400 sbc in XM 708

[JimC]

My brother is fixing to junk an old Chevrolet pickup that has a freshly overhauled 400 small block in it. I'm kicking around the idea of pulling the 230 out of my 708 and doing a fully reversible installation of the 400. It should be an even easier install than the bbc installation in my 37 was, and that went so easy that it was a no-brainer. This installation requires no changes to the frame or body.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[howard]

do you have to make your own mounts. what will you use for a trans.... i would love to do it to my m37 but its allready painted so im not going to tear it apart,

[JimC]

In my 37, I used a Muncie SM465 with my big block chevy. Don't see why that wouldn't work with the small block too. I positioned the engine so that the transmission shifter and the high-low range and 4whd shifters remained in their stock locations. Being lazy, I did the installation without removing the front cap. Took about 3 days. I retained the stock clutch pedal and accelerator pedal. I used chevy mounts saddled onto the frame.

[Master Yota]

I had a sbc mounted the same way. I ended up using an electric fan to cool the rad though, as the engine sat too low to use a mechanical fan. Now however, I would purchase a water pump riser from Summit or Vintage air to raise the pump up about 6" and then use a stock style mechanical fan for cooling... Otherwise its a simple installation.

X2 on the Sm465 trans...

[JimC]

With the bbc, I used the stock fan and water pump.