What will wake up a 400 engine?

[Superbeemike]

Tune up, Advance the timing (38-40 total advance), tune the carb, and verify the timing chain isn’t stretched. Don’t forget to flip the air cleaner lid . If you have a few bucks, throw a cam in it. It will also give you a chance to replace that worn out timing chain.

Headers, Intake and Carb after that.

 

[RemCharger]

Tune up, Advance the timing (38-40 total advance), tune the carb, and verify the timing chain isn’t stretched. Don’t forget to flip the air cleaner lid . If you have a few bucks, throw a cam in it. It will also give you a chance to replace that worn out timing chain.

Headers, Intake and Carb after that.

The aircleaner lid flip performance mod works best with a thermoquad.

 

[streetmachine]

It's. 72 Satellite with a 400. It does have a stockist 4bbl intake on it now ( someone must have put it on) and a rigged up Holly. It works but definitely needs a tune. Backfires and stuff. I was actually thinking about getting Snipper Fuel injection. I would think maybe that would solve a lot. I think that hooks up to the timing as well?

My suggestion would to give it a tune up first and go from there. The other thing is what is the cfm of the Holley on it now? The fuel injection would be nice but, you're going to be swapping a lot of things to get it to run including starting with a new fuel system which includes an EFI pump and fuel tank if your Satellite still has the factory one.

I agree with the other suggestions in this thread. Swapping one 4bbl intake for another won't make much difference in your case unless you change the cam, compression, and so forth. If your car has a 2.76 rear axle ratio I agree with either 3.23s and 3.55s. Honestly, that would be the next place to go along with verifying if the timing chain is good. The big question is what is your budget?

 

[slepr1]

Back in the day I had the same question. I put a good holley 4 barrel, intake, headers, dual exhaust and still wasn't happy. What 'did' wake it up was the rear end gears. I switched the stock gears to 3:55 and that did it. Save your money on the fuel injection. That won't do anything. Get the engine running right with a good carb and put some gears in it, even if its 3:23 which are a good ratio for street as well.

 

[Myasylum]

What is the suggested carb these days? I had an Holly Advenger 600 that was really nice, but that was on a small block 360.

 

[RemCharger]

Just a straight up old holley 3310 750 would work well

 

[66Satellite47]

The rear gear ratio sure would make a difference, depending on what you have now. A 3.23 is a pretty good basic drive around gear. A 3.55 or more is a noticeable improvement for stoplight acceleration. My '70 Barracuda with 3.23's was good and could push the speedo needle past the 120 easily, with the DP4B & 3310-1 & cheap headers. It could take many on the street. If you really want to wake it up, put a top notch torque convertor in it.

 

[Myasylum]

Thank you! I also got screwed with the rear end. I have an 8 1/4. Should I just get a Sure Grip 8 1/4 or look for a 8 3/4? Dollar for dollar what is the best route?

 

[66Satellite47]

I have zero experience with an 8 1/4. Back in the day they were used in the really low performance vehicles. An 8 3/4 can stand up to a lot of power/torque. I wouldn't waste my time or money on an 8 1/4 sure grip. Just my opinion.

 

[WileERobby]

An ALARM CLOCK ?

 

[PRHeads]

There’s been quite a few suggestions so far....... I think the first thing I’d do is....... figure out what your budget is.

You can drop a few grand in the blink of an eye.

You say the motor has an intake and carb on it now.
Exactly what intake, and exactly what carb?
Holley’s have a list number stamped into the choke horn....... that will allow you do identify what it is.

Ages ago I had a 73 Satellite with a 318 in it. I’m pretty sure it had an 8-1/4 rear.

 

[Darter6]

The big question is what is your budget?

Bingo !

 

[MarPar]

What is the suggested carb these days? I had an Holly Advenger 600 that was really nice, but that was on a small block 360.

IMHO, an Edelbrock carb is a lot more user-friendly than a Holley. Much more tune-able.

Let the flaming begin. lol

 

[Slap Stick]

An Edelbrock more tuneable than a Holley?
Okay.

Back in about 1980 I had a 72 Polara Pursuit with the 400. At 30 mph it would jump sideways if ya floored it. I couldn't keep rear tires on it. Or gas in the tank.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Here you go just over 3 grand plus the cost of a fuel system upgrade.

 

[DemonDave]

He's already got blower pistons in that 400!

Hmm, so do I.....

 

[streetmachine]

Regarding the 8 1/4 if you want to keep it really low budget you could try to find a late 80s through late 90s Dakota or XJ Jeep Cherokee and swap gears from that if you could get them cheap enough. I believe most Cherokees had 3.55s in them. Besides the budget, if you plan on doing a stroker kit or 440 swap in this car I would just go straight to a 8 3/4 and not waste time or energy with an 8 1/4 rear.

 

[BeatersRus]

you can also buy gears Brand new for the 8-1/4 dirt cheap..
i still have a set of 4:10s laying around from yukon,i think they cost less than 200.
the key to those rears is to rebuild using Spacers instead of a crush sleeve.
buy the aftermarket kit of Spacers,that has all diff sizes then use those instead of the crush sleeve.
with the factory crush sleeve,you get 1 shot at getting it right,correctly torqued to set.
whereas with the spacers,it will be easier to get right and Stay right because theres no sleeve to fail.

as far as your motor goes,from the start figure out the condition of the motor,ie timing chain,plugs water pump valve stem seals,compression for each cylinder,etc etc.

after that,either get your distributor recurved or buy an aftermarket performance<< one,thats curved for your Application.
ditch that holley you have,and look for either a street Demon or an edelbrock.
if you are going to street cruise this car,then get a 625
if you plan on beating it senseless then go for the 750.
heres a link to the Demon 750,and keep in mind this is Next Gen version of the Thermoquad design too.

https://danaport.com/products/demon..._content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic

 

[1968rt]

Read this article, particularly the dyno pulls. See how different add-ons affect a low compression motor. https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/dyno-testing-a-stock-1972-440.249866/

 

[Myasylum]

I'm learning a lot here guys! Thank you! I think first off I'm just going to get it running right before I tear into it too much. Can someone explain the timing recurve thing? Does a 72 still have points? Could I just get something like an MSD distributor and be good to go? That would be too easy I suppose. I have timed a car before with the timing light, but when it comes to weights and all that I'm a bit at a loss.
Thanks!