I have a 78 300 I6. I understand that the specs are 114hp at 3400rpm and 225ft/lbs at 1700rpm. My question is can my 300 be built to have say have 170hp and 350ft/lbs about about the same or even lower rpm levels. I want to rebuilt my truck from a frame off. I was(am) debating on a diesel swap, but if I can get these numbers at a reasonable cost. I'd do that
thanks,
Dustin

 

Well the the 300 is very torque already for its size but those numbers are attainable. You would want to get a rv cam, install it 4 deg advanced, minor port and pollish work or if you have some extra money an aluminum head from fordsix. A 390 four barrel with a cliford or offy intake and a hei dissy. upgrade to chevy rockers. If you are good at fabrication you can make your own turbo setup that with 8 to 10 psi of boost would easily but you past the 400 mark. If you have more questions let me know.

 

If you were to spend the same money on the 300 as you would on the diesel swap, I think you would bew a lot happier with the 300 rather than a NA diesel

 

So I could get 400ft/lbs @ 1800rpm or lower with a build like that. I will probably toss $2k into the motor including machine work and all parts. Given a $2k budget what numbers will I see? I was hoping to make the diesel boys blush. I'd be happy with the 400ft/lbs and around 225hp.
Can you do me a favor and lay out a recipe?????please with details
I want max torque to stay under 2,000rpms and the motor not rev over 3500rpm, turbo oh did you say turbo...... let the plan ning begain
teach me oh great one!

 

It will be tough to do for under 2k three thousand is probably a more realistic goal but you will still be under what the diesel swap will cost you. I have been planing the same type of engine build myself and I think I have read every forum known to man about this but give me an hour or to and ill see what I can come up with for ya

 

A few years ago three brothers who grew up with Fords built a 300 6 for the dirt track in what was then modified class. Mostly old coupes with sb chevies and they won more than there share of races. Those v8 guys would be real puzzled when he won. He would go right by them on straightaway. The driver was real good also, but that car would run. They had a machine shop and all the Ford people would go to them with their problems.

 

Get a klune underdrive unit for running around town with low ratio, then pull the lever back and have the same normal gear ratio as stock. You could probably run a higher ratio for highway. They say not to use it like that but you could just replace your tailshaft with it. You could run a lower gear ratio(higher numerically) For more pulling power, Don't forget longer intake runners(double carb spacer) and long skinny exhaust with minimal and smooth bends makes torque so ditch the 3" exiting in front of the rear tire!! Increasing the voltage and number of sparks will more completely burning fuel which increases power and gets better mileage, so an aftermarket coil and spark box will get that.

 

Okay for what you are doing and the budget you are on I would recomend getting a good set of forged pistons, they wont be cheap, they might even be 600 bucks for the set but they will be worth it. Otherwise you could use a set of hyper pistons as long as your carefull. For a camshaft any rv style cam will work well for your application, I would stay away from any turbo style cams because they will want to make power higher in the rpm range than you want it. Get a quality timing gear and advance the cam 4 degrees. For head work don't get to carried away, get good springs or better yet get a top end kit that will have the cam, lifters and springs all in a pakage. Get a 3 angle valve job and do some minor bowl porting but nothing else. Use chevy rockers. Get a high quality head gasket and you may want to look into head studs, not required but if you have problems with the head gasket sealing they will help. For the turbo your cheapest route would be to get a stock turbo from a 94-98 Dodge. Just to warn you in advance, there will be some turbo lag with this turbo, but it is the cheapest setup that will work well on your engine, it just will have a little lag, but in a towing rig it will work very well. Keep the boost under 8 psi unless you run forged pistons in which case you can run 10 to 12 psi. It is important to talk to your piston manufacture about your plans and see what they have to offer. the last thing you want is prededination. The simplest carb set up is draw through although you cant use an intercoler because of fuel puddeling which could cause an explosion if there is a back fire. I am sure you will have more questions and I know I probably left some stuff out but this setup should get you to your power goals fairly easily and depending on the price of the pistons and turbo it should come in around the 2500 dollar mark. A lot will depend on your resourcefulness and your fabrication abilities

 

what about $4k? I'll just save up longer. wont a stock cummins turbo overboost my 300? I was hoping to have a nice 6-8psi? What will 4.56's look like at 65mph with a 33" tire and a unit say a GV has a 27% OD? about 2250rpms maybe or am I deaming of 4.56's with a 33?

 

would you mind laying out a cam profile and a good carb for my intentions, what about an ignition? Will my newer stock 11" clutch hold the 400ft/lbs?
thank you guys

 

As long as you set the wastegate at 8 psi you will be fine with cummins turbo. A better option is the Garrett T04B with a 62 trim probably cost u more, like about 600 650. As for a clutch go to www.specclutch.com.

 

Hear is the build on my 84 F150 with a 300 six:

Bored .040 over / Clevite bearings / Sealed Power moly rings / HV oil pump / Crane Blue Racer RV cam / Offenhauser dual port intake / Holley 350 2bbl (soon to be Edelbrock 500 4bbl) / Hedman header / MSD Blaster coil / open element K&N air filter. With this set up I would guestimate I am easily over 340 tq and around 200 hp. I can honestly say this 300 has raised some eyebrows.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...y-300-six.html
This will make for some good reading for you. These were his power levels at 10 psi. HP: 227@3000
Torque 428@3000

 

Eric's project has been a lot of trial and error for the last 3+ years. He's learned a lot and passed his experiences on through that thread. But it also deminstrates that it's anything but a drop in and requires a lot of knowledge. It's also an EFI app and not a carb like Dustin's.

Realisticly, I'd go to forums like TurboMustangs and ClassicInlines and research what others with carb'd inlines are doing.

Also keep in mind that your stated goal of peak power being sub 2000rpm. With that in mind I'd stay away from any turbo intended for desiels for a couple of reasons. First being that the turbines are large conpared to the amount of airflow our 300's pump, meaning that you'll have a segnificant boost lag. Second, these "large" turbo's only start to produce usable boost in the 1800-2000 rpm range not peak there. Third, if you want a functional wastegate you'll have to replace the existing one since it is designed to open in ranges of 20psi and above.

Frankly, the power range your looking for can be easily achieved naturally aspirated and be more reliable as well. Raise the compression ratio to the 10+ range, cleanup the head as has been suggested, good cam installed strait up, 4v carb, headers, etc. You'll have a strong reliable engine setup like this. Not to mention be atainable within your budget if you can do most of the work yourself.

 

There is no question that the cummins turbo is to big, but it isn't as big as the 6.5 turbo that eric used. I would predict torque to peak at about 2800 with the cummins turbo. It may be a little cheaper to get those power numbers naturaly asperated, but it wont be that reliable and you will easily have a thousand dollars into the head to make it flow enough air to support 375ftlbs. The tubo overcomes this and if you build a turbo setup yourself you can easily come in under a thousand for the turbo and pluming, if you are a decent fabricator, or have a good friend who can build it for you. The easiest set up is a simple draw through setup as you dont have do run a special carb or increase the fuel presure. On a carb your power might be slighly lower but you can run 8 to 10 psi on hyper pistons with no problems. Your best bet would to run it on E85, as you wont have to worry about dedination at all and the alcohol will cool the incoming air charge. It isn't a very difficult procedure, it just is labor intensive and time consuming, but it will get a lot of attention when it is done. If you want to make power lower, look to getting a t04 turbo, but the cummins unit will work fine, there will just be some noticable turbo lag. The power will come in smooth and gradual with a turbo of this size but it will build awsome numbers and will be reall nice when pulling a trailer as the power wont be instant and it will be easier on parts.