Importing 720 x 400 .avi into FCE?

Hi all,
Essentially, I'm trying to import segments of a long .avi file (720x400) into FCE, to be used in a 720 x 576 DV-PAL project.
Thus far, I have used Mpeg Streamclip to export the clips to Quicktime files, unscaled at 720 x 400, and FCE then displays it centred with a letterbox effect. That's the outcome I'd be happy with.
But there's a slight hiccup. I'm placing subtitles over the top of certain sections, using Title 3D and cropped Mattes, you see. When I playback the timeline BEFORE rendering (ie.: a green 'preview' bar above the subtitled bits) everything runs smoothly and appears seamless. But then when I render, the segments of video with subtitles (and only these segments) are pulled out of the correct aspect ratio, so the video appears stretched vertically. It doesn't stretch to fit the whole 576 display - there is a small letterbox - but obviously it doesn't look correct because the picture chops back and forward to stretched and unstretched video. It looks great between subtitles, but then hideous in subtitled bits!
Do you have any advice on how to work around the problem? I'd considered importing the .avi segments to QT in DV-PAL 700x576, but I don't want to change the aspect ratio. Can Mpeg Streamclip add in the top and bottom letterboxes for me?
Hope this makes sense. Cheers, appreciate the help as always.
Sahir

A DV-NTSC video file of 12GB should be a video about 55 minutes in length. If that's the approximate length of your avi video file, then you're probably good to go.
Have you brought the QT file into FCE? Did it behave properly?
FCE's learning curve IS pretty steep. You'd be wise to invest in some training material. Two excellent choices:
Final Cut Express Editing Workshop by Tom Wolsky (frequent contributor to this forum, as you can see)
http://www.amazon.com/Final-Cut-Express-Editing-Workshop/dp/0240810775/ref=pdbxgy_b_imgb
Apple Pro Training Series-Final Cut Express by Diana Weynand
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321534670/ref=s9subs_gw_s1_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=19PDS2PH8BMSV6X S8GHT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rdi=507846

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