I have a 400M in a 54 ford f100 and it is a monster. Most ricers don't get off the line because I leave them in tire smoke.
First off the oil pressure is a problem, that is a relief valve that is stuck closed on the oil ump. Trust me I know. I had one in the above truck that was a high volume pump. It would put out 90psi at idle which I thought was odd. Then when you got on it, the pressure would skyrocket over 100psi and peg the guage. Motor came back out and replaced with another HV pump and now I have the pressure that other members talk about. (45/60 idle/ driving) I have also modified my oil system by adding a 3/8" line from the tap between the block and the fuel pump and the port on the very back of the motor. This supplies precious oil to the back of the motor where it usually is starved. This gave me about 15psi extra at idle when hot. Much Better!

As for the choke having to be run, if he is running the stock carb, it needs to be rebuilt and may need different jets put in (aka. tuning). If he is running an aftermarket carb, it is just too big for that motor. I had the same problem on a different motor, kicked it down a notch and man did that motor run much better. Basically too much air is being sucked by the metering jets and are not being compensated for with fuel. By closing the choke he forces the carb to meter less air and achieve the correct fuel mixture. This is BAD, fix the problem not put a bandaid on it.

And as for the smoking, that sounds like oil. Does it smell like oil, or is there a sweet smell to it? Sweet means antifreeze and may be signs of a serious problem in the block or heads. Ask your friend if he has to fill up the radiator often? This could be a simple set of valve seals, but with the smoke you are talking about, I would say rings. Also ask how much oil does it drink in a week? Just so you know, the reason it takes 2-3 minutes is the exhaust getting hot enough to burn the oil out the pipe, that's all.

If you want to tackle the problems this beast has, go ahead but be prepared for plenty of downtime. Also budget the cost of a good rebuild. Get cost of new pistons and all the machine work needed, the parts you would want to put into the vehicle, ( I recommend comp cams High energy 268H grind, and a new set of stainless valves for the heads with all comp cams valvetrain,aftermarket intake with a 625 Eldebrock carb with electric choke and headers and dual exhaust) I broke a stock valve and dropped it at 5500rpm's, but the motor got me home. It should run like a bat out of hell. It will have lots of torque and a decent top end to run the ricers if you needed too.
Sorry for the long post,
Have fun and good luck!
Brian

 

Thanks wamsleyb for your input. I think the carb is the stock one and hasn't been rebuilt since he had it. The smoke smells like oil definitly. He doesn't have to fil lthe radiator often. I also can't tell you how much oil it burns in a week because he doesn't drive it hardly any. This past Saturday was the first time it's been cranked in about 7-8 months at the earliest. BUT I don't know if it is a burning/leaking combination or just a burning that makes the oil disappear. I'm still pondering, my mom doesn't want anything else in the yard so she's against it. My dad will probably be against it cause he doesn't know of this idea yet. But one of dad's best friends is a machinist and builds race car motors for a living, so he could help me out with the rebuilding maybe, if I give dad the money to buy him some cold ones But I sure would like to have a 4x4 project

 

No problem, one other thing I wanted to let you know of is to do a port and polish on the heads. And also do a gasket match of the heads, intake and headers. This will increase the breathing of the motor and you will pick up some nice power. I still marvel at how well mine runs. The only problems I have had is a bad casting on a head that drained water into the combustion chamber, a pinhole in the cylinder wall that started after being bored (had to be sleeved but only one cylinder, remember you can only safely bore to .030 over), a dropped valve and a torque converter that balloned after a massive burnout (took out the thrust bearing). The torque converter was a stock one and then I went to a TCI 10" 3000 stall converter. No problems since! I am also running the 270H magnum Comp Cams grind. If you want to make power it will always cost ya. If you do it right in the begining then you only do it once. The motor has been running for the last 4.5 years in its current state and when I drive her she gets the hammer on a regular basis. With the C6 behind it I can pull 2nd gear to 110 mph on the track hit drive and keep pulling hard. Beings you are going to drive it a bit different because it is 4X4 you should have no problems at all. Just do your performance mods (ie: HV oil pump, oil line to back of motor, port and polish, arp rod bolts, intake, headers, SS valves and Comp cams cam and valvetrain) and you will be set.
Brian

 

That high oil pressure is probably caused by not having enough bearing clearance.

 

I also have a 400 these mods sound simple and easy.I especially like the 3/8" oil line to the back of motor .

 

actually noticed the oil pressure spec in the ford(Helms?) service manual the other day
@2000rpm warm is suppose to be 50-75 psi
incase any1 was wondering pretty wide margin tho

 

Doe's anyone know what's the stock dish size of the ford 400 pistons?

 

My oil pressure is about 25 at idle 45 at 3 grand how does this sound.

 

25 lbs at idle sounds OK. These motors are known for low oil pressure.

The dish in the stock pistons is about 10cc.

 

yes- this would be a project- are you up to becomming a motorhead, can you get the truck cheap enough to have $$ for the parts you will need, if you start adding brakes, tires, fuel tank on and on- when do you plan on driving it? If you can reason your way through this and know what you are in for- then go for it. But you will become a motorhead to get through it. Thats a plus as long as you don't expect to have it on the road soon or a lot in the immediate future. As you describe the truck- you had best not spend very much on it- other projects are out there so you have to ask yourself...are you into this truck cause you know it and have you checked out other possible deals. whats the body like??? All you need is to spend time and money just to have to spen the same on the body.

just my 2 cents- emotions create want and want creates stress which can cause us to make silly choices to get rid of the stress.

good luck

 

Just so you know, Edelbrock has released a set of aluminum 351C heads rescently (2005 release). I haven't been able to find a dealer that carries them yet, nor get pricing info. You can see some of the specs at Edelbrocks website. Click on the New for 2005 icon in the bottom rt corner of the page. Its in pfd, so youll need adobe to vew it. The new release cat is only about 5 pages long.

This thread is almost 9 months old now, so the prospective buyer has probably already made up his mind.....

 

I have heard that Edelbrock was atempting to make some head's for the 335's but decided not to. also coulud not find those heads you where talking about something fishie goinn on here?

 

They had been talking about it for a few years now, but they announced the release at SEMA in detroit (in the fall I think???), and they are listed in the new release catalog. (Some of the new AMC stuff is in the NR cat and not in the standard catalog yet either.)

I will contact edelbrock and see if I can find out some details. If I can get those heads, I will build up my spare 400 for my 72 f100.

 

Edelbrock had a production hold on the Cleveland heads the last time that I checked. I was able to get some flow numbers from them and I was not impressed. They would be OK for replacement heads, but not for performance. Both CHI and AFD make nice heads for a Cleveland. You need adapters for the CHI heads on a 351M/400 motor, but I think that the AFD heads will fit. (not certain). I am certain about the CHI heads, because I have a set.