Hi guys, this is my very frist "drivetrain" posting, so forgive me for what is sure to be much ignorance.

I've completely disassembled the 400 motor I bought from a guy (a pig in a poke kind of thing) to replace my stock 350. So far the big stuff looks good (good bore, good heads, etc.) but I'm currently examining the crankshaft and it is showing signs of wear.

I'm seeing some wear on the main bearings and some discoloration. Same story on the "journals" if that's the right term on the crank itself. The cam bearings look really good.

Would you recommend that I take the crank into a machine shop to have it turned or replace the crank completely with a "crank kit"?

Our local Autozone will do a crank kit (cast crank, main/rod bearings for $240 with core) but I have no idea what a machine shop would charge to get to a similar place. A crank from Summit is about $250 and I don't believe that includes bearings.

I'm a bit out of my league here so I thought I'd get some opinions. I'm trying to do this on a budget but I'm trying to do it "right" as well. This will be a driver but with some attitude hopefully.

If it helps to know, I have no direct knowledge of this motor nor did the seller. I removed an Isky "race cam" (part number 910801) which looks to be in good shape. The motor is bored .40 over and the heads appear to be the high-compression variety.

I'm into the motor for $250 so far. All answers and any other other thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!
Tom

1) Pick a good machine shop if you do not already have one you deal with. Do research, ask car people, especially if you belong to a club, get recommendations. MAKE SURE THEY HAVE DONE PONTIAC MOTORS.

2) Take the block and the crankshaft to the machine shop that you picked and have them evaluate the block and the crankshaft.

Arond here its 10 bucks a jornal to turn the crank.Personally if your just doing a refresh of the motor i'd do the kit.
I would definly get the block checked and heads checked for cracks. i ran into 3 blocks that turned up cracked before i found a "good" 400 block. you dont want to put money into bad parts, ask nme how i know.

It is best money spent when you have the block hot tanked then magnifluxed. Keeps you from wasting money

yup and saves time too!

As others have stated, have the block and heads checked out before spending any money on a crank. I would also recommend a machine shop that is very knowledgeable about Pontiac engines. You take it to a fly by night machine shop and you could end up paying more in the long run with faulty work. I realize you are on a budget, but the engine is the one area you do not want to skimp, could cost way more if you have to do the work a second time.

Thanks for the inputs, fellers. I live in fairly rural area, but I did find a machine shop guy who apparently specializes in Pontiac motors. He's a one-man show and is backed up for weeks. I guess that's a probably a good sign.

I'm going to take the crank and short block to him and see what he recommends. I also realize my "resto-mod on a budget" mantra has to be put aside in certain key areas...and this is one of them.

I realize this is a subject change now, but if anybody has any thoughts, I'm wondering what a reasonable budget is for a 400 rebuild (not a racing application, just a good solid driver-with-some-attitude).

I paid $250 for the motor originally (and it came with an HEI dizzy, Edelbrock manifold, Holley 600, and some other goodies). I've done all the work so far myself. Looks like I may be into this crank/bearings for another $250-ish, cam/lifters are probably going to be another $300, oil pump, gaskets and whatnot another $150...for a total of around $1K. Oh, and the magnaflux...I have no idea what that runs.

In any event, is around $1K a reasonable budget? I guess I've got the advice of a neighbor-friend down the street ringing in my ears who told me to just buy a crate 400. That seemed like a huge investment at the time, but now I'm wondering if that really would have been a better plan. Too late for this time, but for next time?

Thanks again for the opinions and any thoughts on my overall motor project.

I put $3500 in shop work and parts into rebuilding the 400 engines in the last two cars I built. Baked, machined, pistons, rings, cam, balanced, three angle valve jobs, hardened seats, new valves, deck and heads surfaced, pushrods, bearings, oil pump, and long block assembled. Nothing "race", nothing crazy.

Sounds about right.... It ain't cheap to do it right. That's not go fast price....

Holy cow. Ok, I clearly need to adjust my bar. Will start slowly setting expectations with the wife (that should be fun). She already thinks I have a problem.

(Anybody else routinely have boxes of parts in the living room?)

Thanks for the inputs.
Tom

I'm not that organized. Parts go where I set them down. Drives the wife crazy! I figures it God's way.

Keep your friends close and parts closer! lol

My 2 cents.

Make sure it is a P400 block.

I knew nothing, I bought my 68 coupe? with an ORIGINAL 326. DUH.

When I pulled the motor, it was a 403 olds....... worked good though because it was very strong and I dropped it in my 80 TA.
Sorry Pontiac but the 301 was used as a clothes line anchor.. Still runs today. Pontiac Power.

Better to have the parts than to have to locate them down the road. At least in the living room they should be easy to find when putting them back on the car!