Hello:

I've been reading every post I can on the 300 six looking for ideas/guidance for the rebuild of the 300. Here is the back story and my immediate plans:

What started as simply looking for an old truck to run to Home Depot with has evolved to a restoration project. I've decided that my 10 yr old son needs to learn some basic automotive skills as he has been going down the path of our disposable society that has trouble changing a light bulb. I figure that hy the time we finish the restoration, he'll be old enough to drive.

After finding a '76 F100 sitting on a farm, we found that the 300 was worn out (probably due to neglect). We pulled the engine last week, tore it down and found that it had already been bored out .040 over. Now the engine is at the machine shop waiting my go-ahead on the work.

We are looking at .060 over, 3 angle cut on valve seats, head milled .030, .060 Keith Black dished pistons. I'm looking at mild cam options and the Offenhauser DP intake/four barrell. The truck currently has the stock torque converter, 3.00 rear and I just picked up a set of OEM EFI exhaust manifolds.

I am generally restoring the truck to a stock appearance. Several friends have pushed me to put a 460 in the truck, but I want to keep it original but with a little more pep. So, am I headed in the right direction? What torque cam/converter/rear should I be considering? Thanks.

 

Sounds like a nice project and for good reasons too. Peruse the cam company sites for info. I use a Comp 260h, some use the Crane 503901, some use the Isky Mile-a-Mor of even the 256 Super cam...all are "RV" type upgrades over the stock cam. I don't think there is any particular need to change the converter or rear end although you might consider a transmission that is "beefed" a little. As far as a 460 goes, it is your truck...If your friends want a 460, they can put one in their own truck.

 

sounds like a good time for pop and kid together time... didnt bore my block as only 95k miles on it from an '86 but with the mods you talk of like in my sig will make the 300 TALK, P&P of the head really wakes them up trust me


chebby intake rockers is my next move same as a cam no? well sorta just cheaper



welcome

 

It sounds like a great project. I have an article in True Blue Trucks magazine telling how to beef up the 300.

The 300 is basically a tractor engine, putting out good torque at low rpm, built for hauling. Your rear is a little tall for serious hauling, but around town, to home D., it should be fine.

For the open road towing/ hauling, I'd say 3.50 gears with ZF over-drive manual. C6 robs quite a few ponies.

The head is the source of power on the 300. A good porting job, cleaning the bowls, cleaning the exhaust, port matching to intake, is going to make it a different engine. Start collecting info copy/paste to a file.

Do a 30 degree back cut on the intake valves. If you want a major gain, install the over-size valves from SI valves. Stay away from Clifford Performance. Use the EFI manifolds for exhaust. Hyper pistons. Use molly rings for those pistons. The comp cams 260 cam and kit would be fine, unless you want to hear it lope. If so I'd think about the Isky 262, or the 268 comp. Comp cams timing gears.

Magna flux the head AND block. Don't take risks on that...insist!!!!!!!! Make sure they clean all oil galleys, even the one to the t. gears. Use the HP felpro head gasket ONLY, about $60. Grind the ridges off the o. pan, and use the EFI years pan one piece gasket. Swap out the dizzy for a recurved DuraSpark 2. Summit Racing ig. box, with h. power coil, or gofast4less.com type. Side gap the plugs. Offy intake with Edelbrock 500 1403 carb. You will be amazed. 2.5" dual exhaust with X pipe. Calculate compression using one of the sites. Don't guess. Use EFI years plugs. Don't use a F..m filter. New melling h.v. pump. It is APIA to get that year to seal at the crank front seal. There are zero guides. I have changed 3, and it leaks. You might want to think about changing to a 84 or newer block to avoid that. $100 at the junk yard to avoid millions worth of frustration....

NEW lifters, rocker arms, and P.rods, no matter what your mechanic says!!!

 

Thanks for all of the replies guys. This is exactly the type of info I need.

While my son it not too happy about getting dirty (he is more into electronics), I know he'll be grateful one day that his old Dad taught him a thing or two about basic mechanics. Obviously this is a learning experience for me as well. I've never had to go inside an engine before, and, I'll admit that my original intention was to pull the 300 an drop a 351 or bigger into it - so I did not care that the 300 was in bad shape. After reading all the posts on the 300 on this site and a couple of other sites, the 300 is the way to go for me.

 

Well, we've been slowly working on the the rebuild of the motor. After checking every possible issue, we decided that the plumes of exhaust smoke were not a simple fix. So, out came the motor - to find that it has previously been rebuilt. Once the head was off we found that its been bored .040 over. To and from the machine shop (now .060 over), we just installed the crank last night using the pastigage to check the oil clearance. We have hyper pistons and molly rings waiting to be intalled when time permits.

Here is our issue: My lack of attention to the cam caught up to me.... I had put the cam on the side since I decided that the motor would remain stock for the most part. Finally pulling it out to check timing marks, I found that the the cam timing gear is the fiber type. It appears to be in great shape, buy fiber none-the-less. I'll start looking for a metal set. However, I do not see the "oil slinger." Doing a search, I came up with four old threads that suggest that the fiber gear did not need the oil slinger. I have the original 1976 Ford manual which simply refers to the slinger in passing and also references both metal and fiber gears.

