Thanks for the info Gary. I tried out the software on Comp's website... I couldn't find a 300 I6 in there engine choices but I played around with the 240 I6. I'm kind of torn between the two cams... 260H will give me plenty of low-end torque, which is good for crawling around the hunting camp. The 268H will give me more top-end power, which is good on the highway considering the low gearing (which will probably get lower in the future when I put some bigger tires on it). Decisions, decisions...


Yeah, he's a cool guy. I went over there yesterday to drop everything off and we sat around BS-in for about an hour before we even got started on the truck. I've also tried to source as many parts from him instead of Summit... he was cheaper on some, more expensive on others, but the net cost is about the same. And that way he'll get to make his 10% markup on money that'd I'd be spending anyway.

Anyways, so I brought everything down there on Wednesday, and he's already getting stuff machined. I'm going to place an order for my remaining items from Summit this evening. We discovered that the motor had already been rebuilt at least once - it was bored 0.040 over. Instead of going to a 0.060 overbore, he had a virgin 300 block sitting around from an '85 and we decided to go ahead and use that block for my motor. He said you can run into cooling issues and possibly durability issues at a 0.060 overbore... which is in line with some of the stuff that I've read on here. I know lots of guys have run a 0.060 overbore successfully, but the $100 I paid for the new block is cheap insurance against future problems.

So I'm hopeful that he'll have it all machined by the end of next week, and we (he, mostly) can start assembling the short block. I'm getting really excited for this build... this engine is gonna be a BEAST!

 

That's $100 well spent on the block. I'm running a .060" 351M in Dad's truck w/o problems to this point, but it wasn't what I wanted. It is what the engine had when I bought Rusty and it ran so well I decided to move it over to Dad's.

Forgot: A 300 can use a bit more cam than a 240 and have the same results. I normally err on the low side on cams, but if it looked good on a 240 then a bit more might be right for a 300.

 

Well, I ended up ordering the 268 cam. I figured that since it takes me about 8 hours of highway driving to get to the camp and I'll drive around out there for about 10 minutes to get near my stand, that I'd err on the side of highway driving and get the bigger cam.

So I just placed my order with Summit. Gosh-almighty it added up quick. Here's the list:

1. COMP Cams steel timing gear set: Part# CCA-3224
2. COMP Cams 7-degree single-groove valve locks: Part# CCA-601-12
3. COMP Cams 268 camshaft: Part# CCA-66-248-4
4. COMP Cams hydraulic lifters: Part# CCA-832-12
5. COMP Cams valve springs: Part# CCA-903-12
6. DUI distributor: Part# DUI-39820BK
7. Edelbrock single-feed fuel line w/ filter: Part# EDL-8134 (a little eye-candy...)
8. Edelbrock valve spring retainers: Part# EDL-9724
9. Edelbrock Performer 500 CFM remanufactured carb: Part# EDL-9903
10. Flowmaster Super 40 Delta Flow muffler (dual 2.5" inlet & outlet): Part# FLO-85255454
11. Hedman full-length header: Part# HED-89300
12. Offenhauser dual-port intake manifold: Part# OFY-6019DP
13. Powermaster 140 amp single-wire alternator: Part# PWM-8-57141
14. Summit -6 AN fuel-pump to fuel filter braided line kit: Part# SUM-CARBKIT2
15. Summit narrow 2.5" X-pipe: Part# SUM-643125
16. Summit 2.5" turndowns (pair): Part# SUM-670169
17. Summit 2" aluminum carb spacer: Part# SUM-G1511

Parts from the machine shop are:

1. fuel pump
2. water pump
3. power steering pump
4. motor mounts
5. ARP head stud kit
6. ARP rod bolt kit
7. air cleaner
8. radiator hoses
9. valve cover breather
10. clutch
11. wires
12. rebuild kit

The guy at the machine shop said I could use a dual-core radiator (about 1.75" thick) instead of the stock single-core radiator... hopefully it will work out. The truck used to have AC, but I've removed the condenser and compressor... so I'm hopeful (and he's sure) that it will fit.

I've also read that I can use a 10" stock replacement clutch or upgrade to the heavy duty 11" clutch... supposedly the bolts holes are there in the flywheel. So far I've planned to use a 10" clutch, but I am going to the machine shop tomorrow so I will discuss it then.

The only thing left to order is a universal electric fan kit. I'm leaning towards a PRO-COMP dual 12" fan... but I might get a single fan that will mount properly in the hole in my existing shroud. Does anyone have any advice towards either option? And of course, new belts and all the fluids.

