So like it say's, I'm new and I have a boat load of questions.
I recently purchased a 71 f100 long bed with a stock 78 400 in it (checked the stroke today to make sure). I'm in the process of building the top end-first attempt for me. So far very daunting. 6 broken exhaust manifold bolts and one broken reed maybe?

Leading me to question 1-
There are two hoses running parallel to one another along the passenger side of the intake. Both go from the heater core to the front of the engine. One goes to the water pump and one goes to the outside of the thermostat housing into the block. The reed (as I'm calling it) which connects the hose to the block rusted out and sheered off. So my question is, what is that part called and how do I replace it?

2- Is .025" and acceptable amount to have milled off the heads in order to achieve a higher cr?

3- Not exactly pertinent to engine talk but you're all nice guy's right? The headers I bough are for the 78 400, but the collector flange is being impeded by the tranny cross member. Is it okay to grind a bit of the member to fit the header?

4- Just for fun, what are your opinions of this particular choice of build parts? I've already purchased them, but I'm curious about performance gains and everything behaving well together.

The 0.025" mill on the heads
Comp Cams dual energy 268 (kit with chain and lifters)
Weiand Action Plus intake
Holley 600 vac secondary manual choke
High flow water pump
Hooker Comp headers to 2.5 2chambers with an x pipe.

These are in order of anxiety level for me, so thanks so much for your input in advance and I hope to learn lot's from everyone here.

 

I don't think that .025 off the head is going to work. Stand by, but that's a lot, and if you don't hit water, you'll have manifold problems methinks.

 

Thanks for the input. And excuse my ignorance, I just realized that I shouldn't be asking a bunch of questions at once. So I guess the hose connection is the most important to me right now. Thanks

 

Wish I could help you out with the hose nipple, I need to find one also and am not having much luck. I wonder if anyone has tried tapping threads into the block?

 

yea i had to drill and tap mine a couple weeks ago, i would suggest using a tap handle when you do because i had trouble keeping it going straight with the crescent wrench. it messed up the threads a little so i put some liquid metal on the threads when i put it together and it sealed up fine.

 

I looked into this part a bit more and came up w something from an older thread. Someone makes replacements for this. Of course I didn't bookmark it when I found it, so now I have to find it again.

 

Just ordered one from TMI. They have any of the three sizes you may need.

 

Just tapped mine out to 1/2 npt. Now I can use whatever fitting I want.