HOW MUCH POWER?? - Dart 400 Small Block Chevy Engine Dyno

[@wreckanchor]

I am convinced the 400 SBC is the most under rated engine ever. Brutally strong when built right.

[@schoonymopar]

once you take out the gm parts and build a good engine they are great but notice this build had zero gm parts.

[@troelskiel1167]

@@schoonymopar Precisely.

[@markwallace5274]

Steve is an absolute legend hard to believe he is now retired what a great guy I’d love to pick his brain especially on tuning carburetors!!!

[@thebrushhawg]

Man. I had a great 400 back in the day. Similar to this build but with 1980’s equivalent parts. 400’s are a different from other small blocks. They look the same but pull like big blocks. Dude is gonna love it in that camaro.

[@dynodon100]

When you had Mr. Steve B. helping you , right away we knew that you were a winner ! I am building a 421 from a 400 now.Hope it will be close to this.

[@nickbaur6952]

It’s gonna make more power if your using a good combo we’re hoping for over 600whp with are 421

[@dynodon100]

@@nickbaur6952 A Dart block and Brodix 215 headswill help me

[@nickbaur6952]

@@dynodon100 wym I mean we’re using a pair of speedmaster 190 that’s have been cnc to 235 intake runner 208 valves 242/248 XFI bullet racing cam 5.7 rods flat top pistons 8 1/4 push rods good lifters and 1.5 roller rockers is are 630whp setup

[@nickbaur6952]

@@dynodon100 we’re using a stronger combo with way bigger bore and stroke with a shit ton of more dwell time and we’re gonna make over 100hp more than these guys with are combo so there you go

[@dynodon100]

@@nickbaur6952 Keep in touch , this sounds like fun !

[@thelastime51]

Hey so I have a 1975 400 in my 82 Chevy C 10 pickup, it has two bolt mains, stock 76 mL heads, equal length headers into a 3 inch single exhaust, a mild cam, aluminum intake off a 68 Corvette, and a 650 CFM Rochester QuadraJet jetted from the factory for the 400 (rebuilt). I'm going to be happy with 300 hp out of that thing, so you guys really made me feel comfortable about what I'm doing. Super low budget, close to stovebolt stock, but it's a 400 baby.

[@kelvinhayes4177]

My dad always said the small block chevy 400 would be the motor that Chevrolet should have continued building.

[@richardautry8152]

My brother had a 67 GTO with a 400. That was a nice car.

[@KingJT80]

@Scratch well you can still make power with one if you fins one

[@markwallace5274]

It still blows my mind they never offered a performance version of the 400 sbc but that’s okay the hot rod community took care of that for us lol Sbc 400 is my favorite of the small block world

[@McNabbula]

I ran a big block 454 and if I didn’t hook up the 400 small blocks that I ran against would roast me. My car was a 71 Vette (heavy car) and of coarse my friends had 66 and 67 Novas. I drove them and despite my monster motor I kind of envied the way they built power. Definitely am going to build one of these.

[@demarques1911]

Can you explain the difference in what you mean when you say you love how the 400s build power? Because you have a 454 and it should run better. I'm about to out a 388 in my truck In a. Few months

[@rikiwakwak]

Naturally aspirated, yessir. Listen to the older guys fellas, theyve been through all this already. Great small block. Love it

[@douglaslambert579]

My 406 was in a 63 Chevy ll. Had a 3500 stall and 12 bolt with a 4.10 posi.

[@keithfilkins2043]

I want that engine for my 71 Nova!!! Looks like a fun street engine!

[@aaronmcilvain8077]

That’s amazing power. Hats off to the ZHP garage. Well done

[@ZHPGarage]

Thanks Aaron!

[@dw8555]

Great motor, great builders!! It's fun to see you two interacting!

[@raymondtrotter4655]

561 HP IS MY GUESS. LOVE THE SERIES ON THE 400 SBC. I HAVE A 511 BLOCK 2 BOLT MAIN I'M PLACING IN MY 62 FLEETSIDE SHORTBED BIG BACK WINDOW. I STOPPED THE VIDEO AS YOU SAID TO AND SHOW MY GUESS. KEEP THEM VIDEOS COMING, IM LEARNING ALOT. THANKS. TRUCK DRIVER RAY

[@j.j.clingman4083]

556 is my guess!! I just built a 421 sbc and ran it on the dyno and it was just shy of 700hp!! I was definitely happy with that and have all the paperwork from the dyno for prof!!

[@otisbailey5455]

Steve Brule the man behind the curtain pulling the levers and pushing the buttons.

