I'm building a 418 from my 390 and hoping I'm going in the right direction. If anyone has some advice if the setup is good/bad, etc., I'd sure appreciate it. This will be my 1st FE build I'll be doing during this winter.
I have no idea what HP or TQ will be but here's where I'm headed. Truck (71 F-250 CS) to be a daily driver. Pull my small trailer (1800#) occasionally. Tranny is granny 4spd & 4:10 rear end. No plans to race, just looking for something more than the 390 was.

Parts in hand are:
Scat 418 balanced rotating assembly (complete) 3.98 stroke/4.08bore
Edelbrock 60065 72cc heads
Edelbrock RPM Intake
Edelbrock 1406/600cfm carb
Roller cam (Oregon Cam)
Hyd. roller lifters (Oregon Cam)
Torrington Rollmaster timing assembly
HV water & oil pump
7qt oil pan
Harland Sharp rockers
Sanderson FF-427 headers
Distributer-Unk what to buy/use?
ARP Bolts throughout.
Still need to find another Dampener

Cam specs below.
Any advice/suggestions, good/bad, etc. would be appreciated. There's plenty of those 'other' engine builders around me but I'm having a time finding any FE guru's near me.

Dan

 

I was told Pertronix, I think about all electronic stuff is out source to China, maybe not

 

I keep reading about Pertronix in the forums but have NO IDEA how it compares to any MSD, Accel, etc. The only thing I do know is I have to have a bronze gear for the distributor according to Oregon Cam. I won't put foreign crap in this build. Too much $$ just in parts. Block went the machine shop today.

I'm in over my head, technically, on this and was hoping for some advice/input from some FE gurus on the pitfalls for this build. All my reading & research doesn't mean diddly compared to the knowledge of those that have 'been there done that'. I just don't really have anyone to talk to or work with that's an FE builder except the machine shop guy & he's up to his keister in alligators & doesn't have the time. He has 15 motors due for work & he's a 1 man shop.

Dan

 

Do you have pistons yet? Gotta have the pistons to do the bore and hone job....

You do not need a HV oil pump.

 

The bronze distributor gear will wear out very quickly on a street driven engine especially with a HV oil pump, there are new steel gears that are compatible with the roller camshaft. MSD, Crane, Mallory all sell roller cam compatible steel gears.

 

Sounds like a good build. Carb will hold you back a little. I have the same tranny with a 3.70 rear end and wanted to rev higher to compensate for the wide splits (you really only have a 3 speed when it comes down to driving).

I went with a QFT SS 830 on advice of Barry Rabotnick, but I wanted it to put up to the limit of the lifters (around 6,000 RPM). I also put in a Super Soaker 2 inch spacer. Kind of wish I'd sprung for the limited travel lifters, but maybe for my next build. I'm running a little more cam - 230-236 at 0.050.

Stock distributor with a Petronix ignitor will do the job, I bought a melonized distributor gear from Crane. You don't need to go for an MSD. Good wires are important.

I found I got excellent replies from people that build pretty strong engines over on FEPower.net. Worth scanning the forum.

 

85e150six4mtod; Pistons and rings are at the machine shop. I asked about the HV oil pump before ordering it. Was told not really needed but doesn't hurt to use it as I jumped to a 7 qt. pan. Seems to be an object of differing opinions for some reason?

Putt; The guys @ Oregon Cam said I need a bronze gear but never mentioned a compatible steel gear. I honestly do not know WHAT I need. What's the difference besides the inherent strength of the material?

yellow truck; I've been 'strongly advised' by others as well to dump the 600 cfm & go to at least a 750 so that'll be in the works. I did read the forums at FEPower.net. Unfortunately, I never received anything allowing me to post questions to the forum even though I joined the site.

I'll be looking into the melonized distributor gear for the Petronix dist. conversion.

I bought Barrys and Steve Christs books and hunted down everything I could find/read on building an FE engine. Especially a 418 because it seems to be an unusual build? My salvation so far is the fact the machine shop man is knowledgeable on FE's. The down side is he doesn't have the time to really help which I fully understand. I'm praying he can at least offer up sound advice on the steps I need to take so I don't do something stupid.

Question, Do I need to keep/use the factory drip rails that are on the factory heads?

Any & all advice is hugely appreciated!

