My new truck

Those fatties on the back will look awesome.

These older trucks look good with a bit of a rake to them, so it won't hurt if the back is an inch or so higher.
 
Alberta 7.3 said:
Those fatties on the back will look awesome.

These older trucks look good with a bit of a rake to them, so it won't hurt if the back is an inch or so higher.
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That's what I'm aiming for, it's three inches higher in the rear now, too much! :D
 
95XLT said:
Those wheels look tons better. The center caps look like a good fit.
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Thanks, I just got in some new emblems for them, they are black around the edge and red in the middle with the same symbol. Now if I could just find a damn bumper!

Oh yeah, and my "Little underhood resto" is turning into a full blown engine/trans swap and EFI retrofit, LOL. What can I say? I can't leave sh*t alone!
 
hivoltj said:
thanks, i just got in some new emblems for them, they are black around the edge and red in the middle with the same symbol. Now if i could just find a damn bumper!

Oh yeah, and my "little underhood resto" is turning into a full blown engine/trans swap and efi retrofit, lol. What can i say? I can't leave sh*t alone!
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460?
 
HIVOLTJ said:
Thanks, I just got in some new emblems for them, they are black around the edge and red in the middle with the same symbol. Now if I could just find a damn bumper!
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Front bumper Josh ... front bumper.

HIVOLTJ said:
Oh yeah, and my "Little underhood resto" is turning into a full blown engine/trans swap and EFI retrofit, LOL. What can I say? I can't leave sh*t alone!
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Excuse me?
 
bumperquip said:
Front bumper Josh ... front bumper.



Excuse me?
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Did you fart? :)


Qwah? You mean use a front bumper for the back? I didn't notice any good, straight front bumpers at any of the yards, but I wasn't really looking either. Wouldn't that look weird? If you say "no" you better bring the pics.:tu
 
OK, thought I'd get in here and update this :

The plan has changed a few times, still not 100% cemented.

The 400 in the truck was rebuilt in '06 by the previous owner's husband. About 4,000 miles ago reportedly. It never seemed to run right, almost like it had a vacuum leak, and needed a re-paint anyway so I pulled it. Everything inside looks great so far, and it did have 135-150psi of cranking compression. I borrowed a buddy's leakdown tester, however, and found that it has 35%-40% leakdown on all 8 cylinders. Past the piston into the crankcase, not the valve seats. It was so down on power I wondered if it was a 351M, but have now confirmed the crank casting # - it is a 400.

I'll be tearing in to it tonight to further investigate...

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new daily driver I picked up a few weeks ago :

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Tucked away safely back in the shop when I was done cleaning. The black C-10 is my brother's ride, he stores it there for the winter...

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---------- Post added 11-29-2012 at 10:12 AM ----------

Tore it down last night, realized a few blocks from my house that I forgot the damn camera, but I was already pressed for time so I just used my ****ty camera phone.

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Didn't find anything really alarming on teardown. The factory numbered rods were not in the right cylinders, but I'm not sure how that would matter, as long as the correct rod cap is with the right rod (which they are) Either someone didn't pay attention when putting it together, or there is some kind of weird balance thing going on. I better weigh each piston/rod assy. and make sure they are close to the same before going back together. The cylinder crosshatch looks great to my eye, just as it should for the miles, doesn't look glazed at all. Someone had suggested maybe the (compression) rings were on upside down, they weren't. I pulled off the top ring of the first piston I pulled, and there is no dot on either side, it is a square face ring, not tapered on one side, so it doesn't matter which way you install it. The second ring has a dot and facing up, so I'm assuming it's tapered, but didn't pull it off yet. I wonder if they got the top and second rings mixed up, because (it's been years since I've torn into a 400) it seems I remember the tapered ring always going on the top and straight ring second. The faces of the compression rings looked too shiny in the middle to me, which makes me wonder still if they never seated. I'll get over there tonight and get some better pics with my actual camera, need to clean up my mess anyway...
 
Finished getting the block all torn down. Dropping it at the machine shop Wednesday to see if a hone will clean it up or it needs bored before I decide on pistons. I'll have the machine shop here bore & hone, drill and tap the lifter valley for a roller tray hold-down, hot tank, magnaflux the crank, and do some oiling modifications to the block.

Once I know what the block and heads need, I'll be sending the rods and crank to TMeyer, Inc. Precision Automotive Machining for a set of his 9.5 to 1 Hyper pistons and a balance job.

Semi-firm plans at this point are those pistons, stock heads w/ proper springs, Comp XE270 Roller cam w/ conversion, Edelbrock performer intake, Holley 670 or 770cfm Street Avenger, 1-3/4" shorty headers that I will build.

Hoping for around 350 HP / 450 TQ at the flywheel.

Josh
 
^ i got similar numbers out of my 400m in my Thunderbird.. i rad a different cam with similar spacs, and was running an Edelbrock carb and Hooker long tubes.

i was at 325hp, 420ft lbs.
 
Bootleggers DLX said:
^ i got similar numbers out of my 400m in my Thunderbird.. i rad a different cam with similar spacs, and was running an Edelbrock carb and Hooker long tubes.

i was at 325hp, 420ft lbs.
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Nice! Plans have changed somewhat. A buddy had a set of 2v closed chamber aussie cleveland heads. They are at the machine shop right now getting checked out along with the block.

Also I'm going with a custom grind instead of comp roller. Not super happy with the choices they have in roller cams.

I'll probably end up building some shorty or mid-length 1-3/4" primary headers for it. I've had 400 headers on one of these trucks before and never been happy with how they fit.
 
Not sure what your overall plan is but you would be better off with a 460 IMO. And your Trans and distributor will bolt right up. I went 13.2 with a mild 460 performer intake, very mild hyd cam, 750dp, stock converter and 3.50 gears. Also went 11.8 on a 150 shot. This is when I knew almost nothing so I believe it would run high 12s and mid 11s today with a bit of fine tuning.
 
i'd agree with Dropped. my 400M finally left the building in favor of a 460 based powerplant.

---------- Post added 12-11-2012 at 02:31 PM ----------

Aussie heads are the game changer right there... i looked at em, but im still too broke to afford em.
 
Hey, You stole my idea for a daily driver. LOL... Not to completely hijack the thread, but what's the Fox Body's story?
 
95XLT said:
Hey, You stole my idea for a daily driver. LOL... Not to completely hijack the thread, but what's the Fox Body's story?
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It's a '90LX 5.0 5-speed. Totally stock and un-touched other than a Flowmaster 50 series cat-back. 184,000 miles, found it on the Corral. Flew down to Denver, CO and drove it back.
 
Decided to say screw it even though my 400 heads were brand new, I picked up a set of Australian 302 cleveland closed chamber 2v heads for my 408 build. Just got them back from the machine shop where they were hot tanked, blasted, surfaced, got a valve job, four new exhaust valves in one head, and machined for dual springs and positive control seals. No springs yet, as the cam will be a custom roller and I don't know what it will need.

Block was hot-tanked and honed, still at .030 over. Still need to do some work of my own to it, then finish cleaning it and paint.

Gotta let the budget replenish before I send the rotating assembly off for new pistons and a balance job.

Now I have a set of leftover open chamber heads with 4,000 miles on them if anyone needs some!

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