What's this thing have for a motor? Oh a six...well no point rappin on it, it ain't got no power.

What? this things got a V8..alright wonder if I can burn the tires down...wonder if I can drive it like my favorite Nascar driver. My dad told me he could do 300 ft burnouts..I know I can beat him.

 

its got the torque of a 302, and the "triton" 4.6, at way lower rpms. who cares about horse power in a truck.

oh yeah, i can burn down my all terrains with my "6"

 

I'm sure I could also if I could stop the axle wrap and wheel hop.

 

I just took mine apart last week, (oily!!!) original gaskets, anyway I pulled the head, intake/exh gasket (bad), exh. valves white (lean runnin) intake valves had piles of chunky oil/tar (rock hard valve seals), but the valve faces and seats showed no sign of wear, pistons were perfect, rings wore out, cyl. walls in good shape, intake and exhaust ports full of carbon and oil build up, then i pulled the cam and lifters, perfect. Then the crank, front main bearing was wearing copper on top (tight belts), all the rod bearings were toasted (wearing copper) on the top sides, all the others were minorly scatched, wrist pins a little loose but not bad. Crank will need to be polished, but not turned. This is an 86 F-150 4x4 w/ 275K that I run to 4500-5000 all the time, sumtimes for long periods of time muddin, pull a 13,000 pound gooseneck during the summer, floated the valves on it a few times, ran it out of oil, overheated it numourous times, I was really surpised, it was still in pretty good shape other then the bad blow by b/c of the rings and the bottem end of the motor, it was startin to knock lugging it, so that musta been the wore main bearing.

I'm during as a project in college, so i have whole machine shop at my use, I was informed I could bore it up to .080 over (I'll need a bigger radiator), but where can I find some flat top pistons, can i take some flat top chevy or fords and bore out the top end of the rod to fit the wrist pin? I'll deck the head and block down for more compression, I got the towing cam coming, I wish i could find I steel cam gear(free) replaced it w/ a plastic one (wasn't thinkin), I'll do a valve job on it and open up the head, i've heard u can put in 350 chevy valves, but how hard is this all to do, I have time b/c me and my partner smokied the rest of the class in pullin this engine and dissisembling it. .080" should bring me to around about a 315 cu. in. motor, i'm alreadly planning on mud draggin in the 6cyl class this year, they don't check for modifications in the 6 cyl. class, so if anyone can think of anything else or things they've done I'd appreicate it.

 

sounds like a good idea redneck. i didn't know you could bore them out that much. but they chevys vales are 1.80 intake and 1.64 exhaust, i think. i dont know if its hard or not, but in the sticky for all the mods, no one complained about the installation being hard, but then again maybe they didnt do them, or have them done. but ive been planning on doing the small block chevy valves too. only 10 bucks each at summit racing.

 

Thinking just out loud, even if you have the engines at a 90* angle from the ground (I4, I6, etc), you still have the crank turning, which rocks the rod back and forth, which knocks the piston from side to side, right? that would wear out the bores, I'd think. Granted, not as much as a V motor, but you'd still get that wear because the pistons are forced into the side of the motor.

Another idea I had: What is the block made of? I know that Oldsmobiles for instance, have really high Nickel content in their blocks, which is why it's not unusual to hear of 250-350,000 miles on the stock short block. Buddy of mine pulled his 307 at 450,000 miles and it was still running well with almost no ridge at the top of the cylinders. If the Ford 300's were cast with roughly the same amount of nickel, that might be one of the reasons they last so long.

Another idea I have is that the kind of people that buy a 300 aren't the kind of people that drive a car into the ground. They're farmers, workers, and people that use their vehicles for their business every day. They're also people that didn't have the money (or didn't want to spend the money) to spring for a V8, or are people who know the benefits to having an I6 under the hood. People like that are people that know something about vehicles and will work on it and keep it in top running condition. If they don't do the work on it themselves, they are probably diligent in taking it to the mechanic.

All the ideas that have been given are very good though, and I have to agree with the no hot rodding thing as well...

 

I don't think gravity has much at all to do with cylinder wear. A the weight of the piston acting on a cylinder wall is miniscule compared to the side loading created by the rod angles.

 

7 main bearings...use the force, Henry, use the force.

 

Redneck, going 0.080 over is a bit much. Most people feel that 0.050 over is pushing it. If you go 0.050 over a 390 piston drops right in. If you bore it to the point that the radiator isn't enough anymore, the cylinder walls are too thin.

 

Very true. And even if you still have cylinder walls left, at that thickness (or lack thereof) they'll bellow under combustion pressure, causing high blowby and poor ring seal. And remember, cast iron doesn't like to flex, so it will fatigue, crack, and fail soon thereafter. 300 sixes are strong, and they are tough, but remember, even these engines are not indestructable.

 

Well today I checked my head out and in 3 and 4 exh valves there are hairline cracks, so damn!!!!! I located a head from a 79, hopefully it's good. My valve guides all needed replacing, my intake valves were wore out, but the exh were ok. I decked .0015 of the block today. I bought 60 over pistons and will bore tomorrow morning, I bought the comp towing cam and all new bearings, gaskets, etc.

But now you got me thinkin Silver Streak, I could probably get flat tops in a 390, but how do wrist pins/rods fit etc? Right up? Same size?

 

It drops right in.

 

Got cut off on the last one. It drops right in as long as there isn't a valve clearance issue, but you'd have to have one helluva cam to cause problems. Still needs to be checked.

 

I don't think they actually last longer- it just seems longer!
Seriously, I see two things= low RPM, and heavier castings. More mass usually equals more stability, so there is less tendency to twist and warp.

 

Well the 390 flat tops were "high" so I went 60 over, with a comp cam 260/260 duration and 447/447 lift and steel timing gear, it'll be a fun rebuild for awhile, i'll mud drag, maybe truck pull, get some hedmans and the whole 4 barrel thing later when i get sum more money, but I got a pulling tractor to pay for to so......... we'll see