Looking for heads/cam for my 408 build coming up within the yr so trying to put a parts list and budget together now.
I currently have a local seller that has a 408 short block with .40 over 4" stroke with forged crank and rods and flat top pistons.

To be able to run pump gas, what are some good heads/cams I can run with this short block?
Also I will be converting it over to maf so I can have the ability to tune the computer.

And just to throw this out here, is $2000 a fair price for this short block?
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Bump for some help.

 

Is it worth 2000 yeah but thats up to you, some good parts in there. Will it run pump gas yeah barely you WILL have to run premium all the time. AFR has some good heads and long tubes will net more horses than shorties but the shorties will fit better with stock like exhaust location but hey you are talking high horsepower so the stock pipes are probably moot LOL and as you said MAF is a must.

 

It could be deal of the century or a grenade that goes off first time it runs or the first time you drop the hammer.

Depends on who built it. It's like gambling. Don't spend more than you can afford to loose.

Explore the tuning with MAF & get a handle on it before you have to depend on it for the project to run.

 

Ok assembly is externally balanced.. So he took the whole thing and had it rebalance with the old rods from a former build? What happened to the old build? Got bored and wanted more power, broke something and salvaged the rods? Lots to be answered before I would lay 2 grand down personally

 

You didn't say what you wanted to do with this engine or what altitude is where you use it or anything important really. Talk to a professional engine builder.

Read about 15 degree heads anyway:

https://www.trickflow.com/search/par...-size/5-8l-351

 

He had the machine work done and built it himself.
I have and if I'm not able to tune it or have it tuned with the factory efi I'll switch plans and run an aftermarket efi.


He said the deck was not machined it was good.

He said he will measure quench tomorrow.

Asked for the specs of the cam, his response, but I'm thinking about using a different cam.
"Not off hand. But if you look at Howards cam sbf351w roller cams. Find one that says .630 lift intake and exhaust. It will say good midrange heavy car. Not sure if you are familiar with roller cams as opposed to flat tappet but the lift isn't as big as it seems because roller lifters only contact the cam at a small portion of the roller unlike flat tappets. Therefore .630 is probably equivalent to .510 on a flat tappet"
Quote him:I'll be looking to be towing eventually and to have that extra power these motors never had. I live in the Midwest so altitude shouldn't be an issue and keeping it efi, so that keeps me safe in high altitude areas if this truck ever makes it that way.

 

The original block was bored .30 over and the machine shop balanced everything to the new build.
He did mention the flex plate was balanced at 50oz.

 

As soon as he mentioned the scored cylinder walls, I would have walked away. Just me, I guess but if the cylinders aren't perfect, I'm not paying good money for it. You don't know if the rings will seat or just turn into metal filings in the pan. I'm kinda gun-shy on short blocks that have been sitting, anyway. My opinion is, they have issues and have been sitting, looking for an unknowledgeable Rube to purchase it. I'll ask you this; will he give you some kind of a short warranty, like 90 days from fire-up?

The last "Built for someone, they never payed up" short block I purchased, a 514 CI 460 from a not-so-small time NorCal builder, grenaded on me at less than 3,000 rpms in a v-drive semi-V 18' Sanger hull. We were still sorting it out so no hard runs had been made on it yet. Ended up with holes (plural) in the block, one large hole in my Dooley 14 qt. oil pan and a big fist-sized dent from some part of rotating assembly that hit my starboard aluminum fuel tank. Did I mention the 14 qts of 15W40 in the bottom of the freshly restored hull? Also, the sudden engine stoppage almost put the wife and I out of the boat, over the bow. Thank the Gods for a Whirl-Away that I installed the previous season. He built me another block on his dime (while I watched) and bought new Kaase heads to avoid major legal and publicity issues. He will no longer build marine engines for any dollar amount. It scared him when I brought the boat by for his examination, especially after I pointed out the prop that could have got us if we had went out of the boat.

 

Hello again. Based on your responses I will repeat: Talk to a professional engine builder. Make sure you understand dynamic compression ratio and quench before you spend on machining, cam or heads. You will spend more money and leave power on the table.

I mentioned altitude because of compression, not mixture, although mixture and altitude is an issue. It is an issue that can be dealt with later.

Roller vs. flat tappet has more to do with the shape of the ramp than with lift. A roller will follow a more radical ramp-up. Lift is an easy sell to the "more is better" crowd. It's marketing, looks great in a catalog.

Now, before any building takes place, all of your planning needs to be done. Lots of planning and design for a little bit of building. Shopping in a catalog is not a substitute for planning and design. The marketers will eat your lunch for a long time to come.

If you have towing in mind I wouldn't spend a dime on a small block. A small block screams and sucks fuel and wind to do what a 460 will do smoothly, quietly and efficiently at under 3K rpm. A diesel is even more relaxed. This platform came with both of those options and reinventing the wheel is best left to Ford. If you just want to build one, follow a proven build.

 

I'd say that HE isn't familiar cams.

 

 

Those seemed like huge red flags to me, too. Seems like a number of specs were "somewhere around this much or that much." Yeah, run the other way. This "Builder" is trying to recoup money on a botched build.

 

Also I looked at Howards site, and didn't see a .630 lift cam. All the ones close on a 102 ICL had 106 LSAs and were 2800 to 6800 or 7000 rpm cams with more than 290 degrees duration.

 

12:1 static compression is too high for a truck cam that will generate a lot of low rpm cylinder pressure. Need something around 10.5:1.


Do​​​​​​ you want max acceleration or effortless do-anything-ya-want-with-no-downshift daily driving?