Do I need the slinger with the metal gears? Do I need the slinger with the fiber gears. Also, out of curiosuty, is the circle in the groove of the fiber gear supposed to be the timing mark?

THanks.

 

I personally think your AWSOME for doing this for your Son I'm a Car FIEND Well Truck Fiend more than anything but ANYWAY my point is I was the kid that wanted to go bicycling or digging in the yard playing with hot wheels etc. not playing with some old Nasty car/truck and my Dad didn't push the issue like you are with your son I commend you for it. I sure do wish my Dad had done the same for me Cause I regret not learning all the immense knowledge he had on vehicles and I regret even more missing out on the Quality time with my Dad it sure would have been nice. Cause now hes gone has been for 10 years now and it'd have been nice to have memories of something like this stored away in memory. YOU my friend are an AWSOME DAD!!!!!

 

Where the block sticks out the most on the right side when facing the t. cover, you'll see an allen plug outside the t. cover. You need to remove that plug and run a wire, then a thin bottle brush through that oil tube. That is the oem oil supply for the t. gears. You'll see an opening beside it that feeds the gears from the #1 cam journal IIRC. Blow it out with air too, making sure you get 40 years of crude out of that passage. New gears, with passage clear, that is all you need.

I find it interesting that you had a composite gear. Are you sure that is a 76 engine block. Have you run the numbers? Are there dowel pins from block to front cover? If so, you have a post 84 block.

Comp Cams makes a quality set of metal gears, as does Cloyes. The Cloyes is top of the line, one aluminum, one steel. Some of the gear sets supplied with 'rebuild kits' knock. I know first hand. I would also recommend using nothing but Felpro gaskets, and using the hd felpro head gasket.

You're killing me by not adding a dp offy intake and 4v carb, with an aftermarket cam...but it is your truck.

 

Court1100f:

THanks. We're having a good time. I'm not pushing hard. I don't want to push him away. And I figure that once he hits 13, 14 yrs old, he'll become more interested as driving (and "freedom") are just over the horizon. My dad taught me many of the basics for mechanics, fabrication, typical home repair stuff, etc. Its helped me a great deal over the years.

F-250 restorer:

Thanks for the answer. I beleive I've blown out all of the passages buy I'll double-check the one you reference.

THe block has no down pins from the block to the fron cover. Since the 300 was rebuilt .040 over previously, the builder must have put the fiber gear in at that time.

I've been following your earlier recommendations. Using the HP fel pro head gasket, and I am getting the DP offy and the FI exhaust manifolds. I'm just not getting into the cam upgrade, yet.

Thanks again for all the help! THis site has been a great help with th is project.

 

Hey guys:

Due to time, space and the immediate budget, I'm putting the stock cam and gear back into the motor and the motor back into the truck this weekend. I'll replace the gear when I replace the cam next summer. Meanwhile, I found the mark on the steel crank gear. The fiber gear is bare except for a circle/mark next to a groove (the steel gear has the mark next to a tooth. The cam gear "mark" is about the size of a BB. Am I on the right trail?

THanks.

 

Guys:

I've spent about an hour searching "Cam", "gear", "mark", "fiber" and a coupl eof other terms. None of the posts I read helped and my question in my previous post(though it seems that opinions vary as to the fiver gear).

Any insight???

 

Bump for the OP

 

I have another question about the head gasket. I purchased the HP FelPro head gasket and laid it on the block. I noticed it seems to be specifically designes to block off the larger water ports between the cylinders from the block to the head. I tried to see if I could put the gasket on backwards - but its seems to be shade tree mechanic proof. So I called Summit. They pulled up every gasked they sell and they all block off the ports between the cylinders - and the HP FelPro is designated for 65 to 97. I plan on installing it tomorrow but a little feedback from you guys would be good. Is it supposed to be this way?

Joe

 

The gaskets I pulled off my 390 were like that, and it never had any overheating trouble.

just my 2 cents

Sam

 

We got the block and head back from the machine shop. Did the three angle job and .030 of the head. Installed the hyperutectic pistons wth molly rings. Polished crank and went .060 over on the block (it was already at .040 before I bought the truck). Undersized bearings, .010 on rods and cranks (checked each bearing with plastigauge for oil clearance). New high volume oil pump. New water pump. HP head gasket. New push rods and lifters. New rocker arm hardware. Offenhauser DP intake. FI exhaust manifolds. Sanded down the metal and re-faced oil pan, valve cover, push rod cover with the newer ford blue (along with block and head). I checked the stock cam an re-installed for now. We'll either go with the 75 Chevy 250 rockers or a cam kit later. Holley 390 will arrive Thursday. Only thing left is a radiator (may go with the three row even though there is no A/C). We have a few other hardware mounts to re-face.

I searched the automatic kickdown threads for photos as I have the DP intake with the Holley 390 on the way. So I know I have to fab a mount and get a cable (Lokar seem to be the popular set-up). If anyone can get a link to a thread that might have a step-by-step for the kickdown, I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks for all the advice, especially F-250 restorer.

Joe