67 Cat 400 motor rebuild opinions requested

[ED FARRELL]

I have a 67 Cat Conv. fully restored except for the 400 CI motor. 265 HP 2 bbl rochester carb. Standard stock engine. 170,000 miles and never been opened up. Its time. It leaks like a sieve! Still runs OK but I would rather rebuild it before something internal lets go and destroys the whole engine. I have had the car since it was new.Even had the steering wheel redone back to original condition.
That being said, I was toying with the idea of increasing the horses a little but I have no idea how much or how to do it. Do I want to go to a 4 BBL or stay with the stock carb? Dual exhausts? I was also thinking of rebuilding it myself but its been 30 years since my last rebuild so maybe that's too big a job. So where is a good Pontiac motor rebuilder in the Greenville, South Carolina area? Any recommendations? Where can I get the quality parts I need and some sage advice on what parts that may be. Do I need a new crank due to wear at the thrust bearing, etc.

I would appreciate any advice that may be out there.

Thanks for reading and in advance for your help.

Ed

 

[melsg5]

For a local shop look for a local Pontiac club and see what they recommend. As to what changes to make nobody can decide that other than youself. You can change the heads to big valve small cc chamber either factory or aftermarket. A more aggressive camshaft. 4bbl intake and carb. dual exhaust. recurve distributor. different rear end gears. Depends on what parts you need, you can try www.amesperf.com , www.summitracing.com . www.performanceyears.com

 

[Zimgxp]

You need to decide what you want out of the car. Weekend racer, cruiser, or...

 

[ED FARRELL]

The car is completely stock and I want to keep it that way. Way too big and heavy to race anything smaller than a Sherman tank. I was hoping to just up the HP by 10% or thereabouts. Hopefully by adding dual exhausts and boring it .30 over. With new components, ie: newer technology pistons and rings I might pick up that added power.

My issue is I dont know what goes with what. Is there a "rebuild kit" out there that includes all of the parts that work well with each other that I can buy? Aames does not have anything like that that I could see. Lots of motor rebuilders out there but I don't want to trust an original motor to some unknown "expert rebuilder".

Who better to gain this info from but a Pontiac owner who has experience in these things.

______________________________

 

[melsg5]

if you look at the summit racing site and look up a 67 Pontiac GTO you will find lots of rebuild kits for .030 engines but you also need to know what size bearings you need. All you need for a stock rebuild is a competent machine shop that can tell you exactly what size components you need or measure yourself.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...efault&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=engine kit

 

[ED FARRELL]

Thank you for the threads Mel. I will take your advice and find a machine shop and go from there.