Yeah John you and I are REAL close, only being off by 2 cars over a total of 839 I'm declaring you and I correct.
Dave I took a quick look at the front of that car when I was up at Bill's - it is quite a mess, but drivable. It came from Long Island. Aidan
Actually and both of those are in the number of 400's produced, with FML disagreeing with the Automobilia count. John
I would love to....I think it's longer which would be a problem, but I'm not sure and I could probably deal with that anyway. What I am sure about is the price is 3 or 4 times higher. It might be worth it by the time I get done playing the this engine, those heads game.....I dismissed it early, but I should give it some more thought I guess. Do you know of one available?
456 is quite a bit longer & will require a lot of work to make it fit. I've put a 575 (same basic engine) into a 365/400 chassis. I'll help with info if you really want to do it
I think you cured me of that idea with the quite a bit longer comment....I cold spare an inch or maybe 2, but that's it.
Go to the Vintage section, look at the thread 'converted to comp daytonas' page 2: The yellow GTO speciale
That looks fantastic!....it makes me want that engine..... Any chance you could give me a couple rough dimensions from that engine...just in case I could make it work? max width length from bell housing mount to the front of the timing belt Length of cam covers plus the timing belt Height from the center of the crank to the top of the cam cover
Call Michael at http://www.ferrariservice.com/. He had a 400i I was going to buy but didn't and he pulled the engine and is using the car as parts queen.
remove the trunk like in a 288 and put in a TR enigne and gearbox longitudinally. The alxe centerline is forward quite a bit in the boxer layout so it might fit behind the firewall quite nicely with the trunk gone or go pantera style with a removable trunk tub.
Mark I got it all wrong. Went to the hangar this agternoon and took out the tape. I hadn't seen your post then but took some measurements. The 575 engine is shorter than the 365 GT4! Front of crank pulley to bellhousing face approx: 33.5in 575, 37.25in 365 (to back of distrib casting) What threw me was the length of the cam covers which are 2in more on the 575 but look longer still. The engine is narrower. I'll get the dim's you want tomorrow.
Tasman That is great! So it should fit under the bonnet quite easily? I've always wondered what a 456/550/575 engine would be like in a 400! You could scare a few people with it. Aidan
well see....now that I found TR heads and a 400 core engine it looks like I may need to start looking for a 456/550...I'm so confused...... I don't know how much more power is available, a 5liter with TR heads should be good for 550-600hp when it;s all do I thing. 5.5 liters is more though, so more like 600ish I guess and no screwing around with parts that weren't meant to go together. It might just come down to money. I can't wait to see the dimensions
What does everyone think the optimal maximum horsepower might be for a 400i if it doesn't also have the traction control technology or the more advanced tires, brakes and suspension of the later cars? I already have no problem chirping, or lighting up, the tires on takeoff with my 400i's measley 310 hp, I can't imagine what would happen if I had an extra 200 hp. John
When I used to drive my 365 GT4 flat out all the time a few years back (before UK speed cameras got so serious) I found the most difficult thing was allowing space to stop the thing. All that weight on those 7.5in rims (the brakes were easily able to lock wheels at all speeds)! Apart from that the chassis will handle as much power as you can.....Look at the prewar Auto-Unions etc with 600hp and skinny tyres - it's a matter of sensitivity I'd say. I just save my adrenaline for the circuits these days, and the 2+2's aren't so good out there. What a glorious motorway cruiser though in the right country. 600 bhp and 200 mph - why not?
Max width at cam covers = 20.5in, (add approx 1.5 either side for the engine mounts) Length bell hsing-front of pulley = 33.5 Length cam covers + belt = 30 Ht to cam cover = 13.75 (add 1in to top of thermostat housing) There are some great (pretty much to scale) drawings of the engine front & side in the workshop manuals, as in the 400 book too. Can you send me some pics of the TR heads?
thank you....the height scares me a bit, but I think it would fit...I need to check prices. I'm guessing a 456 engine is in the $30k range and the 550 and 575 well above that, which would make it to dear to put in a 30k 308. I'll send you pics of TR heads as soon as I have some, I haven't bought anything yet, but should in the next few weeks.