I have a 1979 f-150 2wd I drove it all last year in the condition I bought it and parked it late fall for the winter. I've been buying parts all year now for the month of march I'm going to put it together. I just wanted to run this buy the experts and see what you think. I've got an edelbrock performer 400 dual plane intake. a holley 650 cfm double pumper with the choke horn milled off, rebuilt for free from a freind,I'm going to remove all emissions equipment which is mostly disconnected allready and in bad repair, and just run vacuum to the pcv,dist,booster,and tranny. I'm going to put a new timing chain straight up. new plugs, wires, cap and rotor, hoses, belts, ect. the egr was already disabled with a bolt stuck in the hole and I,ve had no pinging problems. I believe the cam is stock I'd like to replace it but have no experience with this and I'm confused as to if the bearings need to be replaced or not. then this spring I'd like to put headers on also when I get more money. My question is does anybody see any problems with this setup. and with out the cam change will I notice a difference in power from this motor thats a real dog but has been very reliable for me.
thank you

 

first of all, is it really a 400? cuz it could be a 351m.... check the truck's vin number, besides that do a compression test on all cylinders cuz if its acting like a dog maybe comp is realy down.... and yes an aftermarket cam will give you a cool boost and all parts mentioned will work pretty well....

 

Don't put a big cam in it unless you are ready to do something to raise the Compression Ratio. The timing set and the carb should help, as well as headers.

 

You should be able to put a new cam in. I would only do new cam bearings if the block is in the shop for machining anyway, but if compression proves down (below 110, let's say) on all 8, then I wouldn't go all out with a cam just yet, but the 4V intake and fresh timing set will be a welcome sight, along with headers. You should feel the difference, especially with a well tuned Holley. You should also upgrade to a 40,000+ volt coil and good wires as well, or maybe even an MSD, Accel, or Mallory box.