This is a 400 cubic inch (6.6 liter) Chevrolet small block V8 engine that has been modified for racing, it’s fitted with many classic go-faster parts, and its now being sold as a complete engine with a sizable collection of spares on the side.
This engine is equipped with a Hilborn mechanical fuel injection setup with Nish Racing vertical stacks, Brodix cylinder heads, a Barnes Systems dry sump oil pump, a Vertex magneto, and Carrillo connecting rods.
The 400 is the Chevy small block that doesn’t behave like the others. It was introduced for 1970 and was the largest factory small block Chevrolet produced in the first generation – it got its displacement by pushing the architecture to its very limits – with a 4.125 inch bore with siamesed cylinder walls, paired with a 3.75 inch stroke. Image courtesy of General Motors.
History Speedrun: The 400 CI Chevrolet Small Block V8
Chevrolet’s original small block V8 arrived for 1955 as the 265 cubic inch (4.3 liter) engine, designed with deliberately compact exterior dimensions, and it used that classic a cam-in-block/pushrod/overhead valve layout that would define the engine family for decades.
Within two years the engine grew to 283 cubic inches (4.6 liters), and the lineup kept expanding as Chevrolet chased more torque, more top-end, more versatility, or a better fit for changing emissions, power, and fuel-economy targets.
The headline Gen I small block displacements that are best-known are typically the 265, 283, 327, 350, and 400. Around these were a number of purpose-driven variants, like the 302 which was created to meet late-1960s Trans-Am rules, while later “economy” small-blocks like the 305 were created due to the post-1973 Oil Crisis emissions and fuel efficiency squeeze.
The 400 is the Chevy small block that doesn’t behave quite like the others. It was introduced for 1970 and was the largest factory small block Chevrolet produced in the first generation – it got its displacement by pushing the architecture to its very limits – with a 4.125 inch bore with siamesed cylinder walls, paired with a 3.75 inch stroke.
That siamesed-bore layout eliminated coolant passages between adjacent cylinders, so Chevrolet used “steam holes” to vent trapped steam and air and control hot spots. Those details are important to engine builders, because mixing non-400 cylinder heads without the steam hole pattern is a classic way to create serious cooling problems and end up with a V8 boat anchor.
This is a 400 cubic inch (6.6 liter) Chevrolet small block V8 engine that has been modified for racing, it’s fitted with many period go-faster parts, and its now being sold as a complete engine with a sizable collection of spares.
The 400 small block was fitted to a number of popular Chevrolet and GMC vehicles including the K5 Blazer and its GM equivalent, the Jimmy. It also powered a number of pickup trucks including 1/2, 3/4, and some 1 ton models, as well as some midsize A-Body and full-size B-Body passenger cars.
In factory form the 400 wasn’t pitched as a high-performance small block in any way shape or form. It was primarily a torque engine for trucks, SUVs, and heavier passenger cars, and it’s widely characterized as a heavy-sedan and truck engine rather than a factory hot-rod hero. Production ran for roughly a decade, starting in 1970 with production vehicle availability running through to 1980.
The Vintage 400 CI Chevrolet V8 Shown Here
The engine you see here is a vintage racing 400 cubic inch (6.6 liter) Chevrolet small block V8 that was apparently originally fitted to a sprint car.
As noted in the introduction it’s fitted with a slew of high-performance parts including a Hilborn mechanical fuel injection system, Nish Racing vertical stacks, Brodix cylinder heads, a Barnes Systems dry sump oil pump, a Vertex magneto, and Carrillo connecting rods.
This engine is equipped with a Hilborn mechanical fuel injection setup with Nish Racing vertical stacks, Brodix cylinder heads, a Barnes Systems dry sump oil pump, a Vertex magneto, and Carrillo connecting rods.
It also comes with a stack of spares, including two crankshafts, an additional set of Brodix cylinder heads, and a set of connecting rods. Other spares include pushrods, valve covers, rocker springs, hoses, and a spare distributor.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Long Beach, California and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
