i always see the high and mighty 454 built and the 396 tossed aside like yesterdays Hair grease...so as i like the dare to be different(because another big block chevy in an ol' chevy truck is so different) where are all the Built 396's? i think i saw one poked an stroked to 427ci and that was impressive!
mine is a 1969 396, .030 making it a 402 now. Has TRW forged pistons. stock 1969 oval port heads with the small valves, good for torque, 230 duration .500 lift cam, and an edelbrock intake. Ran real well in my last off topic car. That engine, with an M22 4 speed and a 12 bolt with 4.10's is now going in my 28 roadster project. I trashed my aluminum flywheel in my last car so I want to find another one. They're a great engine, and dont go with the big rectangular port big valve heads unless you have the compression and cam to go with it. Stick with the oval ports if the goal is 400 HP or less.
I have a '66 vintage 396 apart in my garage. It was nice running but I took it apart due to a bearing problem. The block is a hi-perf/truck block, not sure of the stats but it has a factory medium high rise intake, oval port 454 heads, an L88 solid Vette cam. I have to get it freshened up as soon as I find a home for it. I happen to like the motors, they make plenty of power unless you're looking for an all out race motor. But for a nice cruiser, they work out fine. The only down side is if you want one, they're not as plentiful as the 454. Bob
i ran a .060 over 396 in my 69 elcamino brodix heads 12.5 to 1 , big solid roller ran like stink....once you spun it up real high not a good choice for cruizing with my setup but was a blast to drive when it was almost stock take it for what is worth tk
I raced A .060 over 396 in a 66 chevelle. best Et 11.60 @114.9 MPH. Not bad for swap meet parts, oval ports and a hydraulic cam. It was low maintenance too... low buck AV fuel and change the oil 2 or 3 times a season. Oh yea, I would average nearly 100 passes a year. Eric
Mine has TRW pistons with a dome just like the stock ones, which were 10.25:1, but I have open chambered heads, which I was told drops compression about a point. Should burn regular just fine. Other specs; L88 cam, early oval ports with nice springs, shim steel head gaskets, dual Edelbrock 600's. I went to the Edelbrock web site with my engine particulars thinking a pair of 500's would be best, but they said no. The 396's had forged cranks, shared with 427's. There was a dyno test in a magazine a couple years ago comparing the early oval ports and the square port(also an early head) on a 454, and the oval ports came out on top! The only modification to them was a step up in valve sizes. The bigger heads are only useful on a very large motor. That's the great thing about the 396, easy and cheap to build, extremely durable, and they make power you can only get out of a small block by using some expensive parts. Mine's going in a disco era Vette with big flairs and a 12 bolt rear with a four link and air bags. This car used to tear up this town, and I've heard stories of how well it'd come out of the hole! LEE
i got one out of a old nova gasser ran in the late 70s its 13 to 1 solid cam rec.port heads had a tunnel ram on it then .ran 10.90-11.02 going to put that pig in my willys areo..
I bought most of one on Ebay for $387. fairly close to home. Got it home and freshened it up with new rings, bearing and a valve job. We kept the stamped steel rockers and small valve open chamber oval port heads. Bought a summit 540 hydraulic cam and lifters. A used streetmaster intake and 650 holley. We put an electric waterpump on it and a used mallory 9000 distributor. We put a powerglide and a 3500 converter behind it and my son went 10.70.s @ 120 or so.
I knew this would run cooler than a built small block due to the water volume. But I knew I couldnt keep 500 ci or bigger cool. With my 32 style radiator the system holds over 4 gallons of water.
Hey ardyboy, COOL Fiat. 396's could be made to go much faster if you wanted to throw the $$'s at it but because they were overlooked by big cube guys, there were quite a few of them around then. I think that restorers are starting to snap them up now but back then, you could pick one up for cheap, dust it off, throw a converter and reasonable gear behind it and have a fairly quick, reliable bracket motor. I forgot to mention earlier, to answer you question, with descent fuel and maybe a little octane booster, an old 396 will make solid street power and will definitely have a "neat" factor. Keep the carb size reasonable and don't try to spin the old dog to the moon.The first cam I ran in mine had me shifting it at 5,300 and the chevelle would run as quick as 12.30. It sounded like a hay truck but would embarrass fast cars in the first 60 feet.... Eric
I ran a 66 396+.030 in my 73 Chev truck. It never pinged with regular fuel, pulled whatever I needed to pull and got about 12mpg. The pistons were getting expensive last time I looked, but not too bad. Remember that they put out 425hp in a 65 Vette and pretty much defined what a big block should be for several years.
