Turbocharged 400m
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Turbocharged 400m
TI have a 78 f250 crew cab with a 400 the motor was bored .30 over and has new internals. I wanted to turbo the truck but I don’t know what kind of turbo to put on it. I have been looking but haven’t had any luck. Does anybody have any suggestions?
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Joined: Apr 2016
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Wow. Huge amount of questions here. Do you want a "blow-through" carburetor/turbo setup, or are you going EFI? Do you know what your compression ratio is on your current motor? Are you currently running headers, or manifolds? Is it an A/C truck, the firewall suit case and condenser will affect turbo and intercooler placement. What are your cam specs? Turbos make a ton of power, but they also make a ton of heat. Are your pistons cast or forged? Etc etc.....A turbo'd classic Ford truck, especially a Ford 400, would be really, really cool, and would make a lot of power given it's long stroke.....but be prepared for a LOT of fabrication, research, trial and error and tuning. If it's sheer horsepower and torque you are after, consider a built 460 for a lot less money and hassle than a turbo install. If you MUST have a turbo, do your homework, you've got work to do. Good luck, I'd love to see a turbo 400 eating coyotes and Cummins for fun
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Amarillo, Texas
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2007
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Forged piston are usually used in super/ turbo charged applications. Cast piston don't stand up well to high cylinder pressures, usually they'll break a ring land. If you have the fab ability and get used parts you MIGHT be able to put together a system for around a grand. Sounds like you might not, so figure a few grand. And then you'll smoke a piston. Sorry to be a drag, not a good idea.
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Joined: Nov 2014
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Been a couple guys that have turboed some old 300's. Forced induction usually calls for forged pistons for the heat but many people do so without them.
If I were you, I'd probably pick up a $200 Craigslist motor, make sure it's in okay shape internally, then carefully and methodically blow that b**** to all hell. See how much boost you can put through a stock one before you put all this work into your truck just to risk it failing out of nowhere no matter what you do. Or you could figure out that you can put a good amount pressure on your tester and it turned out okay, so continue with your build.
Post the results!!! 400's
If I were you, I'd probably pick up a $200 Craigslist motor, make sure it's in okay shape internally, then carefully and methodically blow that b**** to all hell. See how much boost you can put through a stock one before you put all this work into your truck just to risk it failing out of nowhere no matter what you do. Or you could figure out that you can put a good amount pressure on your tester and it turned out okay, so continue with your build.
Post the results!!! 400's
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2016
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I replied earlier, I did some thinking on this. Since you don't have AC, there is a lot of real estate underhood for turbo/intercooler/ in/out exhaust plumbing. The 351M/400 is a big heavy duty cast iron engine with low compression. That low compression will give you wiggle room on how much boost you can run without catastrophic results. Like the one gentlemen suggested, you'd be better suited putting this together with a junkyard engine first so you can see how much boost you can run through it before grenading it. I am assuming you'd be running a carbureted/blow through set up. 351M400s weak point is low compression, they turn into power monsters with increased cylinder pressures and some aggressive timing, so.... theoretically, minus the factory cast pistons, these engines, in theory are perfect candidates for a turbo setup .There are no kits for them, you would have to research and fabricate everything yourself, but holy crap, it would certainly be a screamer once you got it all dialed in.
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