My son wants to put a manual transmission where his Automatic is now. Is that block machined for that? (early 70's 400 chevy).
400 chevy is externally balanced, so you need a flywheel specifically for the 400 and not a typical SBC flywheel.
400's did come standard, you need a flywheel made for the 400 as they are externally balanced, my friend and i had 400's with a standard trans in our pulling truck and i do not remember having to drill the crank for a pilot bearing, i'm guessing thats what your worried about.
There is also a balance weight that is available so you can use a regular flywheel. There weren't a lot of 400s with stick transmissions so flywheels are scarce. Lots of racers used the balance weight.
If that's a good 400 block, tell him to sell it, get a 350 and stroke it out to 383 (now or later). Thars good money in good 400s.
You need one of these. Goes between any non balanced v-8 flywheel and the crank. Only 30 bucks and you can buy it here. http://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/chflbapl.html
Ran a m22 (rockcrusher) with a sb400 in my 60 gmc knee knocker. With the parts these guys listed its an easy install. Good luck and have fun.
I was just talking to my son about a rockcrusher, and there it showed up on the post. You know ,sometimes Dad makes a suggestion , but when someone else says it ,it flys higher.
I run a 400" in my Studey...behind it is a T-400...the flex plate got chewed up badly by the starter way back in 1980...so I purchased another flex plate, not knowing of the external balancing and put it all back together. At thirty-five MPH, the car shook violently...had no idea what was wrong. I checked with a few mechanic friends and found out the problem...not wanting to spend weeks tearing the car down andputting it back together again, I took a hammer and chisel to the flex plate and whacked off a small 1 inch square piece of metal spot welded to the flex plate.... Took it down off the jack stands and took it out for another drive...solved the shaking problem...and I've been driving the car ever since...it's now got nearly 140,000 miles on it since then and not one vibration since then... FWIW, the engine still in it -the 400" SBC was overhauled in early 1980...the guy that overhauled it told me it wouldn't last 80,000 miles cuz it was "so loose"...I'm almost twice that now and the car burns no oil and gets a constant 20-21 mpg... Problem is, the lacquer paint is checking and needs redoing, the interior is worn from all the seat time and the carpet has massive wear spots...and I'm looking at a year or more to re-do it all...it runs so good yet I don't want to tear it down... R-
You can also buy a new flywheel for the 400,I'd much rather use a good flywheel than a $30.00 counter weight.That's just my opinion.
You can take a look for the new part number of a new flywheel for your 400 http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/performance_parts/store/catalog/Category.jhtmlCATID=913.html
Look for this threaded boss over oil filter . it is where the clutch pivot ball mounts on small block chevys . I just happen to be tearing down a 350 for an overhaul presently .
Just making sure you know but the 400SBC also needs a different harmonic balancer since it is externally balanced.