[@ZHPGarage]

The man, the myth, the legend

[@macho4x4warlock98]

Congratulations to the Master Mechanic and his excellent cameraman!!!

[@carbf1942]

Great motor !! Love my 406. Oil pressure seems on the high side ?

[@ZHPGarage]

Yeah it’s a little on the high side, gonna change the oil to thinner oil

[@rick343]

I'm just now seeing this video, I've watched other 400s being Dynoed, and they barely made over 400 hp, so I saw what you put into that one, and I'm probably way under guessing, compared to the guys guessing on the video, I'll be impressed if gets more than 475, so 475, but if it gets barely over 400, I won't be surprised, I have a 400 in my 93 K1500 Chevy pickup, but it has mid 70s smog heads on it, so I'm looking to change the heads and have been watching everything I can find on Chevy 400 builds, I love my 400 , It's been in my truck for about 10 years and hasn't gave me any problems at all. So I hope the best for yours and hope for you that it does get into the mid 500 or even higher.

[@jamesfowler7065]

Love it. Very usable power for the street or track. You never said what are the specs on the cam.

[@ZHPGarage]

Specs for the cam are shown in our 3 part series on the build of this engine

[@hafablake3599]

You guys are literal geniuses I wouldn't trust my car in any other hands

[@ZHPGarage]

Much appreciated Blake ✊

[@alleyoop1234]

I am curious as to what number power valve it was & what you changed it to(?)

[@artbray2024]

Solid runner there with a Bob Oliver carburetor 👍

[@michaelrzepka7522]

Good luck with your 400 nice to see old school I have a 406 seasoned block flat tappet cam in my c10 best money I ever spent. Keep learning from that old timer they know a thing or two that google doesn't.

[@sideswiped6874]

that 400 is going to treat the other cars badly. I was thinking 580hp. I knew it had to be up-there when I saw how long the Valve Springs are.

[@FingerAngle]

I have a 1972 factory block sbc 400 I'm trying to work up a high out put combo for. Looking for about the same numbers, to go in a 1950 chevy fleetline deluxe rat rod gasser.

[@davidcallahan5157]

530 is my guess can’t wait too results good luck guys!

[@williepelzer384]

Heat increases cylinder pressure, to a point. Good job 👍

[@dgc940]

Dude look at that torque thats going in a 3200lb car fun times ahead!

[@ZHPGarage]

Yep! The weight of the car is something a lot of people overlook.

[@six50motors]

Awsome video cool that you got the man the myth the legend to dyno and tune your motor

[@gatorunleashed275]

Pretty cool I have a 400 SBC in my 71 Nova, strong motors.

[@richardsmith-qy6vl]

I would love to no the specs on this build what compression what cam and heads and valves are in the heads.solid build.

[@ZHPGarage]

Check out our 3 part build on this engine where we go in depth on it

[@joepanzarello337]

Great engine guys! I'm assuming it's pump gas. Where did your compression land? And, what is the ball park cost of this motor?

[@WIED66]

You guys should build a 307. It would be cool to see it's potential. Seriously.

[@jaredshoemaker9196]

What are the flow numbers on these cylinder heads?

[@mariovelazquez9138]

Badazz motor!! NA allday....

[@tommo98765]

Oil pressure a bit excessive? Go to a thinner oil to reduce excess pressure and temperature? Or do you aim for that sort of level?

[@ZHPGarage]

It was a little excessive. After the engine is in the car and we get it running and driving, we’ll do an oil change to a thinner oil.

[@tommo98765]

@@ZHPGarage ah true. I forgot mine did similar with all the assembly lube present. Thanks

[@stenny1970]

ZHP Garage - What was the cost of all the parts etc... to build it ?

[@joer5000]

what number power valve did you start with? And what did you change it to?

[@alleyoop1234]

They had to have gone up in number to make that circuit come in sooner

[@JosephEaston-je6rk]

Nice job guys, I'm sure it will serve you well if maintained and not overreved so do use a rev limiter.

[@drcolster]

Good build, carby spacer it would of liked..

[@pumasisneros1]

"No smoke being sold .... " = Craig! So happy, this 67 Dave guy is going to pee his pants when he takes it for a drive.

[@ericthompson3551]

Bruhle is the man. Initial setup screen said displacement was 377 . That was changed right ?

[@forcedinduction5245]

Well seems like ya did a good job. But it's a sbc you can buy a 500 hp version at the drive thru at ( take ur pic) Mcdonald's, Burger King, taco bell. So if you any kind of performance person you should be able to produce 575 + especially from 400ci. Do it with 355 inches on pump gas that's bit more of a challenge.

