I have read a lot on this forum and found a lot of great information. Im new to this site and as far as the 400 goes I am new to that too. I hadn't even heard of a 400 until I bought one a few days ago. The guy I bought it from showed me the markings on the heads and crank and they match up to what I have seen on here. The motor has been rebuilt....or so he says but I am going to rip it apart and make sure everything is to spec. I also got a c6 tranny, radiator, all the accesories and all new plugs, wires, etc. Now I picked up all of it for 150 dollars since this guy got orders on short notice and the military wouldnt pay to ship his motor so I think I walked off with a good deal.

Well anyways what i am asking is first off Ive seen in here a couple times the the bell housing for this motor has to be a big block bell housing so what transmissions fit this motor?

Also i keep seeing people to say look at parts from TMI where is this link?

Once I have it torn apart I want to build it up to be as effiecient as possible but still have enough power to pull a car trailer. Then all I have to do is find a vehicle to put it in. Now I live in CA so i have to pass smog unfortunately so I would probably need a vehicle that this motor came in stock to be safe. If anyone has any recommendations let me know and I am sure I will come up with more questions to ask further into the teardown. Thanks. Oh one last thing where can i find torque specifications for when i start putting this thing back together. Thanks

Nick

 

www.tmeyerinc.com

yes, big bolt pattern

Autos by most common, easiest/best first: C6, E4OD
Manuals by same: NP435, T18, T19, ZF 5 speed (Has OD)

I'd opt for a 78 or 79 F250/350 as these were common with your motor, and still capable of pulling and stopping a car trailer. Running or not, they may be a tad expensive, but well worth it. I'm not from CA, so emissions is anybody's guess, but my 78 was labeled(valve cover) "non-catalyst" which made it pretty much exempt.

http://home.earthlink.net/~bubbaf250/ also worth checking out. and
Hp books have rebuild books, particularly by Tom Monroe, that may be of interest. A Haynes and/or Chiltons wouldn't hurt either. 73-79 f150.

 

if you follow tim's (tmeyer) recommendations you will have a real stump puller that will get better than stock mileage. I take it you got the link above- go to his engine projects and read up on his 400 build.

 

Another choice for a vehicle is a '71 Ford LTD. The 400 was available in this car and the smog specs are easy. You will have to beef up the suspension to pull a heavy trailer, but that could be easier than trying to get a later model through smog.

None of these motors came with a 4 barrel carb, so you will need a friendly inspector to pass the visual inspection unless you keep the 2 barrel carb.

 

Thanks for the responses and all the info. Im looking for a 79 or so f100,150,250 now so hopefully I can find one. One question that might not be able to be answered here and if not Ill go ask it in the right forum is will there be any issues putting this motor in any of those trucks? I know the F250 I should be fine since it came with that engine available.

I did finally fint the link to TMI thanks. Now as far as putting a 4bbl on is there anything else I have to change other than the intake. Im sure that later on Ill want to put a larger fuel pump on. With putting a 4bbl on will i see better or worse gas mileage?

How far can these motors be bored over?

 

Its hard to lose fuel mileage with these motors... you almost always gain with performance upgrades.

They can be very potent motors, and you are going the right route with FTE and Tim Meyer.

You don't want to bore them more than .040" over if you can avoid it. You can safely go to .060" over, but towing a heavy trailer won't be an option, it will overheat.

 

Well hopefully this motor hasn't been bored to far already. But once I get the motor torn apart I will know for sure. So as far as a cam what would I be best to get? As far as the truck I probably will have 33" maybe 35" at most on the tires and a little bit of lift maybe 4". I dont want to go huge with the truck just enough to get me wherever I might want to go. I know I will lose alot of effieciency with the tires but i can scrifice that, Im not looking to get the gas mileage I have in my little focus haha.

 

Welcome to FTE!

A lot of guys on this board have built a combo including: Tim's flat top pistons, 4v intake (Weiand or Edelbrock) 0 timing, roller rockers, Comp 265DEH cam, porting on the exhaust side of the head or going to 4v cleveland heads with the proper 351C manifold and spacers. I opted to do the porting work on my 2v heads and I've been very pleased with the performance.

There are a lot of options with these motors, but I promise you that it takes a lot more than a cam to build a motor.

 

You need to figure the RPM range your motor will turn when towing at highway speeds. The final drive ratio should allow you to stay at a RPM near the peak torque.
A good dual plane manifold will allow you to have good torque at low RPM and flat out past your cruising RPM. Anything that you can do to increase the intake and exhaust flow will help. Good compression and a moderate cam will also help. Don't over-cam. The cam should be sized for the compression ratio and the fuel used.

 

it's good that your putting the parts into the engine since it's out anyway...best time to do it and a waste if you don't.

 

I definately like the fact that I get the buid the motor how it is now and don't have to mess around with it while it is in a vehicle. One thing i am going to have to learn how to do is timing and tuning the carb. I always work on fuel injection and imports mostly so this whole carb and timing is relatively new to me. But i guess I will learn as I go and it seems like I can get most of my info from here. Thanks again everyone.