# Found problems with my 400



## GTOlady (8 mo ago)

Found problems with my Pontiac 400 in my 1965 GTO this morning.Pulled it out last night and put it on the engine stand.Pulled it apart this morning,found a crack in the center valley that was welded up a hack did.It got worse,heads are scrap,crack between two of the valve seats.Two of the cylinders,wore out.I got lucky,getting a good 1965 400 from a neighbor's buddy whom built it as a short block with the timing cover and oil pan on recently.Bought it for a good price and checked it out at his place.All I have to buy are head gaskets,intake and valve cover gaskets including exhaust manifold gaskets.I have a set of 400 heads already machined and valve job done in the bag ready to put on.Includes a set of ARP headbolts.The old block and head,taking to a family friend to make an end table out of.Bolting the heads back on.


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## Sick467 (Oct 29, 2019)

Bummer about all the cracks, but your going to get a really cool table out of it!


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## GTOlady (8 mo ago)

Sick467 said:


> Bummer about all the cracks, but your going to get a really coo table out of it!


Called the machine shop I deal with,said the crack in the center valley came from too much hot rodding.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

GTOlady said:


> Found problems with my Pontiac 400 in my 1965 GTO this morning.Pulled it out last night and put it on the engine stand.Pulled it apart this morning,found a crack in the center valley that was welded up a hack did.It got worse,heads are scrap,crack between two of the valve seats.Two of the cylinders,wore out.I got lucky,getting a good 1965 400 from a neighbor's buddy whom built it as a short block with the timing cover and oil pan on recently.Bought it for a good price and checked it out at his place.All I have to buy are head gaskets,intake and valve cover gaskets including exhaust manifold gaskets.I have a set of 400 heads already machined and valve job done in the bag ready to put on.Includes a set of ARP headbolts.The old block and head,taking to a family friend to make an end table out of.Bolting the heads back on.


1965 was a 389CI unless it was bored .060" to make it a 400CI.

This is why it is so easy to get burned and pay top dollar for junk. I have learned from personal experiences myself not to buy anything such as an engine, engine block, heads, trans, rear end or other parts mechanical unless you know the seller personally or have the part brought to a machine shop or specialist to magnaflux for cracks or disassemble for inspection and the seller agrees in writing to give you your money back if the part/parts are defective and cannot be used. There are good prices and top dollars associated with Pontiac parts and this tends to bring out the scum bags who see profit at your expense and know that most sales are "as is." The excuse of, "well that was how I bought it and the guy who I bought it from said..........". Ya, right. Most know what they have and its why they offload it onto some one else who doesn't know any better and is just looking for the part/item or a deal.

Trying to buy a 1987 Mopar 360 block off Facebook. Price is $400.00 for what appears to be a clean block and was told it was a standard bore. The seller said his boss, who owns a machine shop, was clearing out some past items that customers had dropped off and never came back. Told him I wanted it, but only if he could have it magnafluxed for cracks, and I would send him the money to have that done. Rather spend a few dollars to find out the block is junk before I buy it and lose that money rather than travle 2 hours to get the block, spend $400, and have my machinist tell me the block is junk.

So I PayPal his boss at the machine shop the $50.00 to get this done. All of a sudden I get that his boss has not gotten to it, his boss is busy and will be getting to it, his boss had some personal things he was taking care of, his boss will be gone for a few weeks, his boss's daughter got sick and he will be back in 2 weeks, his boss should be back this week, and yet the block came from the same automotive machine shop where this guy supposedly works and only his boss knows how to magnaflux parts. Been about 5 months or so and it still has not been magnafluxed. Told the guy no rush, but I have conceded I have lost $50, but still better than getting scammed $400.00. I am still holding out hope that his boss has indeed had personal issues to deal with and I will see the engine block. I just keep touching base with the guy to remind him about the block.

So it is always buyer beware, and trust no one a their word unless they can provide hard evidence and proof, along with a written gaurantee to back their statements of what they claim and offer before shelling out any big money. A good honest seller will not flinch if you ask for a written guarantee. If they squirm or get slippery on you, then you have just learned all you need to know - and don't be so impatient that the words, " I have 2 other people really wanting this and one of them has already offerend me more money for it" gets you to jump and pay for something that is junk and the seller was aware of it.


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## ponchonlefty (8 mo ago)

PontiacJim said:


> 1965 was a 389CI unless it was bored .060" to make it a 400CI.
> 
> This is why it is so easy to get burned and pay top dollar for junk. I have learned from personal experiences myself not to buy anything such as an engine, engine block, heads, trans, rear end or other parts mechanical unless you know the seller personally or have the part brought to a machine shop or specialist to magnaflux for cracks or disassemble for inspection and the seller agrees in writing to give you your money back if the part/parts are defective and cannot be used. There are good prices and top dollars associated with Pontiac parts and this tends to bring out the scum bags who see profit at your expense and know that most sales are "as is." The excuse of, "well that was how I bought it and the guy who I bought it from said..........". Ya, right. Most know what they have and its why they offload it onto some one else who doesn't know any better and is just looking for the part/item or a deal.
> 
> ...


i agree, its a sad reality. mans word use to mean something.


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## GTOlady (8 mo ago)

PontiacJim said:


> 1965 was a 389CI unless it was bored .060" to make it a 400CI.
> 
> This is why it is so easy to get burned and pay top dollar for junk. I have learned from personal experiences myself not to buy anything such as an engine, engine block, heads, trans, rear end or other parts mechanical unless you know the seller personally or have the part brought to a machine shop or specialist to magnaflux for cracks or disassemble for inspection and the seller agrees in writing to give you your money back if the part/parts are defective and cannot be used. There are good prices and top dollars associated with Pontiac parts and this tends to bring out the scum bags who see profit at your expense and know that most sales are "as is." The excuse of, "well that was how I bought it and the guy who I bought it from said..........". Ya, right. Most know what they have and its why they offload it onto some one else who doesn't know any better and is just looking for the part/item or a deal.
> 
> ...


I know the guy too,watched him build it.He is picky how clean the work area is before assembly.Sees any dirt left,clean it again.He wants the area clean


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I would not buy a '65 389 that was already bored .060" because it's really not usable to be built again. It's always a good plan to bore as little as possible doing a rebuild so that the engine can live 3 times longer. Pontiac did not make 400 engines until '67. No such thing as a '65 400 unless it's a bored out 389.
There's a guy on this forum in the 'general' section who wants to sell a nice '68 400 engine right now, even though I'm trying to convince him to keep it.
Good luck.


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