When I built a 36 plymouth coupe I had several years ago, I parted out a wrecked 70 nova big block car. 402 4sp 12 bolt rear. All went into the coupe. I ran a 750 holly carb and headers. That thing would pull all day long, loved it. The most amazing part was the milage on good gas (sunoco 120). I made a trip to the nats in tulsa pulling a pop up camper and was averaging 23 mpg. As soon as I could only get regular the milage droped to about 12mpg. Factory compression was 11/1 I believe. In about 78 I pulled it out and installed a 400 small block along with mustang front end, ford 9" posi out back and had a much nicer cruiser afterward, better weight balance etc. I sold the 402 to a guy restoring a nova that wanted numbers matching for the princely sum of 1200.00 back when you could buy these at the yard for a couple hundred. Thought I committed a crime, but compared to today thats chicken feed. I did love that engine though.
In the latest NHRA "blue printed Stocker form" a 375hp motor is capable of making 615-620hp @ peak and over 600 average. In 3500-3600lb + Novas, Camaros and Chevelles, they are capable of 9.70's-10.20's @ 125mph +. Check out the A/SA-C/SA & A/S-C/S chevies at your next NHRA national or divisional race. The 325hp oval port motors are capable of 10.60's @ 123mph+
In 1970, I installed a 350 hp 396 from a 67 Chevelle SS into the 55 you see in the Avitar. The engine is now worth so much to a collector, that I have replaced it with a 454. The 396 ran flawlessly for all 38 years ( I used a home made water injection to solve the problem of poor gas). I will enjoy the increased torque of the 454, and won't worry so much about blowing up a valuable engine. I also have a 435 horse 427 from a Corvette and would actually have loved to run it on the street, but the compression is too high to be practical, and the square port heads make the engine less streetable than the 454. Bob
I have a 396 I paid 175 bucks for many years ago.Came out of a 67 Chevelle.I am now building it to go in a 65 Vette.I have the oval port heads with the larger rectangle port valves installed.Bored 30 over.I am currently trying to decide on a cam.May go with a thumper.The main reason I have found out why more 454s are built is because of cost and availability.You just can get 454 compontents so much easier and cheaper than the little brother version.
oooo you guys are making me and my 396 jealous! would a 500-550 horse 396 be a Pig on the street or is that still on the tame side alittle?
I dont think you will get there without aftermarket cylinder heads and a compression ratio that would require race fuel.
aftermarket heads i can live with but why such a high compression? you dont think i could do it with 10.5:1? maybe a touch higher?
i agree with glen. i put a 402 in my model a for the street because i had it layin around. it has a mother thumper cam ,holley 750,performer rpm intake ,and is around 10 to 1 with 781 casting heads on it. its still a pig. if you are gonna start from scratch build a 454 both cost the same to rebuild and its no mystery that cubes equal horsepower why re invent the wheel?
Hey Squig, I have a hydraulic roller, aluminum head, 396 with 10.5-1 compression. This makes 430 hp/440 tq on a conservative dyno. I'm still building the car so I haven't driven it yet.
see now thats what im talkin about! i personally would have a solid roller but thats my taste and thats almost in the power range im looking for.I know C/R equals horsepower but i didnt think i needed 12:1 or anythign crazy for 500hp
That Would be bitchin! or a 396 with a S400 would be fun....or i could swap the 396 for a vortec 6.0L and turbo that(but then the truck has "new" tech in it and i dont know if i could handle that)
Take a 454 block and pistons, throw a forged 396 crank and rods in it and you have a poor mans 427. A guy names Malcom Waldon in Shreveport La used to do this all the time in the early 80's. He would put them in 66-67 chevelles with 456 gears in the rearend and turbo 400's. Single 4 barrels, aluminium intakes, nothing fancy or expensive. You did have to keep the RPM's down below 6,000 but they embarresed quite a few high dollar small blocks... Dollar for dollar, nothing beats the stop light to stop light performace of a big block chevy.
For some good info, try to pick up a December, 1965 copy of Hot Rod magazine with the "396 Wedge Smokey Yunick Style" article. Using mostly stock parts, he got incredible HP.
The Jalopy Journal