Man, it got expensive fast though. When it's all said and done, I will probably have close to $4500 in this rebuild. I was fortunate that my grandmother (a lovely lady, BTW) had set up an investment account to use for college when I was a kid. I had some money left in it that covered about 80% of the build so far (including other things, not just motor). I'm hoping that I can get one of my rifles sold to make up the difference. Otherwise we're gonna be back to ramen noodles for a couple months... LoL.

Kind of off topic, but I had an interesting conversation with my wife about how the scale of projects/expenses increases logarithmically as you get older. When I was a little kid, I would think on the order of $1 (like, a pack of bubble gum or something). When I was about 10-14 years old and made my money by cutting lawns, I would think on the order of $10 (go to the movies). When I got my first job washing dishes, I would think on the order of maybe $100 (fishing poles). When I was in college, it back to the $1-$10 range. Now with my career job, I think on the order of $1,000 (not that I like to spend that much, but most of the stuff I want to do costs in that ballpark). What's the next step? Thinking on the order of $10,000? Maybe if we ever decide to buy or build a house, something on the order of $100,000? I dunno, I just thought it was interesting how the scale changes over time. (edit) I did a quick plot in Excel of this scaling of cost over time. I neglected the college hiccup though. The equation is COST = 0.0193 * exp(0.4229 * AGE). Following the trend, that means by age 50 I should be thinking on the order of $1,000,000. Here's hopin!

Anyway, I'm excited to get all this stuff from Summit. I'll still have to fab up the rest of the exhaust, but I have a little Harbor-Freight welder that should work out just fine for that. Also gotta fab up the water block for the intake so I can run heat to it. But that won't be for a couple weeks or so... still have some research to do on it also.

I hope this parts list helps people out. I will post updates on how the parts fit, what does and doesn't (hopefully nothing) fit. Pictures will come in the next week or so.

 

Looks like a very comprehensive list. My only caution is the Flushmaster. See my video (audio really) here, as well as the comments from others following it.

And, please keep us posted.

 

i'm a bit late to this thread, but thought i'd drop a couple pieces of advice from the 86 F150 4x4 that was my first truck, also with the 300.
i would go check right now to see if the firewall is cracked around the clutch master cylinder. mine wasn't just cracked, shattered would be a more appropriate word. even after reinforcing it, i couldn't get the 11" clutch i chose to work properly until i increased the stroke into its MC, which was a big job. as a result, i strongly advise sticking with the stock 10" clutch to avoid those problems.

that 300 was my first build, and things went together pretty simply, though later i learned why people upgrade to the metal cam gears.

your choice of distributor isn't what i would have chosen, but should work well. i would have gone with a duraspark distributor, as found from 70-ish thru 83, then decided between using its own module or playing with a chevy HEI module and ford TFI coil, as i've had good results with before. but you already commited money to your choice, and i've only heard good things about them

good luck!

 

Yeah, I thought about that. I kind of like the way Flowmasters sound, but I've never had a car with a Flowmaster that I drive all the time. Hopefully it doesn't get annoying. I ended up getting this muffler because the price was right and it qualified my order for free shipping, which helped a little bit too. I found a Youtube video of a guy using the older 40-series Flowmaster (not the "new" delta-flow and I thought it sounded pretty good. I'm also hoping that the X-pipe will help to smooth it out a bit too... switching from an H to an X-pipe made my brother's Mustang sound a bit better (in my opinion).


Thanks for the info on the clutch assembly. I went ahead and replaced it with the stock 10" unit. As it turns out, my firewall is kind of messed up near the clutch and brake cylinders. When someone pulled the motor out in the past, they smashed part of the firewall in. It ended up breaking something because I have a 3"x3"x20" piece of angle-iron bolted in the cowl area above the steering wheel mount. The brake booster assembly is also bolted to this piece of angle iron. At some point I'd like to get in there and actually fix what's wrong and get rid of the angle-iron that's rigged in there, but it works for now so I'm going to leave it.

Also, is there any particular reason why you wouldn't go with a DUI distributor? I've heard mixed reviews on it... some guys like it, others don't. Cost is definitely a factor. The reason I chose it is because it has a single-wire hookup. My harness is trashed and I figured it would be easier to use this distributor than figure out what's wrong with mine and track down the stuff I'd need.

I dropped off my old camshaft today so the machine shop could press off the fiber gear and retrieve the retainer plate. He's got the flywheel resurfaced, the head and block cleaned, and about 2/3 of the parts in. Now he's waiting on the engine kit to start machining. And Summit has already shipped a couple of my items. Does anyone know if Summit kind of piecemeals shipments, or do they arrive all together?

