So basically it boils down to, he's building a truck the way he would've ordered it back in '80 with options that were available then. I see nothing wrong with that.
The Shelby clone thing was a reference, nothing more, as people build clones all the time. Has nothing to do with value.

BTW, the '80-'86 trucks are just starting to become very popular and their value is going up, not that it makes any difference to me. I don't build trucks to make it valuable, I'd go broke doing that. I build them to what I want.

 

If Shaun's 400 is that much stronger than one of my 351M's, Rusty's for you that know, then being a match to it is quite a compliment, that's for sure.

Hang in there Shaun, I may not understand why you feel so strongly about it, but I support your right to do so and admire your persistence. I'm looking forward to your 400 build.

 

Well, in as much as I have been unreasonably critical, I will say I agree with the OPs logic on the block.

There is nothing wrong with the plans laid out here, I'm just saying you can't compare these trucks to higher value stuff. Not that it matters--it's valuable to the OP.

These two threads may or may not be of value. Wyoming4x4 has a ton of info, pics etc:

For a 5er, the ZF 5 speed from a 460 will bolt up, but there are issues with the pilot bearing. Wyoming4x4 has the rundown on that:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/11...zf-tranny.html

He also has a 400 and you can read all about it here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...0-ford-4v.html

Good luck with it.

 

Hey, 85e,

Thanks for posting that.

Your second link doesn't work, it looks like you need to past the value of the actual link, not just the truncated version that's shown.

I'd someday like to put a ZF5 on my 400 but I read about issues like this (parts too thick or thin, not enough contact, whatever) and get scared away.

Gary, you should read those links, and go check out wyoming4x4's album....



Personally, I think Shaun is doing a good thing with his engine choice and how picky he's being about it, I was just as picky.

 

Thanks guys for all the support!

Now, for the engine details. As I mentioned earlier, the .060 overbore pretty much threw this block out of the window. I was still curious about the quality of the rebuild though, and I wanted the 351M/400 tear down experience, so I just finished tearing the rest of the engine down. It looks like all that was really done to the engine was an overbore of the cylinder walls, and a bunch of stock replacement parts. The crank hasn't been turned, the main cap bore is still at 3.000, and the rod journals are still at 2.311".

The timing chain has about half an inch of slack in it, so I don't think this motor was rebuilt within the last few years, especially when you take into consideration the amount of rust on the bottom of the block. If I had to guess, it was probably rebuilt in the late 90's or early millennium, which may coincide with the lack of aftermarket parts used in the engine, or maybe not.

The pistons do not have a significant amount of blow-by on them, however the #3 and #4 piston upper and middle ring gaps were within a 1/2 inch of each other. The #6 piston also had a frozen upper ring that was set flush into it's indentation. I couldn't find the ring gap on it anywhere.

The connecting rods were original Ford rods as well, which were probably just cleaned up and then re-installed with the .060 pistons.

The cylinder walls actually look okay, with no sign of any scoring. Of course, they're thinner than a high fashion runway model now thanks to the .060 over bore.

The camshaft has about three sets of one to two digit codes, none of which tells me anything about lift or duration, or even a model number. It looks to be a CWC camshaft blank, but that means nothing since CWC made camshaft blanks for most of the aftermarket cam companies and automakers.It seems to be a stock replacement camshaft too, the lobe lift for intake/exhaust is just .248/.237 according to my caliper.

The main/rod bearings are in decent shape as well, without a single trace of copper showing. Only slight wear in the Babbitt layer on each bearing.

The lifters have no markings, so I'm not really sure about them, and I haven't taken a good look at them just yet. None of them were stuck however, and they all came out of their bores very smoothly.

Eventually I'll pull the valve springs and their keepers, and then pull the valves for inspection of their surface, and then the valve seats in the head.

So far, it looks like the only bad part about this block is the .060 overbore. Of course, I have no way of seeing internal block cracks, so It's impossible to deem it a decent block without having it properly MPI tested, which I won't be doing to this block.

The engine is now bare aside from the freeze plugs and cam bearings, and it will probably be moved to it's new home under my workbench until I decide what I want to do with it.

 

I have read those links and have a personal copy of his pilot bearing adaptor's drawing. And, there is another problem - the throw out bearing. I haven't as yet found an off-the-shelf solution, but will.

 

A few pictures from today:



This is the #6 piston. You can see how the upper ring is frozen inside of it's indentation.



And here's one of the pistons that had ring gaps within a 1/2" of each other.

 

The rings could have just worked their way around to that position. However, the frozen one may have seen a little water or a bunch of heat.

 

That is true, especially if I'm correct about the time between now and when it was rebuilt.

As for the frozen ring, after someone removed the intake, the motor sat in the Bronco with the hood up for about two months, so water made it's way into three of the cylinders. The rust cleaned out fine, but I think there was one cylinder that was a little worse than the others. That may have been the piston from that cylinder.

 

Hey Shaun... I gotta say, I understand your numbers matching accuracy deal 100%. If it's worth doing, it's worth making it look like it came off the assembly line like that.

If that were my block (and I didn't have available 400s near me for cheap), I would just get the machine work done. I think 77.5 and back blocks had super thin walls... If I were you, I'd get it sleeved by an "old-timer", aka machinist that's been around for a long time and really knows his stuff. That way if you do keep your truck forever, you know you have nice thick walls for the next 4-5 rebuilds.

I love the 400s by the way. If I didn't fall into a cheap 429, that's what was going to end up in my F100.

 

Is there anything cheap about a 429?

 

It was $375; Pretty cheap for a '70 ThunderJet. Then I wanted the trans to go with it and a carb and some other stuff so it turned out to be like $750.

 

Just went though getting some rings out like that. The rust will stick it, along with some varnish. They don't come out nicely either...

 

I guess the $750 wasnt bad if the tranny was in good working order. Did the 429 run or was it a core?

 

200 lbs of compression in every cylinder but one... 150 lbs. I checked it and ended up pulling the head to find that somebody dropped a quarter down it and punched a hole in the piston top. If I changed the piston it would have run good; the rest of it was in good shape. D0VE raised A block, I'm not gonna complain.