Howdy. I got my 400 up with a builder. My talk with him yesterday went with him saying he can't find a roller cam to use and also he's advising to change to the 350 pistons for cost. He's not happy with staying with a flat tappet cam but he's stuck.

My question is does anyone have advice I could pass along for if and where to find a roller cam that could be used. And if there's a good source for somewhat comparable cost to what the 350 pistons might fetch?

I know through other kind of related posts there's talk about using the 350's, which is fine. I just want to try to keep close to the same power output. I also have a set of 425 pistons I was considering using instead. And I've read where some folks seem to have experience or know people who've bored out to use them. Heck I think I even asked the question a number of years ago. I'd seen conflicting opinions on other sites on whether it was ok to do or not.

Thx

 

I have a set of pistons that I bought years ago for a 400E build that never happened. These are standard bore (4.057") Speed Pro forged pistons with 12cc dishes milled into the tops. Let me know if you are interested.

 

Who has he checked with for a cam ? I assume it is a 45 degree cam ? He might want to check with Erson. They had some 45 degree cores last year but might not now. As far as pistons go, what size is he boring the block to ?

 

Get a custom ground cam, it's not going to cost much more. Make sure the block is for 842 lifters. As far as cam cores the 45 degree uses the same core as a 39. The only time it changes is for very large race cams.

 

Correct, but it does depend on the core material as to what you can get for duration, lift, and lsa.
Op- as mentioned we’ll need to know the lifter size. If it’s a .921 you’re pretty much out of luck for a roller unless you bush it back to .842 or ream it to .937 and use a solid.

 

Talk with cutlassefi, he can get you pistons and most probably a roller cam and lifters. Yes, 350 Olds std. bore W31 flat top pistons will work. I would recommend you do not use a dished piston. If you have a true 1965 400 block it will have the large letter "B" on the forward shelf for identification; that is a 45 degree cam with .842" diameter lifters.