71 400 block

Pontiacpower

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Hey guys. Haven't been on in awhile, spent the winter saving some cash for some summer fun. I was recently up north getting my 71 lemans ready for the summer when I stumbled upon a guy selling a 71 400 number 481988 I believe was the cast on the block. He wants 200 bucks for it. It ran when he bought off another guy and it's carb to pan. Too good to be true or is this worth a 2 hour drive to go check out?
 
That is a fantastic deal for any complete running 1970-75 400. I would definatly check it out. You could probably more than double you money the same day by bringing it to my house!
 
If your in need of a high performance engine to start a build keep looking.

The 481988 is a 2 Bolt main engine.

Depending on the heads cam pistons etc it could be anywhere from 200 HP to 300 HP in stock form.

I would start with a 4 bolt. if it was a 4 bolt main it would be worth the trip.

However it basically depends on what you have available to you in your area.

Do not get me wrong it is a good deal, but I do not think it is worthy of your leMans or a 2 hour drive.

This engine would be better off in a Pontiac that needs that casting number to be a correct car.
 
Well this is my first project and I would like to build a motor for my car because I know my poncho 350 is not a good power plant and I would like to put up a fight against my buddy who's got a late 90s z28 with a lt motor. I just want somethin that will actually spin the tires and the experience that all you gents have. I have worked on cars but never done any performance modification. As a newbie what should I start with. And please don't say a chevy
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This link shows you what you can do with the engine in your car.

I would consider this useful if you have a numbers matching engine in your car.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hppp-0712-small-bore-pontiac-engine-build/

What kind of budget are you working with? have you ever rebuilt any engine?

Do you have the tools and clean enough environment for taking on such a task?

If you have the budget but not the tools, I would suggest purchasing a Long block.

Get what is within your budget from Butler

http://www.butlerperformance.com/products/engines_assemblies.html

Just a reminder, Having a large HP and torque motor is great, yet all this is for nothing if you cannot hook the car up.

When you have a highly modified high HP Pontiac engine you will have no problem smoking the tires, spitting out u=joints and wrecking your differential.

My point is nearly every thing in the drive train on your car will need to be modified or replaced.

Once the car hooks up from all the mods you will continue to find the week links in the car.

My point is power and speed cost so much more money and time than most people think about.

Before you start plucking parts off your car in hopes of showing up your friends, ask yourself if you still plan on owning this car is 20 years.

Also ask yourself how much are you going to want to drive this car and what type of driving will you be doing with it.

Fuel is pretty inexpensive right now, but even with the low prices, a high power Pontiac engine can pretty much drain your wallet much faster think just in fuel cost.
 
I have seen the revenge of the 350 article. Pacific performance went belly up though if I'm not mistaken. Does butler have the same kit available? If so that would be a viable option. I have the wallet for this sort of project but I would like to be as cost effective as possible. I dont know if I'll end up keeping this particular car forever but i would definately get another car if I did sell it for some reason. I'm just curious how to start with the task of building a performance package for my car
 
absolutely, ill get it off amazon. I read the "how to rebuild Pontiac engines" by rocky rotella and that definitely helped me understand the process more. I believe that was where I found out about the Pontiac 350 build that one of you guys posted on here. check out this post..........https://nmi.craigslist.org/pts/5443103940.html. I know that the 400 demands a premium these days. I just don't want to pass up that good of a deal. Thank you all for your help thus far.
 
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