It could be. It just looks way too nasty to be a factory hole. I am just needing to know if it's a show stopper or if it's something that others have seen that is not a big deal (or is factory as hard as that is to believe considering how it looks)

 

Party on Wayne. Seen plenty similar on Ford blocks. It's a drain hole

 

Sweet, thanks.

 

So... I have been lacking on my updates on here but here is the latest: The 400 Engine I bought is crap. The cylinder walls are pitted and scratched and just bad. So I bought another 400 I found on the ole' interwebs local to me. The guy had it in a 1970 Mustang show car. He promised me that it was a runner and that everything was great on it and blah blah blah. So I took it home and changed the timing set, engine mounts, the water pump, the fuel pump, the thermostat, the rear main seal and switched the oil pan to one that would work with my truck. Today I bolted the brackets and the fan and all that to the front of the engine. So as it stands right now I have a non-running 351M (still in the truck waiting to get pulled), a crap 400 (Anyone want some yard art?) and my new 400 which about ready to drop in.
So as I am waiting for my buddy to be available to pull the old and help me drop the new I am trying to figure out the emissions stuff. So i have accumulated as many diagrams I can and am feeling pretty good about. I love how all the diagrams show you just enough to confuse the hell out of you.
While I have your attention does anyone know which PVS came stock on a 78 Ford F150 with a 400? One of the engines I have had the yellow and red one both coming off right above the thermostat while my 351m only had the blue one. The grey one I snagged at the JY last time I was there just in case I needed it.



The engine halfway though the day:


As of tonight:


And I scored an air cleaner from a 460. I am guessing that everyone that uses these on a 400 gets rid of dingleberry filter on the back? And if so what do you use to plug the hole? It is off a 76 Lincoln so has smog stuff.I am in the process of stripping it for paint:



Well, thats where I am at the moment. Tomorrows plan is to get the air cleaner all cleaned up and ready for paint and to drink beer. If there are any vacuum/emissions gurus around my area I always pay in pizza and beer...

 

Spent a few hours today googling various smog components on my truck in order to identify them and match them up with the diagrams I have found. Painted the 460 air cleaner lid and stared at the body while trying to determine the best way to plug the resonance chamber hole after I remove it. I am thinking just a piece of pre bent sheet metal and a little JB weld along with some RTV to seal it. Installed the new air pump check valve on the intake and for some reason when it is tightened it bends inwards and blocks the top of the dizzy... Sweet! I had the week off work and was pretty much in a holding pattern waiting for help to pull the old engine from the truck. I am getting pretty impatient though and was very tempted to attempt it myself. Common sense won out though and I continue to wait...

 

The 351m is out and the 400 is in! I am glad we did the clutch while the engine was out. I don't really want to have to mess with pulling this thing again. Everything on the engine is hooked up with the exception of a couple vacuum lines I am still working on figuring out. So essentially at this point I am just waiting on a few small parts and an exhaust. I took the headers off and now I have nothing between the exhaust manifolds and cat. So the truck can't really be run/tuned until I remedy this. My original plan was to get a custom exhaust made up but I don't really want to pay to have it towed to an exhaust shop. So my search continues for a y pipe...

 

I've never seen a 400 truck with a cat, maybe only the 351Ms had them?

 

In CA I think both had them. The truck came from the factory with one from what I understand. So I need one for to appease the smog gods.

 

Moohaha. Still need to check the timing and adjust the carb. Not too bad considering we just added fuels and hit go. It's a little loud right now because the cat is off and there is nothing from that point back. Getting closer to getting this thing on the road!

 

May I ask.... did you ever consider pulling the heads on the 351 and checking for burnt valves?

I ask because I had a 390 that the PO had warped the exhaust manifolds and ran it that way on his property as a hauler. When I got it there were three holes with low compression, pulled the heads replaced the burnt valves, lapped all and put it back together. Compression back in the ballpark.

 

I have the old engine in my garage. It is for sale at the moment but I think I am going to tear into it. Part curiosity about what the issue was and mostly because if I can drop under $100 into it (head gaskets, valves etc) and sell it as a runner rather than for scrap value then that's what I am going to do.

 

Tore the old engine apart. Found this:



The lifters looked fine but these valves are shot. At this point I am going to replace the valves, lap em and then bolt the sucker back together (New head gaskets, intake seal and valve cover seals obviously). A little cleaning and a little paint later I should be able to get more than scrap value.

 

The truck runs and I am just a couple weeks away from being able to go to the DMV and pay my registration so I can go get my exhaust put on and smog it. I think we have all of the emissions figured out with the exception of the TSV. I have one on my air filter and have no clue where or how it hooks up. Does anyone know if this is even necessary for California smog?

I got some new tires on the old girl also. The 30x9.5's were dry rotted so I after some time spent following that list of goodies that Craig has online I picked up this set of Pirelly 32x11.5's. I think they will work for now.

 

So glad we don't have to pass smog etc here

 

A couple of underhood shoots. The fact that the TVS is just flipped around in the air cleaner isn't too obvious... Hopefully it doesn't matter.





According to this the TVS is not a necessary component for smog, any reason to worry about it? What am I talking about this is California...