I dont claim to be an expert but I do know enough to get by. I have a 400 in my 77 F250 that I pulled with plans to rebuild. Local shop quoted me $1,500 for stock rebuild and would put on any aftermarket parts I bring with no extra cost. I know 1,500 sounds cheap but the shop I got quoted at was rated top engine shop in my area so I trust their work. I guess my question is, is it worth it to have the shop redo the whole motor, or go with a rebuild kit from like summit for the $500 they want or what ever it is and have a shop do the machining to clean up the block itself. Dont be affraid to be honest or blunt. My plans for motor were to go with an Edlebrock Performer intake, Comp Cams Thumpr Cam, I already have a set of Flowtech ceramic coated long tube headers for it.

 

My thoughts: Let the guys who know what they're doing handle it; they do this stuff for a living and are good at it.

The 400 in my truck was "rebuilt" by somebody who clearly didn't have a grasp on what he was doing; for example, he used RTV on the head gaskets... and the rings weren't installed correctly... and, and, and....

 

So you think 1500 is a fair price for a stock rebuild? They did say that if I wanted they could bore it to a 408 and still do the rebuild and wouldnt cost anymore than the 1500.

 

$1,500 isn't a bad price at all but of course it's going to depend on exactly what you get for that.

 

From what they said it would be a stock rebuild and they would install any aftermarket parts I brought. Now if I wanted to go a little more extreme obviously it would cost more as to be expected. But the 1500 should cover a top to bottom stock rebuild or 408 stroke and bore.

 

Get decent pistons in there for 9.5ish compression. Read on:

Pistons

 

Right... as 85e said, you need to raise your compression to something around 9.5:1, you don't want the stock compression ratio. You're also going to want a different camshaft and straight-up timing set. Don't be so focused on displacement, 8 cubic inches isn't enough to be noticeable.

Do some homework... read the stuff in the sticky, look at Tim's 400 site, etc.

 

Thanks fellas. As for the cam I already to get a full kit cam, timing chain and sprocket, lifters, spring the whole 9 yards. I do have to agree I don't think I'll notice the 8 ci difference. As for compression I already had plans to shoot for 9.5:1 or 10:1