Ok, here's the story.  I'm thinking about selling my camaro and picking up a '70 challenger.  It's got a mildly hopped up 318, 4 speed pistol grip, dana rear end with 3.55 posi.  Anyways, the guy says he has a 400 magnum he'll give me with the car for 500 bucks.  The motor has dual quads on it, but other than that i don't know much about it.  From what i have been able to find, the 400's came out during the smog era.  The dual quads kind of confuse me, if it is in fact a smog motor.  Does anybody know what's with this motor?  Any info would be appreciated. 

mitch  

Mitch,

Hi - just buy the Challenger - you'll soon forget about the Camaro.

As for being new to Mopar - hang around the right people and you'll learn fast. 440 Magnums were available with 1 or 2 x 4 barrell carbs - and optional 6 pack (3x2 barrel) . You also have a great drive line as well. Late sixties Chargers ran the same gear - really - it's some of the best stuff ever built. Congratulations with your find.....

Good luck Mitch, send photos if you like to: fletch@acenet.com.au

cheers -  Fletch - NSW Australia.

Helllo Mitch,

 Well, I had a big bloch 400, it came with a 75 dodge daytona that I picked up to make into a demolishin car, BUT..luckly it got spared, and is being restored by some one who wanted to make it into a racer car clone. As it was the body style that some on the nascars werein `75.

  I think maybe fletch miss understood, and thought you said it was a 440, but said 400. As to it being a magnum, well I`ve never heard of one, and if in fact it was a 400 magnum, I would think it was a very rare motor..

  But either way it wasn`t stock for a `70 challenger..

 So good luck, and by the way the motor is still a very good one, but the best use for it would be to make it a stroker motor, some get up to the 500 horse range, MP had an article about the 400 big block as a stroker, and I`ve got the magazine in storage, so can`t tell you exactlly witch issue..sry..but good luck..

                                  Steve..---loggerdriver---

There isnt much to be confused about. loggerdriver is right the 400 was never built as a magnum engine and obvioudly the dual quads on it are aftermarket. Challengers are an E-body car, cousin to  the 1970 and up Cuda. If it's a 4 speed I'd jump on it for that fact alone, not for collectibilty, but a strong portion of the cars were torqueflite automatics. It's got the Dana 60 rear with posi which is definately a plus. Although the 318 is a mild engine, it's solid and customizable. I'd dump a camero for this anyday. If the 400 he's giving you is a smog engine, I'd bail on it and get something pre-smog or a nice small block crate motor that will bolt right up to your cars A833. Not telling you what to do, just offering some advice.

Well, I'm pretty much sold on buyin the mopar.  I still have to put my camaro back together and find a buyer though, so it'll be a little while.  ( i'm welding the fenders in this week).  I'll have to talk to the guy some more about the motor, he knows his stuff so i doubt he'd put dual quads on a smogged up motor.  Anyways, thx for the advice.

mitch

Glad you made the right decision on the Challenger.  As for the engine, there has been an increased number of articles about building up 318's to make around 400 hp.  Sounds respectable in my books, also they're so damn reliable.  I have a 318 in a 69 Fury with 432,871.6 miles on it and it's still all origional.  Right now the car is being restored (and slightly customized)  Enjoy the car

The 400 did come in magnum form in the early 70's, as for being a smog motor that makes no deference as this is a very good motor to build for performance but didn't come with two 4's nor did the 440.  

Dont rule out the 400 because it was mainly a smog era engine. Its actually better than a 440 in some aspects. Plus they make awsome strokers. Throw in a 440 crank and rods and you got 451 ci's with less bore than a 440.  

The 400 has a larger bore  in stock form than the 440.  

Glad to hear about yet another Chevy convert to our wonderful world of Mopars.  If I were you buddy I would find a sweet little 340 to replace the 318....dont misunderstand, the 318 is an awesome motor but just isnt much for performance (although could be).  I have bought 2 340's from advance auto parts and sweetened them with a few speed goodies and have had lotsa fun in my '70 Cuda.  If you really wann spend some dollars and have a killer monster.....stroke the 400.  

Whats a smog motor ? low compression and bad carberation...

Look loke the 400 got rid of the smog stuff. As to the compression ? More particulars are needed for the 400 however many many 700 hp motors are based on 400 "smog motor" blocks.

basically with the 400 smog your are starting with a lower compression engine that has been smogged up, i.e. air pump, egr, stuff like that. However, that doenst mean that any of this cant be changed. if you are really going to build a high performance or race engine you really want to take your piece down to the bare block and research it. the first thing i would do is get it hot tanked, sonic tested, and then magnafluxed. id then clean it a gain and start taking measurements.