 

oh yes, the lovely firewall mess. i've fought that a couple of times. they sell easy kits to reinforce them properly, but i didn't know that until after building my own for 2 different trucks. in the process, i found that the best way to build your own is to use a piece of 1/4" plate steel. start by removing the brake booster and the clutch MC, cut your steel to fit the space on the firewall where they were, use the firewall as a pattern to match as you cut your steel, then install it with your piece of steel sandwiched between the booster and firewall. you'll likely need to drill out the boltholes for the clutch MC in the firewall large enough to allow your a nut plus a socket on its mounting hardware, as its studs aren't long enough to go through all these extra layers.
in my experience, a 1/4" plate is enough to do the job when mounted only at the brake booster, but additional bolts into the nearby sheet metal won't hurt and may add a "feel-good" factor, as it looks stronger.

as for the DUI, i don't have any personal experience with them, but have a general preference for parts that are OEM to something, so any parts store has everything in stock at all times. the the system i described above, i could walk into any parts store and have confidence that they would have 3 of the right part in stock right now, for whichever part i needed.

 

Problem with this method is it spaces the clutch master forward a little bit, so that will mess up your clutch pedal height. But an adjustable rod on the input of the clutch master would solve this. The plate the factory used was mounted inside to avoid this, but makes it very fun to install. Yes the factory actually sold re-enforcing kits for this problem.

 

Man, alright! Summit showed the Offenhauser as out-of-stock with an estimated ship date of 10/5/12. Well, I just checked the order and it shows it as being shipped! Woohoo!

 

i forgot to mention that mine had an adjustable pushrod, making that a non-issue
and i won't get into all the fun i had making it produce enough stroke to properly operate the 11" clutch i had. to make it short, i had to extend the drop-down arm from the pedal pivot shaft a bit, and lower the MC the same distance, to get enough stroke to release the oversized clutch.
thats why i'm advising he sticks with the 10"

 

I'm not sure what happened to my answer for your question above, but I've just noticed that is isn't here. Perhaps it posted to the never-never land where posts seem to disappear to from time to time! In any case, it seems your machinist has answered your question to your statisfaction, and that's what counts! (I'll have to keep reading to see how the rest of your build is going - I just wanted to let you know I did respond to you quite some time ago.)

 

That has happened to me in the past (or so I thought). I think what was happening was that I never submitted, only previewed and got distracted.

I can't find anything by you in this thread aside from this post and the following:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12269841

Then again, computer software is an imperfect product....

 

Hey man thanks for letting me know. Yeah, my machinist said it really wouldn't be very cost effective, so I'm gonna proceed based on that. Of course, that's not to say that I won't pull the head again in the future to stud it for roller rockers and maybe get in there and clean up the ports a little myself. I've seen a few threads where guys do it themselves and seem to get good results. On second thought, I'd probably try to find a head for cheap and work on that in case I make a major mistake. But that's way off in the future.

Anyways, Summit order should be here Tuesday. I am trying to decide on an electric fan. I'm leaning towards this one: Zirgo ZFU14S - Zirgo Ultra High Performance Electric Fans - Overview - SummitRacing.com

I've read a few reviews on the Zirgo and most people seem to like them. I am also thinking about using this thermostatic controller: Flex-a-lite 31147 - Flex-a-lite Adjustable Electric Fan Controllers - Overview - SummitRacing.com

This controller has a probe that fits between a couple of rows in the radiator... are they accurate enough, or should I get a probe that fits in the waterneck to measure the actual temperature of the coolant? IIRC, my Hondas and Kias all had an OEM radiator probe and not ones that measured the coolant directly.

If I use that Zirgo fan, I would get rid of my OEM shroud. It seems like that fan has a smallish shroud that surrounds the fan, but not the entire radiator like the OEM. I don't think this would make too much of a difference, but if anyone has any comments on that, I'd appreciate it. I am also toying with the idea of using a couple 12" fans and wiring them separately in case a fan goes out so I'll still have low-speed cooling capability. But that would increase the cost by about 50%. I'd like to get away with a single fan - that's why I'm looking at the Zirgos because they seem to be reliable enough that I could depend on a single fan.

 

if i were to add an e-fan, i'd put it in front of the rad as a pusher and leave the stock fan in place, as most engine-driven fans move a lot more air than an affordable electric model.
i added a 12" pusher i got for free onto my diesel, and i can't even notice a temp difference if its running or not, even when i'm working on fairly high temps (230). note that that is with a poor fan clutch, so i hoped the e-fan would help some

 

I am not too hot on electric fans. If you are going to get some that will do something, you should go get some OEM Ford fans out of the junkyard, and if you do that, you should upgrade the alternator also to a 3G. You will need some relays, the controller you mentioned, and they will need to be wired in to the A/C system if you are going to use air.

The factory fan is a much simpler system.