Dan

 

I went with the T&D rockers, and the tins won't fit. I also went with roller rockers (as did you) and put in the restrictors in the oil galleys. That means less oil splashing around, so I am not to worried about the tins. I could have cut them and hammered them, and tried shimming the rocker assembly, but why bother?

My view on the oil and water pumps was that I was laying out a lot of money, so what's a little more. I expect to generate more heat, and circulating water and oil are how you deal with heat. More oil in the pan is a good thing.

For the distributor gear, a bronze gear will be eaten by the steel cam, but most steel gears will eat the cam gear (it is a softer steel than the gears). Bronze will work, but you will need to replace it periodically, especially if you use it as a driver. Here is what you need (this is for a stock distributor):



I'll PM you on the other thing.

 

I've build an FE or two...

Run with Petronix. They are local to me, and there are a bunch of great guys over there! Get a billet dist. with no vacuum advance. Set your *total* timing to 34* and check that the initial is around 14-18. Pretty sure you'll be happy with that.

Check with your cam grinder on what gear to use. Go with what he says. He built the cam. He will know.

The first thing most people to is over carb an engine. Your not building for the race track, your building for torque. Size the carb for where it is needed.

Try this: https://www.holley.com/news/articles...tor_selector_/

I'm not endorsing Holly here, I would definitely go with Quick Fuel. Even though Holly bought them, their products are still good. I'd pick QFT or Holly any day.

Once again, I would check with your cam grinder on what pistons (CR) to use. He knows what that cam was designed for.

Looks like a nice build! My first one was a 406 for my 67 Mustang. It was my high school car. Graduated in 75. I've built a couple since then.

 

All the online carb check things I found come up as 600cfm @ a minimum. Would it be better to use a 750 and jet it down a tad?

Dan

 

I did the 770 street avenger with vacuum secondaries and electric choke by Holly on my stock 428 cj and it was perfect out of the box. Idle adj. was all that was needed.

 

Depends on what you want, I wanted more top end, for that you need more air and fuel. Everything I've read says it is better to bring a bigger carb down. Took the advice of someone who has built dozens of these. The 770 is probably plenty of carb.

Comp recommended a bronze gear, but Barry Rabotnick warned me that it would wear out in a couple of seasons, and said that the Crane melonized steel was the best solution. He has built a few more of these than anyone I know personally, so I took his word on it.

 

Nope. Mixture and flow are independent of each other.

Think about it this way...

The air flowing through the carb is the engine that makes it work. If the air is flowing slowly through the carb (bore sizes too big), there is not much work being done.

If the air if flowing quickly though the carb, the carb works well. It's efficient. It does what it's designed to do.

At the RPM ranges this engine is being built for, there is NO reason to go too big. A smaller carb will work better, and generate more torque every time.

Since this truck has a stick, this would be my choice for this build: SS-Series Carburetor Black Diamond, 650cfm BD-650 - Quick Fuel Technology

 

Are you building a drag racer that will be at WOT all the time, every time? OR, like you mentioned, a daily driver?

Because, if you build the former but try to use it as a daily driver it won't ever idle smooth or run well, except at WOT. Too big of a carb is a classic error.

Just by way of illustration as an experiment, plug in your RPM at a regular highway cruise speed of say, 65 mph into the CFM tables. Hint: It won't be 750 CFM, not even close.

Just something to think about. Now I'm not against big carbs, it's just that for the best performance it's actually better to error on the side of too small, not too big. Especially on a daily driver.

 

Depends on what you want. If you are building a 418, you aren't looking for economy. You do need to decide what you want. You have the Edelbrock 600 cfm? Put it on and try it.

Then try a big one. Carbs are pennies on the dollar compared to the stroker kit, heads, and intake you ponied up for.

With that package you will get at least 350 ft-lbs of torque, probably more. With a granny 4 speed you will be able to pull apartment buildings out of the ground. What you will find is that you run out of fuel and air above 5,000 rpm, and your tranny will leave you hanging between the splits.

Aside from the inefficiencies of the engine and drive train, an engine converts air and fuel into power. If you are moderate on the throttle, you will get reasonable fuel economy. I just bought a Flex with an Ecoboost for a driver, gets great economy until I use the boost. If you cared about fuel economy you would not be building a 418 for a bumpside.