they could be bored to 4.25"-4.310" BEFORE giving them away, (SO FAR I have not found one.) but even with the 4.096-4.125" bore, that some of those blocks WILL EXCEPT, (AFTER CAREFULLY SONIC TESTING)(CHECK BEFORE COMMITING TO THE COST of a bore job and longer rods and light weight pistons)a 4" stroke 454 crank can be use to build a 421 or 434 stroker,or a 4.25" stroke crank to build a long stroke 448 or 454 and getting 500 hp from either with decent compression and a roller cam is certainly possiable after the heads get some port work.
Some blocks will bore to +.125 but most will make +80 to +100 & I think from memory a std block will only house a 4.250" stroke but you may need to start clearancing the inside of the block & pan rails.

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/basic-396-bbc-build-video.13157/

http://forums.carcraft.com/70/663619/ge ... index.html

btw a TIGHTER 104-106 LCA and a bit higher compression will tend to help the tq, you could have an impressive mid rpm torque monster with a dual plane oval cort and roller cam combo, with over 500ft lbs and 500hp

 

[grumpyvette]

Re: got a great deal on a 366 BBC

while were talking about the smaller bore big block chevys...I see alot of guys pass over those 396 and 402 big block engines, now ILL be the first guy to suggest starting with a 454,496,502,540 BIG BLOCK but if the price is right a 396-402 makes a decent engine, and if the price is low enought building a stroker from a 396-402 BBC is both reasonable and effective for a street combo,
Ive NEVER been able to figure out why so many guys swoon and get chills over a 383-396 SBC built from a 350 combo and IGNORE a 396-402 BBC combo with its larger ports, bigger valves stronger parts and much larger potential in displacement if you go the stroker route, and basically better architecture, that allows a 434 displacement with readily availavble parts, yes theres the extra 80-100 lbs of engine weight and the packaging space issues, but in most cases the BBC can make enought extra hp to at lease equal and in most cases easily surpass the similar SBC combo,it just takes some research and thought going into the sellection of the components, given the choice, between a sbc and a BBC and if not resticted in my component sellection,Ill build a BBC every damn time! (especially if I can build it to maximize the BBCs true potential)
yeah, theres no question you can build a killer sbc 383-396 slightly cheaper as the basic components are more comon and cost slightly less, but the differance in total cost is generally far less than most guys realize once you try to exceed about 475-500 TRUE hp