400 Mod options?
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2006
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The difference between a 500 hp 545 or 434 stroker ford and a 500 hp 390 is going to be the torque. Bottome end will be much stronger and it will handle your heavier truck much better with high torque. HP will work on low weight and high rpm but torque pulls the pickups.
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 357
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From: On a farm in Alberta.
well it's going to be the odd driveable type of vehical.. i want it to be the fastest truck on the street and still legal, but just barely legal. i wanna push that truck to the limit. what can i do to save even weight on it?
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,526
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From: fargo, nd
first and simplest thing is leave the spare tire and tools at home. next- pull the bench seat out and put some cheap racing buckets in, next replace glass with lexan (expensive), then replace body panels with fiberglass, replace springs with lighter ones (they make fiberglass leaf springs, but theyre expensive) if youre not using it as a truck then replace the front suspension with something lighter- like a mustang 2 suspension or something. thats about all ive got for you- it should save you around 500 lbs all together- maybe post a question in the 73-79 truck forum and see if anyone there has any more ideas.
oh, and if you go with the all aluminum top end 545 stroker, youll save about 150 lbs off the nose
oh, and if you go with the all aluminum top end 545 stroker, youll save about 150 lbs off the nose
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 357
Likes: 0
From: On a farm in Alberta.
i tried to find fiberglass pannels and there is no luck for 73 to 79 ford pickups... unless i lay the cloth down and make my own... thast what i was told... and what width of tires would i have to use with that 545 so then i will bable to hook up? and would i also need traction bars or no?
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,526
Likes: 2
From: fargo, nd
it all depends on how you build the engine... if youre building it into a straight race truck then youd probably need drag slicks and possibly wheelie bars 
if you build it a little more mild then you probably wouldnt need much at all.
if you build it a little more mild then you probably wouldnt need much at all.
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,526
Likes: 2
From: fargo, nd
what is the motor out of? if you got a d9te block youre good for a 545, if you got a d1te it will still work, just not quite as well. www.adperformance.com has the lowest prices ive found- outside of some of the cheap chinese crap on ebay that i wouldnt trust in an engine. www.cnc-motorsports.com will work too. if id known how much it was going to cost for balancing the cast crank i bought i would have just gotten a forged crank- ends up being pretty close to the same price and the forged is way stronger, so a scat forged 4.5" stroke crank- 900 dollars, scat 6.7" rods with the bolt upgrade- 450 dollars, and je 39cc dish pistons-640 dollars, and clevite rod and main bearings- 100 dollars- theres your "kit", then you take it to your local machine shop and have it neutral balanced and bored .030 over and some new cam bearings put in- should cost around 400 dollars, and theres your forged shortblock...
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Junior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 68
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You would want a good cam to go with it. Trick Flow makes an awesome head for this! Engine Masters magazine has an article on a 514 stroker that they just worked on. It starts as a crate engine but would be easy to duplicate the build yourself. They added a cam and heads along with carb and got over 700 hp and then added giggle juice for another 100 hp. Just remember once you build the engine up you must make the rest of the drivetrain hold up to the strain also. Good luck!
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