Going thru the 400
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2008
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Going thru the 400
Okay, i have a 400 in my 79 F-350. The motor runs excellent with the carb intake and exaust. Im kinda cheating and cutting some corners cuz this motor will not stay in too long due to the 7.3 that will take its place. until then tho, i need a reliable vehicle that i can drive long distances (500 miles round trip with some heavyish towing). My plan is to haul the engine in, have the crank turned and polished, rods reamed (or main caps), and new bearings. Also, to help the engine out a bit im planning on throwing a cam in: Summit SUM-K5200 - Summit® Cam and Lifter Kits - summitracing.com
Can i assume this cam should work with factory valvetrain? Also, should i have new cam bearing pressed in, or should they be fine? the engine has around 150k on it, and was supposedly ring and bearing'd about 5k miles ago. It runs like it got the rings, but why does it have to knock (400s hate me this is the 4th to do this
) I would assume that since the mill is in perfect running condition other than the knock this should allieviate my problems and toss in a few more ponies am i right? Also, im thinking parts and all with the cam, bearings and labor, i should be around $500 is that about right? The cam i will install myself. So whatya think guys? This gunna work?
Can i assume this cam should work with factory valvetrain? Also, should i have new cam bearing pressed in, or should they be fine? the engine has around 150k on it, and was supposedly ring and bearing'd about 5k miles ago. It runs like it got the rings, but why does it have to knock (400s hate me this is the 4th to do this
) I would assume that since the mill is in perfect running condition other than the knock this should allieviate my problems and toss in a few more ponies am i right? Also, im thinking parts and all with the cam, bearings and labor, i should be around $500 is that about right? The cam i will install myself. So whatya think guys? This gunna work?
Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 3
From: NE Texas
I think you are making an assumption that may very well be wrong. I've been putting my ear to knocking engines for about 40 years and I can often tell by listening the area of the problem, but NOTHING takes the place of exploratory surgery.
There is just NO WAY that you can know what an engine will need until you tear it apart. It's the old "box of chocolates" thing. You just never know what you're gonna get.
You might tear it apart and find that a crank and bearings will fix you right up, but odds are your ear will not have pinpointed the problem that close.
As far as the cam goes, I think that is the 204/212 cam and I have one in my 400 that I built about nine years ago. I did not use the factory springs due to the higher lift on the intake side. You might very well get by with the stock springs. It's right on the edge.
I used the Crane stud changeover kit on my heads and used Big Block Chevy rocker arms.
There is just NO WAY that you can know what an engine will need until you tear it apart. It's the old "box of chocolates" thing. You just never know what you're gonna get.
You might tear it apart and find that a crank and bearings will fix you right up, but odds are your ear will not have pinpointed the problem that close.
As far as the cam goes, I think that is the 204/212 cam and I have one in my 400 that I built about nine years ago. I did not use the factory springs due to the higher lift on the intake side. You might very well get by with the stock springs. It's right on the edge.
I used the Crane stud changeover kit on my heads and used Big Block Chevy rocker arms.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2008
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Well i have a little experience with 400's. That experience is that the rod bearings always go out. Ive had 4 different 400's and every one has been the rod bearings. And they all sounded identical. To be honest, as far as the springs go, as long as it runs long enough to get the job done, and good enough to sell, it will get absolutely no more money put into it. More than likely i will end up selling the motor to my grandpa for his pipeline pickup that has a tired 351M in it. So tired lol that it kinda runs on either, but wont on gas alone. So as long as there are no imediate catastrophic things that will go wrong, thats all she gets.
