A 406 in a Cutlass??

[Young _Gun]

I was talking to a classmate of mine about muscle cars and what companies we prefer, etc. Well, my friend tells me he has a friend who has an 86 Olds Cutlass that was completely redone. He was telling me how fast it went and blah blah blah. So I asked him if it had the stock engine, and he tells me his buddy put a 406 in the Cutlass.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a 406 a bored and stroked 340 or 360 that's made by Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler?

[go-fish]

It can be. It can also be a Chevy stroker, it can also be the Ford 406 stroker.  340's stroked with a 4" crank usually end up being 416's and 360's 408 (depends what oversize bore you do and what it needs). People usually do .030" overbore.

[Super Blue 72]

I wonder if he meant a 403?    That was a popular engine in some of the mid/larger cars in the late 70's and 80's.  Some '79 Trans Ams came factory with Olds 403 engines. 

Best to ask the guy more details...

[71chally416]

It's probably a stroked SBC motor. They'll fit right in an Olds or Pontiac by using the right frame brackets. I myself can think of about 1,000 other car bodies I'd rather use than an '86 Olds Cutlass, but to each their own 

[duodec]

At least its not a 383.  Try to do some online searches on that Mopar engine and the results are flooded out by all the craptastic chevy strokers.

[71chally416]

We've tested 3 stroker SBC's on the shop dyno. A 383, a 406 and a 420. They all had alloy aftermarket heads and all were full rollers and none matched my 416 for HP. They were all in the 460hp or less range. We did test a circle track BBC 502 motor with iron heads that was over 800hp. It didn't look like much, but it made a bunch of power. It's in the cylinder heads. I think it had Merlins.

[tactransman]

I was talking to a classmate of mine about muscle cars and what companies we prefer, etc. Well, my friend tells me he has a friend who has an 86 Olds Cutlass that was completely redone. He was telling me how fast it went and blah blah blah. So I asked him if it had the stock engine, and he tells me his buddy put a 406 in the Cutlass.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a 406 a bored and stroked 340 or 360 that's made by Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler?

It's probably a .030 over 400 Chevy small block.

[74 340 4speed]

A 406 small block chevrolet is not a stroker motor.  I just built one for my 67 Camaro.  It uses a 400 small block that has been bored .030" over.  4.155" bore, 3.75 stroke crank.  Yes, they can be rediculously fast with the right set of heads,cam and compresson.  Mine made 505 HP and 506 FT LBs of torque on the dyno about 3 weeks ago.  92 octane gas, 10.5:1 compression, a hydraulic flat tappet cam, and it made those numbers before 5500 rpm.     400 ft lbs by 2500 rpm. 

[71chally416]

That again proves what I've been saying. The new Z06 motor is way over-rated. It needs Titanium rods, a very healthy roller cam,  CNC ported heads, 11 to 1 compression, a dry sump oiling system and more cubes to make only 505hp and 470tq   

And no, it's not under-rated. HotRod tested one of those LS7 crate engines in the Oct Hot rod and it did exactly what I would expect a 505hp engine to do in the race car chassis they used.

[Aussie Challenger]

  Didn't the 400 sbc get too hot on the simiased bores even with the extra drilling for water flow?     They can make good H.P. but really only for short bursts.   

[71chally416]

They are notorius for cracking. 

[tactransman]

A 406 small block chevrolet is not a stroker motor. 

Didn't say it was.

[nivvy]

 guy with a camaro her runs mid tens with 12 to 1 compression and 9.4 with a 250 shot i believe... he says hes on borrowed time.... 

[dodge freak 2]

That again proves what I've been saying. The new Z06 motor is way over-rated. It needs Titanium rods, a very healthy roller cam,  CNC ported heads, 11 to 1 compression, a dry sump oiling system and more cubes to make only 505hp and 470tq   

And no, it's not under-rated. HotRod tested one of those LS7 crate engines in the Oct Hot rod and it did exactly what I would expect a 505hp engine to do in the race car chassis they used.

Its a SMOG motor  ....in a light weight car body, with  light weight wheels, brakes and wide tires with a computer to help hook up the power....you just floor the gas pedal and the computer takes over. Thats why it runs fast....you take that motor and stick it in a old Cuda, there be a big diffance in track times.

Not saying the Z06 isn't nice...heck its the car to go to Las Vegas with, lol....but GM saying its the "best", "fastest" car they sold to the public is not be fair to the great cars they sold long ago.

A newer "normal" vette is a joke going from say 75 mph to 120 mph....for how much they cost and they still aren't too heavy and have light wheels also, after they get 15,000-20,000 miles on them, they are like "used up"...maybe if the owner spent another $5,000 on aftermarket parts it make a much quicker, I don't know.

Now for 2008 I believe the motors are a bit bigger, hopefully much better but a 2006 Vette I would not buy for sure....unless say it was, oh like $15,000...cause it needs work, lol.

[dodge freak 2]

What I don't like about older GM cars is the coil springs in back...might give a softer ride but leaf springs like Mopars have are much stronger...plus the Mopars motors were cast out of better iron.

I think a 1986 Cutlass looks nice but the steering stinks, has coil springs in back...needs major work to be done right...and even then, many states have smog and safety checks so it be undrivable...here in Michigan anything goes, so long as you can drive pass the police with no loud noise and any smoke coming out...hood scopes are a maybe depending on the car and cop...he could say its blocking your view of the road. But they could careless if it has the smog stuff on it.