[cobrashoch]

Jack- Hope you did you get me wrong too. I am not married to ANY brand. PERIOD! Actually I am a very old hemi builder. Have been building Detroit iron since the early 60's. Guess all those Corvettes I have owned in the last 10 years or so don't count.

The 400 is Chevys problem child. Problem is it was never designed for performance applacations. That's not to say it can't be hotrodded, it can. But you have to do so much more to it to make it work,,,,,,,read--- $$$$$$ dollars$$$$$$ ! Even hardcore Chevy guys that bracket race use 383's (350 blocks) most times. Why? The 400 is just not worth the effort most times to use. Of recent there has been many high cube attempts at this block but I have not heard of any successfull attempts with long-givitity in mine. At least for street use anyway. As for the SB bowtie block, I'am not the only one thats fought their builds. Just ask any high end builder that's tried to performance build them as I have.(2 or 3 in the last year or so)

As for the other brands, Yes in this case they are better. Much better. The ford SVT smallblock is a Clevleland design that has none of the probems the bowtie block has.(except oiling?) To many guys running around this joint w/427,408 SB Ford combos with high milage that were built for around 10k or less $$$$$ to argue with them. There IS a history here.

Again, I am not married to any brand. PERIOD! But I can see when something is better. Take that from a unoffical Chrysler guy.
cobrashoch