Budget build, next step???
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Freshman User
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Budget build, next step???
Got a 79 Ford F-150 4x4 4speed with a 400 that I'm $5,500 into. Parts list thus far:
Steering gear box
Pitman arm
Drag link
Tie rod
Steering stabilizer
Ball joints
Axle u joints
Wheel bearings
Rotors
Calipers
Break pads
Custom built driveshaft
U joints
"New" 3.50 9" rear end
Wheel cylinders
Rear break parts and shoes
Rear shocks
Master cylinder
Break booster
True dual Flowmaster 40 series exhaust
Electric fuel pump
Stock the truck came with a 351m but had 400 swap with a holly carb, intake and aftermarket radiator.
Almost all of what I've replaced was wear parts or orginal to the truck.
Any suggestions on what I should replace or upgrade next? Was thinking about a hei distributor, cam, and timing. Body is till rough and rusty so it's gonna need work but it's gonna be expensive.
Steering gear box
Pitman arm
Drag link
Tie rod
Steering stabilizer
Ball joints
Axle u joints
Wheel bearings
Rotors
Calipers
Break pads
Custom built driveshaft
U joints
"New" 3.50 9" rear end
Wheel cylinders
Rear break parts and shoes
Rear shocks
Master cylinder
Break booster
True dual Flowmaster 40 series exhaust
Electric fuel pump
Stock the truck came with a 351m but had 400 swap with a holly carb, intake and aftermarket radiator.
Almost all of what I've replaced was wear parts or orginal to the truck.
Any suggestions on what I should replace or upgrade next? Was thinking about a hei distributor, cam, and timing. Body is till rough and rusty so it's gonna need work but it's gonna be expensive.
Moderator & parts slinger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 50,281
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From: S/W Missouri, Polk county
Trac bar bushings, radius arm bushings, steering shaft rag joint. What is wrong with the mechanical fuel pump? Put that $ else where. Same for the hei, what is wrong with the Dura spark?
Upgrade to saginaw p/s pump, 3 G alt. Steering column rebuild, bearings or t/s switch? Dash light bulbs to LED?
Headlight heavy duty harness upgrade.
Truck Parts and Truck Accessories
Upgrade to saginaw p/s pump, 3 G alt. Steering column rebuild, bearings or t/s switch? Dash light bulbs to LED?
Headlight heavy duty harness upgrade.
Truck Parts and Truck Accessories
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Freshman User
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The mechanical fuel pump was good, the electric just made it better. Before I had to pump and turn a few times to get it to start, now it turns right over first time, and it was only a $45 upgrade. Lol plus if the electic pump goes out the mechanical is still hooked up so I've got a backup. As far as the hei I was just thinking that with the ignition box the condenser the distubutor, there's just a lot to go wrong as old as it is. Though it might be a worth while upgrade.
Moderator & parts slinger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 50,281
Likes: 5,824
From: S/W Missouri, Polk county
Good enough reason for sure, I am only looking to save a dollar because the mech fuel pump design was good enough for the factory to use and same for the Dura Spark.
DSII is fairly reliable....yes I carry a spare ing box in the tool box, for that just in case moment.
HEI can lead to wiring mods and then you go down that sparky road that I do not like to go down.
DSII is fairly reliable....yes I carry a spare ing box in the tool box, for that just in case moment.
HEI can lead to wiring mods and then you go down that sparky road that I do not like to go down.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 877
Likes: 248
The mechanical fuel pump was good, the electric just made it better. Before I had to pump and turn a few times to get it to start, now it turns right over first time, and it was only a $45 upgrade. Lol plus if the electic pump goes out the mechanical is still hooked up so I've got a backup. As far as the hei I was just thinking that with the ignition box the condenser the distubutor, there's just a lot to go wrong as old as it is. Though it might be a worth while upgrade.
I almost always upgrade my Duraspark trucks to HEI, however, I only do it when I'm starting to have issues. And I don't do it with a fancy all in one distributor, I just wire a five pin module to my Factory Duraspark distributor, cost's me about 20 bucks, easy peasy.
The stuff 77&79 suggested are all great ideas that will make you much happier on a daily basis.
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I'm just now having my custom driveshaft built. I had a lot of vibration at 55 (so bad it vibrated by starter bolts out) so I replaced the very worn out u joints. Well apparently my driveshaft was bent a bit because 5 miles down the road I slung my driveshaft. But those 5 miles the truck drove like it was brand new. So I'm trying to prevent any future problem by replacing anything that might be "notorious" for going bad.
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That and from what I've researched the retarded timing really dampers these engines. I just wanna make sure I'm getting a good spark.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 877
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The cam timing being retarded from the factory, has to do with the timing set and not your Duraspark box.
The thing's notorious for going bad, in my experience, are radius and tracbar bushings, along with ragjoints.
The thing's notorious for going bad, in my experience, are radius and tracbar bushings, along with ragjoints.
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Any recommendations on brand of rag joint? Rock auto has one for $20. The radius arms seems to be ok. They previous owner had polyurethane bushings with a "durometer of 80". From what I hear they are a pain in the butt to replace.
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 17,708
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From: Calgary
The 400 is a good motor that ford cursed with a 'pollution' cam and timing plus low compression. Don't go radical at all with your cam unless your doing a rebuild and are raising your compression. Stay with a 252 (very mild) to a 258 series hydraulic cam from a decent manufacturer and a dual roller gear set and set it straight up. You won't get stump puller power but you will definitely feel the power gain. A dual plane intake and a 600 cfm carb is all you need to make the cam worth while. I've run a few f350 duallies with the 400, 4spd combo and found it to be a good combo. Headers help but make sure your going to stick with the 400 come rebuild time as they're not all that cheap and can be a pita to install.
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The body has all the typical rust. Floor pans, cab corners, bed corners, fenders the whole 9 yards. Luckily for me there's a guy near where I live that has 200+ ford truck ranging from about 1960-1996. He's got a rust free bed he'll sell me for $300, so I'll just need the can corners and front fenders fixed then, but I know nothing of body work so it'll to go a body shop.