Question: Short crank in a 400

Not to mention that if you torque the heads down to stay that when you make some H-P and rev the shit up that the block will split the deck between the steam hole and the head bolt. We have plugged these but what a piece of shit of a design>>>>.

 

This sounds as if it was built using the late 2.45" main/2.10" rod 327 crank, if you were using the PM rods without mods.

Depending on the bearing composition, this may or may not work well from the point of view of longevity. When Jenkins addressed this topic, though, he was talking about doing the 2.65" to 2.45" combo, or the 2.45" to 2.30" combo....not the 2.65" to 2.30"...which would take a monstrously thick bearing (which isn't made so far as I know), or, as I described earlier, the thick spacer/thick bearing paired together...which don't work so well.

Putting aside for the moment whether or not this bore/stroke combination makes sense...and it might...since we don't know anything about the vehicle and its intended use, we can't make that call......

...it still appears that either an aftermarket block, or an aftermarket crank, is needed to get the right mix of bore/stroke/journal size. I've kept an eye on this to see if someone had an alternate solution for solving the bearing issue that arises with using Chevrolet parts...doesn't seem like it....

The linked article also used the late 327 crank and the thick bearings...interesting article, but it doesn't answer this particular bearing question. Incidentally, their statement as to why long rods "reduce detonation sensitivity of any engine" is...debatable....at best...

 

We looked into this for our IMCA car as well, have heard it is a very hard running combo for it's displacement, and we run a 360 ci limit.

Out of curiousity for the non circle track HAMBrs, was this combo put together for a 360ci limit class? Or was it competitive on the track with cars over 400 cubes?

 

There was no C.I. limit in my class, I just happened to have the parts handy to build it, plus I had read the Hot Rod magazine article and I had always wanted to try it. Our tracks get very dry slick out west, so ultimate H.P. is not really going to help all the time, but yes, it was very competitive with the bigger engines. I have also built a couple for 360 C.I. street stock classes that are limited to two barrel carbs, and they both won features. The crank I used was a large journal 307 cast crank.