[@2clicks2theright375]

It’s all about what your Cam lift is and the cylinder heads…more air flow and fuel to be delivered into the cylinder is what produces the numbers..FACTS!

[@jeremymyers5643]

Only way your getting 575hp from a 355 is a lot of compression or rpm, or both. Sometimes that's just not doable for some builds.

[@richardsmith-qy6vl]

I would like to know the whole engine combination I'm going to be building a 406

[@ZHPGarage]

Sorry for the late response, but we have a 3 part engine build series on this you can check out where we go more in depth.

[@cameronhetrick8014]

I’m building a 400. At the machinist and it’s gonna run 10.1 - 1. I know, where boring but that’s the most we’ve ever done!

[@jessicaembers924]

My MX-5 Came 13-1 stock! If you got aluminum heads, you can go higher than 10.1-1

[@kelvinhayes4177]

The more it warm up the better it ran. Like that small block chevy 400.

[@kelvinhayes4177]

My dad always said that those old Chevrolet small blocks need to warm up first.

[@kelvinhayes4177]

My dad always said to warm up our cars .Chevrolet is the only make of vehicle he had. The warmer that motor got the stronger it sounds. Damm good to me. I love the work to that motor.

[@shawng7902]

I wish they let you hear more of their combos on the stand. I know its totally irrelevant to power. But engine masters they even did several exhaust shoot outs and played music over the engine. Most all of us would love to hear how they spound instead music. Listen to yours and how good it sounds. Why not show that?

[@ZHPGarage]

Yeah I hear you there. When an engine is revving up the last thing I want to hear is guitar riffs drowning out the engine sound.

[@TheRoguelement]

what compression ratio is your 400 inch ...

[@stevenreynolds5066]

You talk about air/fuel ratio, but what are the numbers and what type of fuel?

[@ZHPGarage]

Around 12.5:1 on 91 octane

[@brendanbelli8769]

So what if you put a power outer on it such as turbo or nitrous would you blow it up is that the best you can do 580 ?

[@ZHPGarage]

Couldn’t do a power outer with this setup. And 580 is plenty for what this car is going to be doing.

[@brendanbelli8769]

@@ZHPGarage for that car yes but I’m looking to get into no problem in the small tire division most of these cars are 1000 hp or better I looked into the dart SHP naturally aspirated 700 hp probably blow it up after that I have a 350 in my car with 010 casting max is about 600 so I either go big block or I go LS even if I wasn’t doing no prep to stay competitive you have to have 700 hp her better just to be a stock hellcat or Camaro and throw Mustang in there 500 hp Off the line 10 years ago was great today I would get laughed at it’s not even worth for them to turn the key

[@brendanbelli8769]

@@ZHPGarage Thank you for answering me nobody else is going out of their way I appreciate it

[@LilRay.18]

@@ZHPGarage what wouldn’t allow you to do a shot of nitrous if you don’t mind me asking? Is it due to the ring gap y’all chose or bc the block itself ?

[@screamn1979]

What fuel is the 400 sb using

[@ZHPGarage]

91 octane

[@dougpascoe217]

Great job , about how much money did it cost to build . Total parts and labor🤓

[@ZHPGarage]

A lot of money

[@hawkofthenorth4829]

probably enough to build a 1500hp LS.. I bet

[@GJ-DT]

what carb?

[@jeffnunley1861]

What is the part number for this 400 sbc

[@rwatts1350]

I like the build. What would it cost

[@CherezianRacing]

How much did that session at westech cost yall?

[@nathantwing3266]

1970 SBC 400 Factory Did 330Hp 410 Tq.. All You Had To Do Was A Cam To Amp It Up

[@paulthompson8480]

Please can some one show me where the specs are for heads /cam / inlet manifold /carb /compression . headers 1 3/4 1.6 rocker ratio Eg CR 65ccchambers/ flat top 11.3 to 1 std bore .005 deck .040 gskt SR cam no spec ,,, in video .690--.700 lft ???? 260@.050 ?? Actual 260/265 head Dart 230cc Pro 1 64cc ,,, yes checked part no Inlet GM ?? carb ?? 817cfm in vid !!! or actually Holley Classic HP 830cfm ??? 560--580hp @ 6500rpm ..

[@ZHPGarage]

We go over all that in our 3 part video series build on this engine.

