Well, tonight I fired up my 400 for the first time. I had to get 0.060" shorter pushrods though. It took som playin with the timing, but then it fired right up. We ran it for about 20 minutes at 2200 RPM to break it in, then shut it down.

Cold it has about 75PSI, and then about 55PSI at 2200 RPM when hot. Does this sound good??

I have a Comp Cams Magnum 270H in it. It has a fairly rough idle. It does shake the truck. The one thing that concerns me is the headers. After the paint burned off, they started to glow red. Is this normal??

Temp Climbed pretty fast to just over half, them levelled out after 3 min.


Thanks
Riley

77' F-150 XLT
400 0.030" over
Ohio Flat Tops w/ moly rings
Comp Cams Magnum 270H
Comp Lifters, Springs, Locks, Retainers
All Clevite 77 Bearings

 

I'm doing just about the same thing with my 400. Its also going in a 77 f-150. How is the power? Does it have alot? With those flat top pistons does it ping off of 87 octane?

Thanks

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 17-Aug-01 AT 03:09 AM (EST)[/font][p] I couldn't tell you the power. The fenders are still off, but I'm going to work on it tomorrow. I will tell you then when I get them on. It seems to want to twist alot on the chassis tho, I'm assuming it will have lots of torque. I have a Holley 650cfm off of a 71 Mach1 w/ a 351C 4bbl on it. It had a trick kit put in it. Amazing throttle response I must say. I'm also amazed at how well it revs. It up to almost 3,000 with just a tap of the throttle.

I think there are going to be alot of "Anti M Block" people not talking to me now...

I was kinda mad that my headers are all burnt off now. Oh well, what can ya expect I guess... I was too cheap to shell out $500 for stainless.... Anyhow, I will keep you all posted on my progress....

When I was breaking it in I didn't notice any ping. I was off 87 with STP octane boost. My compression is going to be a little high I think. The flat tops give about 9.5:1.

The heads were shaved alot though, I'm not shure how much, but I shimmed the rocker arms 0.030", and It still wasn't enough. So, with the block being decked as well, I eventually had to buy 0.060" shorter pushrods. I don't know what comp ratio I will have. Anyone have any ideas? I'd say a little over 10:1...


Later
Riley

 

I would run 91 octane or the highest you can find for the first 500 miles and then start experimenting with loser octane. If you really are at 9:1 or better you will need it.

1977 Ford F-100
400m/c6/4:11/Gear Vender O.D.
Crane hydralic roller, forged, ported polished,Deamon,Edlebrock, yada, yada, yada
280,000 miles
Stock on the outside
modified/rebuilt everything

 

The Ohio pistons are nominal 9:1 when installed with no deck blocking or head shaving. They also have a .010 less compression height than stock to compensate for the fact that you may have to deck the block or shave the heads. The only way to figure out the C.R. is to find out just how much was taken off of the heads & block. Did you have to mill the intake manifold as well?

 

It sounds OK to me, but I would be a little concerned about the red glow from the headers. It may be an indication that it is lean.

When you give it a road test, if it bogs down when you hit the throttle, then it is running lean. You may have to rejet the carb.

Dan Lee
'53 F100
400C-4V

 

Another thought on the glow, could the timing be off? I had a 429 one time shear the distributor gear roll pin. It started to run pretty weak one night on the Interstate and since we had just gassed up, I blamed the gas. When it finally died a few miles later, both cast exhaust manifolds had a dull red glow. The fix? I had a little C-clamp in the tool box that had a handle that was about the right diameter, I cut it off the clamp and then peened it into place through the gear.

alanscott


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