Hi i am Phil,

Today i realized it is time to tear down my whole engine and rebuild it....

I am done with everything being off and not to spec its just retorical....

It use to run fine but its like the whole engine is done.

I want to rebuild my whole 400 engine to Stock Specifications with a Good Camshaft and preformance headers/ cylinder heads.


What would be the Critical things i need to know about the 400 cid.

I want everything to be 100% on every specification of the 1975 Ford Ranchero 400 cid.

I am soon prepping to rip the block out. since my apartment complex has a back side area that is not concidered apart of the complex, I will be remove my engine back there and then dropping the engine in the bed of my ranchero. until i can afford a stand to tear the whole thing down.


I also want to change the torque converter as well for the flywheel plate.

My engine is said to be mildly retarded, after its last few minutes of life before loss of all compression.

the only way to make sure my engine is to speculation is to tear it down and rebuild it properly.

 

Why rebuild it to the pooch it was in '75? 9.3 CR pistons are easily available. Since you are going to change the cam, throw in some decent pistons as well.

You don't need headers with a mild cam, but a good intake and 4bbl carb would add to it without killing whatever mpg it will return. A good dual exhaust with a crossover tube would sound good as well.

You contradict yourself in your post. You say: "I want everything to be 100% on every specification of the 1975 Ford Ranchero 400 cid." And you also say: "I want to rebuild my whole 400 engine to Stock Specifications with a Good Camshaft and preformance headers/ cylinder heads."

It's either all stock, or it's not.

Also, pulling the motor and having it in the back of the truck....Where are you going to do the rebuild? You really need someplace reasonably clean and safe as you'll be at it more than a few hours.

I want to rebuild my whole 400 engine to Stock Specifications with a Good Camshaft and preformance headers/ cylinder heads.

http://www.tmeyerinc.com/400ford.html

 

In the words of Tyler the creator song entitled yonkers (I AM A ____ WALKING PARODOX lol but yea i agree CR is a big problem with the 351m/400 that was going to be another thing i wanted to change. my idea of stock is mild modifications. No extreme 1000HP engines just enough to be 300-500 hp i think the engine was plopped in from another year... my friend has a shop i can store it in or i can rent a storage room and tarp down the whole thing and rebuild it in there.

 

OK then. That there link I gave you should send you on to 300 hp without breaking a sweat or wind....

 

i was reading some info today about time advanced distributors and i found out my distributor is worn out. Vacuum advance systems when they go bad they give off poor acceleration when under load and are fine in park.

It fitts all the symptoms to a (T)!

 

Most important, get the bocks align bore checked, most of them are usually bad. Get the rods reconditioned with new bolts, balance it, chamfer the oil holes in the crank. Even if you are not concerned with setting the comp ratio get the block decked and the heads milled so you have new good flat surfaces for the head gaskets. Get your heads rebuilt, maybe do some port work on at least the exhaust side and new push rods of the right length. It's doubtful with a new rebuild and a aftermarket cam that stock length push rods will work. I would also get a good quality double roller timing chain and if you don't degree it in, set it in the zero slot.

 

sounds like a lot of work lol for a good rebuild...

 

What Mark has written is pretty spot on. That is a rebuild. Here in Aus there is also a term "recondition", that is a different thing and can be as loose as a set of new rings on the old pistons and bores and off you go with really only a gasket set. would probably work in the very odd situation but not the best.
If it is that worn, it will need a rebore i'm sure. If that is the case, decking the block is part and parcel of the job.
As for the rods, that is the same, dont use the original bolts and if you were going to fit new pistons you would definitely get the rods checked/straighted etc.
I bucked the trend with the balancing as much as I wanted to do it as I just didnt have the money so it didnt get done, but I did chamfer the oil holes myself and cleaned out the crank oil holes. Run the thing up to 5000 a few times and not so bad so probably lucked out. Push rods need changing, but as I am saving up for a set of roller rockers, dont want to do it twice.
And while you're at it why would you put a set of old heads back on without least checking them out?
Also lock in a new oil pump/water pump too. look at Tims site on the link posted earlier, it's not as pricey as you may think for a kit.
I was relatively lucky as I am pretty mech minded and have worked on a lot of stuff here and there so I wasnt frightened of using the spanners (had a good friend that rebuilt engines back in the day who helped me on occasion). therefore I did all the assembly and If I had issues (did have a couple) I knew to stop and fix it.

 

what i initially want to do is swap the heads with some new stock heads and bulk them up.... change pistons and piston rings as well for the connecting rods.
It does not seem to bad...


I finally got it to start after playing around with the timing and spark plug wires..

I am going to attempt to regap the new spark plugs again... they should be set to .044....

I just need to sit down and think what needs to be done...

it burns a tad bit of oil...

i am thinking of changing the water pump and thermostat by the looks of it... my radiator is puking up some of the water and it sits below the water pipe line just a tiny bit.


my low idle might as be simple of bad fuel. I will keep tinkering with it til it gets right...

 

mine does the water puke-self levelling thing too. No surge expansion tank doesnt help. Get some quotes to redo your heads, or if you aren't hindered by emissions as in sunny Calif, source a better set, maybe some closed chamber jobbies (302 aussie heads). Depends what you have already as it may not be too bad to just do yours up. Have to rip them off first to check though.

 

for the price to redo them old stock heads i can purchase some remanufactured heads that i just slap on...

I am in WA there is no emissions for my old truck...

I hear 302 heads cannot fit on a 400 i know 351m/400 heads can interchange but when it comes to pistons they cannot

a 400 has higher heads. maybe i should go with a 74 free flow set of heads cause the 75s are said to constrict flow.

If i change the heads i might as well do the push rods with it... as well for the lifters... i use to have lifter tick before i ran bardhal motor flush.... Cleaned it right on up. It increased my power overalll what i saw come out my engine that day made me go O_O! due to my vehicle being a 75 all stock OEM parts i have to change my motor oil every 3 months or less not to sure about this time but i know before the flush i had bad lifter stick in the rear of the case.

 

302 aussie heads WILL fit on a 400. That is one of the first tricks you do to bump your compression up and the americans have been chasing these for years. We are fortunate to have these as they are one of the best ford OEM heads for the clevelands and it is only later models of the alloy stuff that have better ports/lighter/7/16 studs etc that are better for most street/mild strip applications.
If the block/pistons are fine it is a long afternoons job to replace both heads and this is one of the classic 400 upgrades. Better squish etc to help with detonation too.
Original pistons are a long way down the bores so they do not foul. I did this on mine with a new (budget) cam and lifters and it did go better, but ran into low oil pressure later on. The extra pressure on an old motor did it no favours and it took a 40 thou rebore to clean it up during the rebuild. All I can say is to make sure they are closed chamber 2V heads and dont get the 4V ones. I got told off by a couple of ford head rebuilders for ruining the 2v jobs.
The guy who sold me the heads I believe was a chevvie expert and they do all they can to get them to flow. The clevelands are actually blessed with too much and the port velocities are compromised. My rebuilder put 4v valves in mine just in case I wanted to port them out later. Sounded good at the time but know now. Unless you are revving it up over 6k stick with 2V. One of the aussie phase series falcons (ph111 i believe) had a closed chamber 4V head if memories serve me correctly. There was a really knowledgeable guy on this forum who told me that so I cant take credit.
good luck and those ranchero's are a cool looking ute here in Aussie

 

i am up to changing my fuel pump now..

 

fingers crossed mate. That would be good if that is the problem

 

Did i read that correctly? You can put aussi 2v heads on a stock 400. I might have too get a pair!