Im about to swap a 400m from one of my trucks into another. Its a strong motor but while i have it out it would be a perfect time to do some upgrades. Motor is a reman from orielys with 20-30000 miles on it. Has 4 barrel carb and intake but is all stock otherwise. I definately want headers. And i read about the retarded cam timing people are fixing. But i figure i may as well just put a new cam in if i go that far. Im putting the motor in front of a 4 speed with 3.73 rear gear. This truck is not a daily driver and will just be my play truck so i want as big of a cam as i can get away with. I love the sound of a big cam that lopes. But i realize since my compression ratio of 8.4:1 may be an issue. I was looking at the summit k5201 cam. Its cheep and looks like it may be the performance level i want as long as i have enough cylinder pressure. If i get an adjustable timing gear and chain set and advance the cam timing 4* would i have enough cylinder pressure to run good or is this cam just too much? Summit says the k5201 works best with 9:1 compression or higher

 

I want decent low end torque and i really want strong midrange power. I want all round performance really, i want to be able to pull a small bumper trailer with my four wheeler on it with out problem but at the same time i want to out run my buddies stock 5.3 chevy haha

 

A dead stock 400m should tow well with 4 speed and 3.73.s. With intake/carb/exhaust should work really well. That particular Summit cam wants 9:1 compression. Cam upgrade needs new lifters and valve spring upgrade, especially on a 400.

As the engine seems healthy now, suggest timing set update only. It may run worse with the bigger cam plus a lot of expense to change springs and lifters.

 

Well if i go through the trouble of putting a new timing gear set im gonna put a new cam in it. If the k5201 is too much then i will just put in the k5200. The cam and lifter sets are only $115 plus another $70 for springs. The k5200 seems like a good rv cam and would be good torque i know. But really im happy with the torque it already has i just would like some more midrange horsepower so thats why i was hoping i could get away with using the aggresive cam

 

I was just doing some reading and read that boring out .030 raises compression by like a 10th of a point and advancing a retarded cam will make the valves close sooner on the compression stroke and in theory increases compression by a tiny fraction also. Reason im saying this is since my motor is a reman it would have to be bored at least .030 i would think and maybe with that new timing gear set i may have a compression ratio of 8.6-8.7 or so. Idk im not sure, i'll have to do more reading, but if so would that be close enough to run the bigger cam?

 

268 comp cam hyd! Works nice! .494 lift! Need to upgrade valvesprings! If heads good check for spring bind! Need atleast .060 space between coils! When springs compressed! Ran this cam in several engines in 4wd application!

 

IIve seen a lot of 400 fords, i yet to see a 400m. Can you post a pic please? THANKS

 

Ran stock springs on my 400 using the Comp Cams 268. No issues with coil bind. Also used a screw in stud kit (Crane) and ran roller rockers with guide plates. Had zero issues. Use an aftermarket timing chain set installed straight up and enjoy the fun.