Hello all,

First of all I'd like to express my appreciation for this site and the information I've found here for years.

I am building a fresh 400 to swap into my 77 f150 2wd (currently equipped with a 400 and c6). I am looking for some advice and guidance.

Current plan
Block cleaned and magnafluxed
Align hone the mains
Overbore the cylinders to the next size
Zero deck
TMI pistons
Stock heads rebuilt with one piece valves
Edelbrock performer intake
Cam kit (undecided)
Chamfer the oil drain back holes in the lifter valley

Questions
Will the TMIpistons eliminate pre-detonation (pinging)?
Any thoughts on chamfering/massaging the hole in the valley that leads to the distributor gear?
Any cam suggestions?
Is there much to be gained porting stock heads?

The truck is my daily driver and I tow on the weekends. Elevation is about 700 feet here in Indiana.

Thanks in advance!

 

Cole77,

Welcome to FTE! It sounds like you're on your way to a nice solid build. I certainly don't have the experience of some here, but here are my answers for you -

Will the TMIpistons eliminate pre-detonation (pinging)?

No, they allow more compression and with it performance, but any engine can be made to ping. Bad gas, incorrect timing, etc.

Any thoughts on chamfering/massaging the hole in the valley that leads to the distributor gear?

It can't hurt. These engines can use some TLC in the oiling department. Check out Tmeyer's special cam bearings and the oiling system modification that blocks one of the ports to the #1 main bearing. A high volume oil pump isn't needed most of the time.

Any cam suggestions?

That depends on you budget and HP goals. If you can swing it, use a small hydraulic roller cam and sleep well at night not worrying about wiping a lobe on a flat tappet cam.

Is there much to be gained porting stock heads?

Cost/time benefit? If you're looking for 325HP, you're probably good without porting. More than that? Yeah some porting will probably be needed. 400HP or more? I would seriously consider a set of TFS heads as they will outperform even a max-effort porting job.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome and quick reply!

Based on what I've read while sifting through the threads, it seems important to be mindful of cam selection to ensure that enough pressure bleeds off to lower the DCR (to be able to run pump gas). I'm not really sure what aspect(s) of the cam card to be looking at in that regard. I do plan to run the open chamber heads and lightly polish the combustion chamber to ward off any potential hot spots.

It has crossed my mind to run the TFS heads, but if possible I'd rather save the money. This build doesn't have to be wild, I am sure that I'll be satisfied with the power increase from the other upgrades. I'll likely have a shop do the rebuild on the stock heads. I will consider the TFS heads based on the quote to rebuild the stockers.

I do recall a thread where a gentleman was slightly displeased with his pistons from TMI only because he was pairing them with closed chamber heads and realized the compression was going to be through the roof. Based on that it seems that only one of the "compression boosting" methods should be used if I intend to run pump gas, either TFS heads or TMI pistons...

Whether to go roller or flat tappet? I guess I'm leaning towards flat tappet but probably because that's what I'm more familiar with. I'm still wrapping my head around what modifications would be necessary to go with a roller cam.

I definitely plan on doing Tim's oil mods and using his grooved cam bearings.

 

Questions for a cam expert! Intake timing and overlap, etc.

You'll want to decide on heads and pistons first. That will dictate camshaft selection. The Tmeyer pistons are specific to factory heads partially because the factory pistons sit so far below the deck. It might be possible to use them with aftermarket heads, but something with a large chamber. I'd use a custom forged piston at that point.

There are two methods for a roller camshaft in these engines 1) a "retrofit" roller with link-bar lifters or 2) a 5.0 "spider" that bolts into the lifter valley and holds down the 5.0 factory style lifters.

You can easily double factory output with these engines using the factory heads. I think I'd recommend that route and try to fit a roller cam in the budget.