dodge charger 400ci?????

Question

is a 400ci powerful and is a fast engine?(is it a family sedan engine?)

im talking about a 1972 dodge charger,, and tell me anything about a 1972 400ci,

Answer 1

First, there is no difference in the heads on a 400 and a 440, they are the same thing.

There are however different castings of heads. This is over various years, and slight changes to the heads design.

Now, a 400 can be a very fast, strong, and powerful engine. All one needs to do is to rebuild it using good quality parts, and a better than stock piston.

The factory pistons were designed to create a low compression engine to pass emissions standards, and to run on new lower octane fuels. We now know that these fuels can be used with more compression, and develop more power.

If you replace the stock piston with a zero deck piston, you will have a 9.5:1 compression motor that will perform excellent on pump gas. You should have no trouble taking a B-body car into the mid 12's in the 1/4.

Now, if you don't want to rebuild the entire engine, you can gain quite a bit of power with a simple camshaft, and intake manifold change, add some headers, and good flowing exhaust, and you will have a healthy street cruiser.

If you want to look into putting the 440 crank into the 400 block, you can find good information at www.440source.com

They offer tried and tested crank, rod, and piston kits to build a 451 or larger motor using the 400 block.

Also if you are looking for really good information on anything Mopar, look into www.Moparts.com

Answer 2

The 400cid engine first appeared in 1972. This engine reportedly was introduced as a bored-out 383cid to compensate (at least to some degree) for the loss of power due to increasing emission controls. In passenger car use, horsepower in four-barrel form varied from 190 to 255. I am not familiar with its use in trucks or RVs. This engine disappeared in cars after the 1978 model year. Frankly, this engine, with its host of power-robbing emission controls, has never been much of a favorite with the automotive hobby. It had the gas mileage of a 440cid with the power of a 360cid. The four barrel carburetor on the 400, the Carter ThermoQuad, is known for being temperamental. That said, the uncommon high performance version (with 255hp in '72) of the 400cid was a smog muscle contender. This engine can be identified by a "P" engine code in the VIN. Assuming it is the original engine in the original vehicle it can be most easily identified by the full dual exhaust and the dual snorkel air cleaner. I had a 400cid high performance in my '75 Plymouth Road Runner and a regular 400cid in my '75 Dodge Coronet. The RR definitely moved out, the Dodge definitely did not-and was less economical.

However, note that: any car/engine combo can be improved for better performance. And also note that relative performance is only one criterion for purchase/enjoyment of any collector car.

Answer 3

A 400 can be made to scream. All you need is a 440 crank and heads. Some machine work on the crank to fit the 400 block with some other mods you will have a high revving screamer with depending on mods 550 to 700 hp.

Answer 4

The old 400 CID engine had a fairly wide bore and short stroke. As a result, it was pretty fast and powerful off the line, but it seemed to flatten out as you got above 70 MPH or so.

Answer 5

got to supercars.net they have the info you want