How good were the 1973 Chevelle's?

[Deez Nuttz]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

Thanks for the corrections and details I left out. In any case I think you can build up a motor that will put a big grin on your face when you tread heavily on the loud pedal, and it will fit right in just like stock...The 377 is the one that I recall works so well, but I guess it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Certainly the 400 makes a heap of user-friendly torque although in stock form it does not pull all that hard up beyond 4500 RPM.

IIRC the 400 uses a different, shorter rod than the rod used in all other SBC engines...encouraging the development of low-end torque, although the shorter rod may have been more of a necessity of getting the crank/rod/piston to fit in the block...

That is right. A production 400 Chevy uses a shorter 5.565 inch rod as opposed to most other small block Chevys that used a 5.7 inch rod. Production 400's are also externally balanced, where as pretty much all other production small blocks are internally balanced. Production 400's also had steam holes drilled in the heads because the cylinders were siamesed, meaning no water jackets in between the cylinders.

377's were built for roundy-round cars IIRC due to a cube inch limit. A 377 IMO is good for a light weight car such as a Vega or an S-10 where not much low end power is needed to push the car (aka smoking them off the line from excess torque in a light car). Otherwise a 383 or 400 is good for grunt and is also good for pushing heavy cars like Chevelles and Impalas and trucks.

My dad has a mild 400 sbc in his 68 Camaro SS. Coupled with an M22 4 speed and a 3.55 ring and pinion in the rear, you can be going 40 and pass cars without having to downshift. That's the torque talking. Those 400's can make an easy 425 hp and probably close to 475 ft. lbs of torque without really breaking much of a sweat.

[filmsniffer]

I think 1973 was the first year of the badge-engineered GM cars - this being the A-Body. The Buick Century mads its return in 1973, using the universal A-Body platform. I bought a base '73 Century with the big side windows. Traded it in for a '83 Pontiac 1000 (sister of Chevette) and I felt like I had made a upgrade!