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400 sbc in XM 708

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:07 am
by 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?

Re: 400 sbc in XM 708

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:03 pm
by 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,

Re: 400 sbc in XM 708

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 3:57 pm
by 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.

Re: 400 sbc in XM 708

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 4:21 pm
by 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...

Re: 400 sbc in XM 708

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:49 pm
by JimC
With the bbc, I used the stock fan and water pump.