hey , I am finally ready to do a complete engine rebuild on my 351m. and I am under the impression that with a good book(and ford-forum friends of course), good organization, and basic mechanical skills/knowledge that I can pull it off. Am i right or should I leave it to the pros.

also can anyone suggest which rebuild kits are better or any other experiences with the kits.

ANY suggestions as to setup, tear down, ANYTHING REBUILD are very helpful and would be greatly appreciated...thanx

 

I say go for it!

A good book on these engines is always helpful. You will have the torque
specs right at your finger tips, it can save time. Also check the 351m forum
on here, there are good tech there!






Wally

 

One big suggestion I have for you is take pictures of the motor you are building and go ahead and spend a few $ on some ziplock bags. Take the valve covers off and put all bolts inside then write VALVE COVERS on the bag. This wouldve saved me lots of time. Its so much easier sifting through a box full of properly labeled bags than it is sifting through a coffee can.....trust me.

Hey this is my 200th post

 

I just finished rebuilding a 360 and have modest mechanical skills (and only basic tools). Some things I did myself, some things I had the machine shop do for me. The kind of things the machine shop did are as follows.

Hot tanking parts. Much nicer working with a clean engine. Magnaflux inspection (looking for cracks and stuff). Install new hardened valve seats. You may not need this, but I did. Most of the short block including cam and crank bearings. They can be tricky and I didn't want to screw it up. Boring out the cylinders (.030 over).

Do take careful and detailed photos before you start taking anything apart. You might be at this for a couple of months and memories fade. Photos in the books are nice, but are only of typical engines. It may not be precisely like yours. Finally (not really), LABEL EVERYTHING CAREFULLY! You will be surprised how similar things start to look when you are reassembling the engine and all you have is a pile of bolts, hoses, and wires.

It was a lot of work and quite rewarding when I turned the key to start it for the first time and it fired right up.

 

I second all the posts above.

If you want to do it. Do it. There is no real answer other than that.

There is only one way to really learn and that is to jump in with both feet.

In addition to what the others have already said, I would emphasize that everything must be absolutely clean. Set up the environment for doing the work before you start. I have been involved in this since the sixties and have long experience as a mechanic, shop supervisor, service manager and shop foreman so I know all the things that can go wrong. So my advice is: Clean everything well before you start. Clean each part as you disassemble so you can inspect it and understand how it works and how it fits. Every step of the way, make certain that everything is clean. Never guess about anything, verify your knowledge before you assemble.

Be sure you have a bench grinder with a wire wheel that you can use to knock off rust and flaking paint and grime. Use it on every bolt thread. (Don't use it on aluminum.) Never put a bolt back in without insuring that the threads are clean inside and out. Replace rust pitted bolts, especially head bolts. Lube the threads or you torque readings are meaningless.

The list goes on and on but, organization and cleanliness are essential.

Come back to this same thread for future info.

 

Get yourself the How to Rebuild a Ford V8 by Tom Monroe from HP Books. You can get it online here at Motorhaven.com. It has all the basic engine rebuilding info you need. Also spend some time searching this forum and don't hesitate to ask questions.

 

wow thanks for all the encouragement. I am gonna do it. I am looking at getting the rebuild kit right now,, looks like a lot of work --sounds like fun--thanks again

 

I'd also suggest buying a bolt kit on ebay. I bought one for $29 from someone called alloyboltz (I think). Anyway, they are very professional, good quality, and their kits seem to include all of the bolts that have a propensity to rot. It was so nice not to have to reuse nasty water pump bolts and studs and such. You still have to reuse all of the major bolts, like head bolts, engine/tranny bolts, etc.

I'm about ready to fire up my first rebuild (400 in a 79 Bronco). I'll let you know how it goes. I also recommend Tom Monroe's book.

And I recommend that an engine shop do the boring/honing, cam bearings, and heads. Everything else is pretty straightforward, and can be done without fancy tools.

Oh, and send TMI a PM or email. He can hook you up with everything you need for the rebuild. He specializes in the 400, and so you don't have to worry about getting parts that might be for the wrong application. He knows his stuff.

The other thing is that I would definitely get a 400 crank/pistons (you're going to need a reground crank and new pistons anyway, so why not get the extra 50ci?). And I would recommend flat-tops also, as the stock compression is miserable.

 

A bolt kit is fine but keep your original bolts organized anyway. The kit is generic as well and may have a few parts that don't match up with your particular engine. I bought a bolt kit and found that the carburetor studs were too short, and one exhaust header bolt (bottom, cylinder 7) was impossible to reach with the allen head bolts included with the kit. It was really handy to have the original to go pick up a replacement with a hex head.

The bolt kits do not have everything and you won't know it until you begin reassembly. They are pretty handy though.

 

at the very least you can use the organized bolts to compare with the bolt kit for matching them up and such.

 

The exterior bolts that I failed to organize were the damned water pump bolts. I had such a hard time getting those SOBs in order. I like the idea of a bolt kit, but like havi said, keep the old bolts organized for comparison.

When it comes to organizing bolts, I have had good luck with using shoe boxes with holes poked in the lid in the same pattern as the holes I'm removing bolts from. Just stick the bolts in the holes in the box, and tuck it somewhere.

ALSO, add me to the list of people who say you should have the machine shop install your cam bearings!

 

cam bearings leave to the shop if you mess one up your sol and if youre lucky and catch it you have to buy a whole new set.

 

Don't jump in too quick with buying a rebuild kit. Depending on what you want out of your engine some of the parts in certain rebuil kits are not the best choice. For example, are you looking to get a little better compression, an above stock cam? Even the timing chaing in some rebuild kits may not be the best choice. So what do you want from the engine? Are you just going all stock or do you want a little more out of it? I understand your excitement to get going but laying your plan out here first can save you some time later and maybe some cash too! And definately give you a better running engine.