Well my 351M is knocking like crazy, its done for. I have a bare 460 block that will be built into a 514 eventually($$) For now I have a 400 thats just about ready to get finished up and swapped in. I was just wanting to know if anyone has done a similar build and a guesstimate of what my hp/tq numbers might be.

Stock 400 crank rods and pistons
Comp Xe262h with new springs and lifters to match(kit from summit)
Straight up timing set
Hedmann Elite Headers
Weiand 8010 intake
Edelbrock 1406 600cfm carb
As of now i will run stock distributor and Dura Spark 2 unless anyone can tell me why not.

Should be a pretty big improvement over the old 351M I'm just wondering if anyone can give me any idea on hp/tq. Thanks!!

 

Looking through all the instructions in my cam kit here, and I see that the Xe262h has 4 degrees advance built in. Do I still set the crank gear at 0 degrees? It has 4deg retard and 4 deg advance as well as 0.

 

Set the crank gear at o degrees. Might be a good investment, and easy to do while it's out, to purchase a set of Tim's flat to pistons. With everything else you are doing, I think it would be a waste to not upgrade the pistons.

The Dura spark II is great, unless you want to blow money.

----Nick

 

Do you mean the actual flat top pistons($495) on tmeyerinc? According to his compression ratio chart those will make 10.48 comp ratio, thats a bit much isnt it? Or did you mean the step dish ($175)pistons, those will make 9.4, all with the 76cc stock heads.

When I ordered my cam (xe262h) that was what they recommended but I also told them I had stock pistons. Will the xe262h still be a good cam if I buy new pistons?

Thanks for the ideas, I do want to try to do this right while its out. Hopefully this motor will run hard and long enough to keep me entertained until i can afford to do my 514 build.

 

i think the xe262h is a great cam. i think its the best all around for a truck that wont tow a lot and might rev a little.

 

I'm hoping so, i typed it into the search feature and no one has anything bad to say about it, most are real happy with it. I see you went with a custom grind with quite a bit more cam than mine. I think you whole build is quite a bit more than i will have though. I'm just wanting it to sound mean at idle but still have the low rpm torque for mudding/street. I guess I will find out soon! I'm anxious as hell my 351M was stock except for carb/intake and dual exhaust. Going to a 400 with cam and headers thrown in should be funnnnn

 

Yeah, I meant the step dish pistons.My setup is at 9.81 currently. Flat top was the way I was going to go, but didn't want to have to run premium all the time.

The step dish pistons will work great with that cam.

 

Will bumping up the comp to 9.4 or so make much of a hp increase over stock? What is the stock comp ratio on a 400? If it makes much of a difference it definitely makes sense to do it now, hell I just dropped almost $700 in headers and cam kit(timing set, lifters, springs, locks, retainers etc) whats another $175

 

I'm not sure what the stock compression ratio is on the 400, but I'd imagine that it's in the low to mid 8's. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. More than horsepower, you are going to get a lot more torque. Which is what you want. These engines are not HP engines, they are torque beasts!! At low rpms this engine has a ton of torque.

Another $175 will get you the pistons, but then when you do that, replace all lower end bearings and have the crank reground, if need be. But still you're not talking to much, as long as you have a few shops around. I think I got all my clevite lower end bearings for my 400 for at most $100, and the crank was around $40 to be reground.

 

i think stock compression is 8.0:1.

for every point of compression you add, you gain about 4% of hp. thats pretty cheap hp, and you will know you have good pistons in there too.

 

stock compression on a 400 is 8.0-6 to 1, any ways, tims pistons willmake a huge difference, instead of building that heavy 514 why dont you build a 434 engine with aluminium chi heads? you will be WAY better of than building the heavy thing, you wont regret it, think bout t...

 

Well the simplicity and cost effectiveness is definitely making me think that it may be a possibility to do a 434 next time. My 400 is at the engine shop now and I was just going to have them check the stock bottom end out and confirm its ok, but I called them today and told them I will be ordering new pistons from TMI and that I wanted them to put new cam, rod and main bearings in and regrind crank if needed. So now I am just waiting for next week for them to call back and confirm whether I need a bore over so I will know what size pistons to order. Its getting more expensive but still should be some good bang for the buck.

So heres what its looking like now, if anyone could make an educated guess at hp/tq numbers i'd appreciate it I cant wait to hear this bad boy rumble to life for the first time!!

400 block
4" stroke
4.030" bore
New cam, rod, and main bearings
TMI Step dish 13cc pistons
9.4-1 comp with stock 76cc heads according to TMI chart
Comp xe262h with springs lifters etc
3 angle valve job
Straight up comp roller timing chain that came in cam kit
Weiand 8010
Edelbrock 1406 600 cfm

Should get me 300 hp right?

 

doesn't this site make it so easy to spend your money? i started here just trying to get a lifted truck with big tires and a loud exhaust. nothing more than something to drive to partys and scare old ladies with. i figured like $2000 tops. well im going to have an easy 10000 into the initial truck, the body and the engine.i still need a d60 front axle and 5.13 gears. thats going to hurt that wallet.

 

I was wanting to ask you how that D44 holds up with those 39.5 Boggers. Do you wheel it much? I mainly just like to play on mud farm roads and the occasional mud bog at the county fairs around here. No trails so mostly straight ahead no turning. I think turning under throttle is whats hard on the front axle. And I dont plan on going bigger than 35" so maybe my D44 will hold up. You might as well go for Rockwells and 44's you got the motor for it now. How much lift is on your truck? It looks like it fits those 39.5 Boggers very nicely. How does it steer going down the road? I have 4" lift and I'm afraid to screw my steering up so I probably wont go any taller.

 

i haven't wheeled it. when its going it will probably will be mostly straight lines and snow drifts. i'm still in the process of getting in on the road full time so the d44 is ok for now. i knew nothing about these trucks when i bought it so i figured it had d60-d60 in it and would be fine. i have roughly 3-4" suspension and 3" body. someday ill get custom springs with no body lift or blocks but thats far off. it steers pretty good and is pretty quiet and smooth on the road compared to what i figured.