Hi. I'm just about to start redoing the engine on my 79 F150. I've gone through and done as much research as I can about what parts I should use, and what parts will work with eachother, but I'm still a little bit in the dark about if what I'm doing is actually going to work, so I am looking for opinions from soem people with experience.
I'm going from the original 2, to a 4 barrel carb, and getting a new aluminum intake.
I'm putting in a new cam, timing chain and gears.
I already did headers and a nice exhaust.
The parts that are on my order list right now are:
Summit cam with a .509" intake and exhaust lift, and new matching lifters
A double roller timing chain and gears, with a 4 degree max advance and retard, adjustable
I'm probably getting an Eddelbrock 1406 600 CFM 4 barrel from a friend
A Weiand intake from Summit
I'm wondering, is a .509" lift more than I need to just ramp up the power of a good work/fun truck? Not doing any serious off roading, but do tow occasionally.
Will I need to buy new valve springs for this size lift?
Other than gaskets and bolts, what am I probably forgetting to buy to complete this job, or what should I be doing differently?
How much power do I stand to gain from all of this? (About a 600$ investment)
Any and all advice is appreciated, and I'd also be open to hearing about other stuff that I could do, I could certainly use the help. Thanks, AleX

 

I would difinitely go with tim (www.TMeyer.com) piston to raise your compression for a good fondation. Allways match cam with spring. Check with comp cam for xtreme energie. New oil pump and shaft,chambfer the crank oil hole.

 

general rule of thumb is that any cam over stock lift requires new retainers and springs or you'll crash the tops of the guides and bind the springs resulting in bending pushrods, compacting lifters and wiping lobes.

the springs and retainers can be swapped with the heads on the engine but it's harder that way, and should still be checked for retainer/guide and coil bind clearance at max lift

 

Are you removing this engine and rebuilding it ? Or just putting these parts on it in the truck ?
IMO, I wouldn't use a dual patern cam in a 351M-400. You are in the ball park on lift but you don't mention duration @.050.
I would only use the 0 mark keyway in the cranks timing gear if you aren't going to degree it in.

 

the D5 and later heads will really benefit from a dual pattern cam, pre-1975 400 and 351C heads not as much but most agree that they still benefit

i suppose that if you are running a enough of a single pattern cam that the exhaust is satisfied, you've got it covered anyways...

 

Mark a., no, not removing the engine, just taking the nose apart and working on it in place.
It sounds like I definitely should get new springs, does anybody have any reccomendations for size?
And the durations at .050 are 218 intake and 228 exhaust, so the exhaust is already open a little longer, even without the dual pattern.
What do you guys think?
Thanks

 

the retainers are just as important as the springs

 

OK, I'll keep that in mind too. Do you have any suggestions as to what springs and retainers I should buy though?

 

Allways ask the cam manufacturer which sring match .509" lift cam. I'm learning up(or messing up) on retainers and locks, valves, height....

 

Do yourself a favor. Pull the engine. New bearings, specs checked, new hardware, a clean-up overbore and some pistons with 9-9.5 compression.

You are turning up the wick pretty good with a new cam and 4bbl. The low compression doesn't work very well with more cam in most instances, so spring for the extra and get much better results.

Plus, this will reduce the potential for an worn out part to grenade your motor under the increased stress of more power.

 

As much as I'd like to do that I just don't have the money right now. It might come later on if I decide to do some new heads or something like that sometime, then I'll take out the engine and go through the whole thing, but the new pistons and a bore out are just beyond my price range at the moment.
Thanks for all the advice though everybody, and more is always appreciated.
AleX

 

If that is the case, and it runs ok now, I would leave it alone. jmo.

 

dual pattern cams always help on a 400. Fords are bad about having bad exhaust ports. At the very least the cam should have more duration on the exhaust side. Any cam that has more lift on the intake then exhaust you should definatly shy away from. Also look for a cam with a LSA of 114 deg. Canted valve motors like the wider LSA.

 

I have had good luck with 110 and it thumps very well.

 

yea depending on the grind a 110 can work pretty good to, definatly shy away from the 108's though unless you are building a race motor. The main thing to look for if its gonna be a street vehical with stock heads is resonable lift numbers and duration. You also need to look at the lift and duration numbers for the intake and exhaust. The exhaust should either have more lift or duration or both. Shy away from any cams that have a greater intake lift then exhaust unless you are running after market heads. The horrible exhaust flow works against you and u end up making lots of noise and going no where.