396(402 bored.030) needs help

[Aint Skeered]

I recently bought a 64 Nova with glass doors, trunk lid, complete 1 peice glass front cap and lexxan windows. this thing is light weighting in at 2200 with out me in it and I weight 250llbs. race weight of 2450 or so.
THe engine is a oval port 402 2 bolt main. I was told it was a 4 bolt with steel crank , forged rods and pistons but it only has 1 plug over the oil filter indicating a 2 bolt main. the rear end is a 12 bolt with 5.13 gears with 31x13 slicks and was told the car ran 10.50's . I questioned the gearing allowing the car to cross in a useable power range and he said he crossed at 7200. THis is a 9 " 4800 stall(brand unknown).
I went to the track sunday I ran 7.50@91 mph with only a 1.69 60 ft. I know this thing should run better then that. before i start chasing my tale on this 396 , what are these 2 bolt mains able to safely spin to and do they make a better big block dart head for a small big block?

I am dropping the gears back to 4.30's and putting a crank case evac system on the headers as it is pushing the dipstick out the tube. I will do a compression and leakdow test also to see if it needs internal work. timing was set at 36deg and a 780 holley carb jetted to 77 fronts 79 rears with pv plugged.
Any thoughts ob a 396 would be helpfull.

[Aint Skeered]

I found out some more info today from the guy who built the motor 5 years ago. This thing has stock rods and crank with trw forged 11/1 dome pistons. The cam is a Lunati 292 solid flat tappet cam that is done at 6000 rpms. I am wondering if I stepped up to a crane saterday night special cam with a power band of 4200 to 7200 and shifted around 6500 -6800 would this be a better combo with 4.30 gears ?

[Awesome Bill]

i ran a 2 bolt block for 4 years with over 1000 hp of spray every weekend. It finally popped a cylinder wall and I repair it with a thick wall sleeve and 2 month later another one spllt and let the boogie man in. Couldn't fix that. A 402 block is a little better being the bore is smaller and has more support being it is thicker. You engine right now is a real oinker. Your going to kill it with the gear because your converter is too tight, you have more mph than e.t. Not by much but I don't see 10.50 especially being your rings are no good. When ever you push crankcase pressure out of the dipstick and valve covers, its hurt. Pull it down and have someone that knows how to hone a block put a new finish on it and then it will run a little better. As far as your block, you don't have no where near enough power to hurt it even with spray. Your only making 365/375 hp right now which is most likely stock hp stuff. You can add a cam and spin it 7000 with most likely not any more power because your solid lift valve train is out to lunch @ 6000 rpm anyway. Solid roller is the only way to go over 6500 rpm with those heavy stock parts in the valve train. Good Luck and hope this helps

[Aint Skeered]

You were right, I did a cyl leak down test and it revealed that 6 cyl had 50 to 69% leak down and 2 were just shy of 20%. I am having it power honed at a shop that I trust and going to rering it, put in some new rods . the heads only have 2.08 int. valves and the shop told me that putting 2.19 int. 1.88 exh valves , valve job and blending them in will wake it up . The cam that is in there now is a Lunati solid lift(pt #40207 ) with 237int/247 exh duration at .050 -.40/.558 lift and 110 lsa / 108 center line . LUnati told me that I should go up to the 40209 cam (247/258) or just retard the cam I have 4 deg and tighten the lash up from .022 to .018 , and that will make it run a little better since I have such a lite car.

I am going with 4.11 gears with a th 350 and try the same converter( supposed to be 4800 but dont feel that big) .

Does any of that sound right to you ?

[Awesome Bill]

I would not do anythng but make sure the camshaft is in with the proper intake valve opening @ .050". I don't like retarding any camshaft to make it work, it usually does not. As far as gear, your taking a huge jump backward. I would put a 2.30 intake in and leave the exhaust alone if it were mine but that may make a little problem with the shrouding of the block being the bore is so small. I would go with the second camshaft, move the intake and exhaust valve up like you said, then make sure your converter is really a 4800. So many people think they have 1 thing and its not. RPM with Gear , tire size, mph will tell you what converter you have along with a tranz brake to hold it still with a wot throttle for 2 seconds. Be Careful, could be hazorduous to your and others health.

[Aint Skeered]

I would not do anythng but make sure the camshaft is in with the proper intake valve opening @ .050". I don't like retarding any camshaft to make it work, it usually does not. As far as gear, your taking a huge jump backward. I would put a 2.30 intake in and leave the exhaust alone if it were mine but that may make a little problem with the shrouding of the block being the bore is so small. I would go with the second camshaft, move the intake and exhaust valve up like you said, then make sure your converter is really a 4800. So many people think they have 1 thing and its not. RPM with Gear , tire size, mph will tell you what converter you have along with a tranz brake to hold it still with a wot throttle for 2 seconds. Be Careful, could be hazorduous to your and others health.

do you mean 4.11 is not a good gear with my car? it weights about 2300 with me in it.

[Awesome Bill]

You just need to be careful how much you do here before you try it. Your changing up so much, you won't have a baseline to figure things out if it does not do what you think it should. 4.10 4.56 4.88? That all is determined by what your crossing the finish line @ and slippage factored with your torque converter. A converter has more to do with rpm than gear in most cases.