I am building a 51 F1 truck, all custom. I got the driveline out of a 79 Lincoln Mark V, and as I understand it, it's a "smog engine" 400. I believe the specs are 166 hp, 318 ft/lbs of torque. Retarded cam timing, wimpy 2 barrel, restrictive exhaust manifolds, and all kinds of hoses and canisters and junk. This truck will be a street rod kind of build, low budget. And actually, my wife will be driving it a lot. So I want a fun truck that makes you smile when you step on it, but nothing that will cost thousands to build. I'm not going to do a full rebuild, it runs great, no smoke, good oil pressure, etc.

Here is my plan at this time, just looking for opinions. I thought the best bang for my buck would be to replace the timing chain and plastic gears with steel, and set them straight up. No idea where to get these. I also want to do exhaust headers, an aluminum dual plane intake manifold, and a 650 carb. Very straightforward. I am considering doing an entire cam/lifter/valve spring change, but I'm not totally convinced of that. Also wondering if I should go with flat top pistons to bump the compression a bit. Again, not totally sure of that one.

So.........opinions?

 

For the time being, and since she runs great, start with easy "bolt ons"...headers and dual exhaust first. Then a Weiand/Holley combo or Edelbrick/Edelbrick combo. The 650 cfm with vacuum secondaries is more than enough.

If you're going into the timing gears/chain scenario, a safe bet would be to pull a couple lifters first and take a peek at 'em. They'll tell you the condition of the cam....as in what their feet (lifters) look like - convex or concave. Then you can decide on a new cam/lifters/valve springs/retainers/keepers and, of course, new timing gears/chain setup.

Summit Racing has the chain/gears as well as Comp Cams, Lunati, etc.

Getting new pistons for higher compression is getting into a full rebuild....you know you'll want to when you get in there.......Bwahahaha

 

I agree with the Filthy Beast, with minor exceptions. A straight up timing set and an intake and 4bbl will do wonders with the stock cam and exhausts. A friend did that and said it doubled the power.

As for the exhaust manifolds, I don't know what those on your engine look like, but those for an M-block in a truck aren't restrictive. So if finding headers that will work in the truck don't pan out, consider truck manifolds or truck shorties.

And if you get to the point where you are going to rebuild it, Tim Meyer will be your friend. He is the guru on these engines and sells the only pistons that will give decent compression.

 

In my opinion, if you already have the manifold off to change it, and you already plan on installing a new timing set, you might as well go one more step with the cam and lifters.

 

Thanks guys. Gary, it's not a truck engine, it's a Lincoln.

 

Yep, which is why I said I don't know what your exhaust manifolds look like.

 

Ah, gotcha. I misunderstood what you said. After rereading it I get it now. Thanks.

 

Not a great picture but here are mine.

 

How many degrees of advance did your friend give his motor?

And what did he use for a timing set?

I'm looking for recommendations on both ends.

 

He used a timing set from the parts store, a very generic one.

As for the ignition timing, I don't know but it doesn't matter all that much what he did since it is likely your specifics will be different than his. For instance, the air/fuel ratio itself changes the max timing an engine will tolerate. A simple way to set your timing is:

1. Static timing: With the vacuum advance disconnected set your static timing to 10 BTDC. If the engine starts without kicking back when hot and doesn't ping or knock when running through the gears with WOT then go to 12 degrees. If that works try 14, but don't go further than that. And if you have kick-back on starting or pinging back off until you don't.
2. Vacuum advance: After the static timing is set, re-connect the vacuum advance and go for a drive. If you don't get pinging at part-throttle pull the vacuum line at the distributor and insert a small Allen wrench - 3/32" I think. Turn the wrench two turns clockwise to bring the vacuum in about 2" sooner, and drive again. Keep doing that until you get pinging, at which point you back off two turns, or when the screw won't turn further.

 

Thanks for the super quick response!

Hmmm... looks like I need to do a little more reading on timing Vacuum/Static before I dive into this.

I'm following what you're saying, but I don't understand it fully.

I've done a bit of reading on some other threads regarding timing, but can't quite catch the jist of everything being done. One particular thread that was useful was this one: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...on-needed.html

It's from a few years back but had really good info in it.

Correct me if I'm wrong on the order of operations for replacing a timing set and setting timing afterwards:

1) Rotate motor until you know you're at TDC by watching/feeling for piston #1
2) Remove everything off front of motor to do the timing set replacement
3) Install new timing set "straight up"
4) Rotate the cam to ensure alignment (Wasn't sure what this meant - align the cam with what??? and rotate which direction?)
5) Remove #1 distributor wire + Rotate the distributor to align #1 wire with cylinder #1
6) Rotate the motor 2x to ensure the timing set is still in alignment
7) Put everything back together
8) Set advance as you've just described in your last post

Not sure if everything is there or not, but I'm in about the same boat as the Original Poster from the thread I copied (above).

 

See comments below. But, we may be talking two different things when we say "timing". I was talking ignition timing but you may be talking cam timing. So, on your cam timing you want it "straight up", meaning neither advance or retarded.

Anyway, other than the comments in red it looks good.

 

One of the best things you could do is to get the compression up some.

 

I would love to do that, but doesn't that mean changing out the pistons, milling the heads, and doing a few other changes as well?

 

my exhauste manifolds look like this I know I have seen it somewhere but can't find it now so is that a manifold for a car motor ?