[@Lure-Benson]

All of these videos for the 383 and 400 SBC are on racing motors. I would like to see 383 & 400 SBC engines built for work truck towing. I did for my 1988 Chevrolet 1 ton truck was replace the 454 with a 383 stroker using 6 inch rods - 202 -160 values and 68 cc combustion chambers for a compression of 9-8-1. Because there isn't any dinos around I would like to see a 383 built close to what I have run on a dino. I can say the 383 I did and now in my truck is pretty amazing for low end torque. I will never use a 350 again.

[@billyumbarger7183]

Y'all boys gonna need a strong rear gear with some good axles

[@ZHPGarage]

Yeah we got a good rear end for it, installing it into the car soon!

[@kingtut8381]

THE ''MASTER'' AT WORK

[@KyleHamilton79]

I said 586. No soup for me!

[@tomasalvarez6040]

Haha. I was soo hoping for some name dropping at the end: “No smoking mirror shop here, unlike other shops like….”-:-:-“ “

[@rayguajardo4541]

I like the combination on the combo maybe you can put it down in The comments

[@dw8555]

600+

[@jameshall4906]

597 HP 580 torque

[@jefferybernard4800]

I have a rough idea of the cam specs

[@jefferybernard4800]

Before the power valve you were running 581 after the power valve you hardly got a couple hundreds of a horsepower the cracking the power valve had to help the power curve

[@patricklauer3100]

93 pump gas. 34 deg?

[@ZHPGarage]

91 octane

[@richardsmith-qy6vl]

585 as long as it's got enough camshaft

[@rafaelrodriguez442]

What are the specs on the motor?

[@Scubasteve22]

Sorry boys. Nice motor , but need to ditch the dart heads. She is a little weak sauce. Should be 600 fairly easy. I believe frys and cheeseburger said it below, seems a little tight.

[@everettbellgardt2874]

672

[@greggmanning9689]

Ho about a parts list, what’s in it?

[@ZHPGarage]

Check out the 3 part build series we did on it.

[@ronpaul8872]

May I have some specs, Please? I.E. Heads cam...

[@ZHPGarage]

Watch the 3 build videos we did on this engine

[@jasongreen9851]

521

[@rick343]

Wow, i stand corrected, very impressive.

[@turbodarealist4689]

480hp I guess if it pump gas .. if high compression I say 550hp

[@Nova-1977]

538 hp 497 tq

[@kaseydiane7508]

Would have made more with afr 220 heads

[@shaneeverett3026]

601hp 588 torgue

[@MasterWitchDoctor]

what do I think? I think my SS/J Super Stock 327 Chevy II will smoke that!!!

[@ZHPGarage]

Let’s line em up and see if that’s true!

[@johnziegler204]

With a 10.8 ET? I accept, best two out of three runs? What do you want to put on it?

[@carlosmarrero3397]

614hp

[@4g6XX]

How is the 350 so relevant with the 400 around is beyond me.

[@ZHPGarage]

400’s are underrated for sure, not really talked about.

[@tracyjames9938]

550

[@prestonharris5831]

556

[@billyschroeder9014]

I Guest. 600 hp.

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

Will you build a 400 with enough power to run with a Demon or LT ? ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@johnziegler204]

It’s right here.

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

@@johnziegler204 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

@@johnziegler204 please do a Naturally Aspirated 400 with a 1000 HP ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@johnziegler204]

A NA 400 won’t make 1000hp.

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

@@johnziegler204 what’s the closest you think it’ll get ?

[@ronfurtado5119]

548

[@rodpalm6398]

I ended up at 530 tq and 560HP using Dart SHP 400cid running street roller cam.

[@billyschroeder9014]

I have a 400 small block I built myself in my Machine shop. It’s now 500 ci small block. 700hp. Real. Torque. Not like a fake Ls. I’ll race any Ls No problem. This motor. Is in a suburban. Don’t under estimate. This suburban. Will kill most cars on the road. I don’t like sport cars. Think there fast lol not

[@ZHPGarage]

The sports cars never see it coming lol

[@williepelzer384]

How do you get 500 cu, in ?

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

Lots of expensive part for 500c.i., start with aftermarket block.

[@chrismathews4478]

Is it a GM 400 block or a Dart?

[@williamwhitaker8000]

580

[@joeyking1289]

575

[@dontdowhatido6503]

dang 93psi at 6k rpm

[@patricklauer3100]

585 hp

[@stevengrabowski667]

525 hp

[@douglaslambert579]

600 hp

[@deequintanilla2169]

565 hp

[@blueone8207]

530 hp

[@chrisrichards1339]

542 hp.