Hey everyone,

Im wondering what you guys are guessing the hp/tq output will be with this build as Im half way there and need just some helpful pointers.

Car: 71 Torino (I know it's a truck forum, but hey, I have an f150 HD as well)
-Weekend driver, less than 2500 miles a year, no smog needed, no long drives, turn and burn from light to light. Not sensitive to street drivability or lack there of
Trans: FMX (I know, but it can be built tough, I already have it, and no need to chop the drive shaft)
Rear End: 9" 4.00:1 (Yes, that's not a typo, 4.00:1)
And Right around 30" tire (18" Wheels, just my style)

Motor: 400 bored .030
TMI Pistons
Right around 11:1 Compression (Supreme Pump Gas)
Closed Chamber Boss Iron 4v 351 heads polished and ported
RPM Air Gap Intake

Cam Research Cam Solid Roller
-Gross Valve Lift .726/.726
-Advertised Duration 280/284
-Duration @ .050 250/255
-Lobe Seperation 106
-Lobe Lift .422/.422
Yella Terra rocker arms

My initial goal was 500 hp/500tq. Not sure if Im there or if more is needed to complete the task. But what I also dont want to leave a couple horses on the table if they are an easy part or solution to remedy.

And lastly, what other parts should I snag to complete this thing? No power adders please. What carb size? Many say the Cleveland needs a much bigger carb than most similiar sized motors. 950? 1050? What stall? I know the RPM Airgap will choke it off a little on the top end but I already have it off a previous 351. If it would make a 20 HP difference Id consider swapping it out for something else. Will have the price motorsports adapters. What cfm #'s should I be shooting for when port/polishing the heads? What ignition? Im assuming MSD 6AL? What kind of difference would a header to H pipe to straight pipe be vs header to h pipe to dynaflow race bullet muffler? Im guessing headers will have to be a sanderson header?

Thank you all for your help. As always, I greatly appreciate it.
Sorry if you've seen this post on other forums as Im trying to get as much input as possible.

 

did you flow the air gap? i recently did a airgap to 400 ford. have many photos. I'm running a smaller cam for 4wd and looking for 380 to 400 hrspwr. i like MPG heads, scott kicks azz. been using for many yrs. with your cam could possibly get 500hrspwr depending on your elevation? Carb minimum of 780cfm. have flow specs on a ported airgap if curious and lots of info on what it takes to make them better. flowed and velocity checked a t 28". lots of photos.

 

thinking a hp950 annular for your solid cam. Are you at denver or lower elevation?

 

Nothing is "easy" when you're trying to make that kind of power!

Over at the Pantera forum they were able to pull 417 HP with unported stock 4V heads - closed chamber. I'm not sure if it was a stroker.

If I were putting that engine togther, I'd opt for sleeving the factory rods to take a FORGED Cleveland piston, and maybe even grid the crank down to 351C main journal size. You'll need spacers of course, but it's been done. I don't like the idea of trying to push a hyperutectic or cast piston that hard.

MONSTER lift on that cam! I'd love to see a dyno on this engine!

Good luck!

 

After having my intake airgap worked professionally. Seen the pro's and con's of htis intake. They say don't port leave as is. My guy corrected several issues on a lean bank issue at the turndowns below carb. Not a huge difference but it all matters. Was flowing 270cfm after all the work. could of done some more but for my application didn't need it. Heads will outflow the intake. things i have learned on this intake. If any more questions drop message on intake. thanks from wyoming. My 400 has a mpg roller cam and a few other parts.

 

Yeah Wyoming, I'll take any info I can get on the air gap. Greatly appreciated!

 

Elevation = 4500 but likely moving to sea level in the next year or so. Was strongly considering AED 950 HO for the carb.

 

On the air gap for your cam. dual plenum intake and might need to open up the slot between the two plenums. The ports that feed from the top to intake not a problem but getting the port that feed under and the ports and have more turns and not as clean into ports of head. these are where the work is needed to get everything flowing equal. Check out photos in my albums lots of detailed photos. I bushed my rods for cleveland pistons like you mentioned and good piston. have a good evening. build was little expensive but was fun to build because i had to think about every aspect of the engine and upgrades like Tim Meyer and Scott know about these engines. Will do again. Wanted long ports for torque monster big small block.

 

MSD ignition. Phaseable rotor is a must for high rpm. been running these for 20 yrs. scary simple application and works. Also use a vented rotor cap to expell internal gases.

 

Can't seem to email you back

I heard the stock rods are pretty stout? Maybe true but just can't hold up to much over 6000-6500 RPM? Any suggestions on what to upgrade to get higher in the RPM's?

 

Not really anything out their for rods. Only thing you can do is a 434' combo like tim meyer sells. Or do some creative piston/rod combo to fill the hole. 400 ford has a long rod for a small block aspect. rod durability is a question, hear good and bad! ignition issues could be the problem. Detonation could be the killer also. so like mentioned msd and phaseable rotor solves this problem. polishing the beams and shot peen and upgraded rod bolts. Balance and size rods to journal. rods are stout but the rod ratio is high like 1.65, rod length to crank stroke divide is rod ratio. It can be done but not as simple and cheap to do like many common combinations like 351w.If you check out photos you can see my rods that are prepped, 400 polished and shot peened and bushed, drilled for floated piston pins and balanced. have a good day.

 

I like the quick fuel carbs and had good luck. also all mine are custom tweaked for my application. AED is a great carb also and buy parts from them also. now a company you need to know about. PRO systems carbs. this guy builds a really bad azz carb and sells a HP950. Call this guy or send a email. Check out his tech page and you'll understand why i like this guy. very smart and has been doing it for a long time and serious racing background. I have spoken with and possibly be building a carb with down the road. somebody you need to know about in the drag racing world. PRO Systems.

 

.. Your spec.s should make 500/500 HP/torque fairly easily... even with a smaller cam... maybe even 500/500 by a low 5250 RPMs with a 408" engine... but that big cam will want to rev higher, threatening the stock rods/crank... the choke point traditionally is the 4V heads... ports were too big stock and poorly shaped... part of 'porting' solution is port plates to make the ports smaller in some spots and to straighten the airflow to eliminate flow-blocking turbulence... re-shaping the port turn radii... 750-950 cfm carb. usually sufficient...

 

Thanks Buzz. Id swap crank and rods if there was an aftermarket option but there really isn't much for the 400. Custom rods are $1700. Ouch!

 

. Yes, the solution is usually to modify the readily available Chevy rods to fit... but that usually requires expensive custom pistons/modified Chrysler pistons... Hot Rod magazine did all that in a high dollar Ford 400 build... I would try to be happy with about 500/500 and designing to keep the RPMs under 6000... and the cost way under $6000...

.. Low buck Hot Rod's Ford 400 build article: ( some mistakes in their low buck article below: just like the Chevy SBC 400, earliest Ford 400's came with 9:1 compression ratio and rated 290grossHP, then got sucky fast later with "8:1" (prolly more like 7:1's) pistons, advanced cam timing, and wimpy netHP, horrible MPG. They used crappy standard rebuilder pistons with low compression height giving a lower compression ratio than they thought they had, too low for the cam they used, and also poor quench distance/effects. Reduced HP, RPMs, and torque. They should have used the off-the-shelf superior TMI/KB pistons)

Ford 406 Engine Build - Hot Rod Magazine

.. Big dollar, overly complicated Hot Rod's Ford 400 Build article:

How We Got Over 500hp from Ford's 400M Engine - Hot Rod Magazine