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400 Block
Pontiac V8 400 Block
The Default Stroker Base — 400 Block for Pontiac V8s
The 400 is the block most Pontiac strokers get built on, and it has the widest range of anything Butler offers — six stroke lengths from a near-stock 406 cubic inches out to 495. It is the default starting point when the goal is cubic inches on a factory casting.
These Short Block Kits (SBK) use a Butler supplied 400 block with Ross Racing pistons, Total Seal file fit rings and performance rod and main bearings, balanced internally. Budget kits on the 557 casting are also listed here. No camshaft, no heads, shipped ready to assemble.
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More About 400 Block
1. The stroke ladder
Six strokes is a lot of choice, so it helps to see where each one lands and which rod it runs.
| 3.750", 406-412 ci | cast or forged crank on 6.625" I-beam rods, press fit and not assembled. Essentially a stock stroke rebuild with modern parts. |
| 4.000", 433-440 ci | forged crank on 6.700" H-beam rods. The first real step up and a very common street combination. |
| 4.210", 455-462 ci | forged crank, 455 displacement out of a 400 block. |
| 4.250", 460-467 ci | cast or forged crank on 6.800" H-beam rods. The most popular stroker combination Butler sells. |
| 4.375", 471-478 ci | cast or forged crank on 6.800" H-beam rods, for the builder who wants more than a 4.250" but not a 4.500". |
| 4.500", 487-495 ci | forged crank on 6.800" H-beam rods. Four-bolt billet main caps are recommended at this stroke. |
2. Bore, pistons and compression
Bore is chosen from a set list on the 400, and it works together with the stroke and your chamber volume to set compression.
| Available bores | 4.150" at .030" over, 4.160" at .040" over and 4.18" at .060" over, with pistons carried through 4.181". |
| Ross Racing pistons | flat top as standard across the 4.155" to 4.181" bore range, with dish or dome available at additional charge. |
| Butler publishes the math | the compression tables on these kits show what a given stroke and bore lands at with 72cc, 87cc and 96cc chambers, so you can see before you buy whether the combination suits pump gas. |
| Rings and bearings | Total Seal file fit rings gapped at assembly, performance rod and main bearings, internally balanced as a set. |
3. The 557 casting caveat, and what you still add
Two of the kits here are built on the 400 557 model block as a budget option, and they carry a real limit rather than a marketing one.
| Stroke ceiling | the 557 budget kits are offered at 3.750" and 4.000" stroke only. |
| Power ceiling | they are rated for under 500 horsepower. If the plan grows past that, move to a standard 400 casting rather than pushing the 557. |
| Same prep either way | both go through the Butler Process — cleaned, magnafluxed, sonic tested, deburred, torque-plate honed, line honed with ARP main studs, square decked, cam bearings and brass freeze plugs installed. |
Every kit here stops at the bottom end, so heads, cam and lifters, timing set, intake, oil pan and pump, gaskets and a damper are still to come. The assemblies are internally balanced, so the damper and flywheel or flexplate must be neutral balance parts.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Email our tech team at tech@butlerperformance.com. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.