I hesitate suggesting this, but the best way to get Tim's time is to call him. However, my 'stuff' is needing his time, so if you call him..... ;)

I understand how the costs add up, believe me. I'm going with aluminum heads and a roller cam, lifter, and rockers - and that added up in a big way. But that isn't why I'm going with the stock ignition. My reasoning there is that the stock system is adequate and it provides timing retard while cranking, which MSD doesn't.

I'm in no rush to figure this out right now, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, so don't worry about me taking up his time. :-X04 Sounds like the stock ignition system is probably the way to go for my build, so I will probably just replace the coil with an aftermarket unit of some sort and keep the rest OEM, but like I said, I'll cross the bridge when i come to it. There are plenty of other things I need to do first. My number one priority now is to tear down the engine and get it over to the machine shop so I know the sizes to give to Tim.

. I'd also suggest just keeping the stock ignition... good reliability and good, quick parts availability...

. I'd also suggest the 650, not only for a little more airflow, but because the 600's sometimes have idle circuits that are kind of small and hard to tune for a 400+" engine...

Yeah, I've decided to go with both stock ignition (works good and is cheaper) and also I'll be buying a 1806 instead of a 1406. Everyone I've talked to said the 1406 would work but the 1806 would be much better, so that's what I'll do.

Update time! Since it was Easter weekend, I finally had off work and school so that gave me some much needed time with the 79. I was able to get it into the shop and pull the motor out. Much to my surprise, it came out fairly easily. The only problem I encountered was I could not get one of the exaust bolts to come off the manifold flange, but that wasn't anything a sawzall couldn't fix. I just cut the tubing as close as i possibly could to the manifold. I have long tubes, so I need to run new exhaust anyway. After getting the motor pulled, I got the whole thing stripped down to a bare bock and ready to go to the machine shop. The block was more wore than I thought, but I'm guessing it should clean up with .020 or .030 no problem. The cam and cam bearings were in terrible shape, the rest didn't look too bad. The cam has a lot of pitting and on of the cam bearings were actually broken. I found a little bit of the metal from it in the bottom of the oil pan. I honestly was surprised that the engine was running as well as it was now that I've seen the condition of it. I'm hoping I can find some time this week to bring the block down to the machine shop, but we'll see. I have finals coming up and a busy week at work, so I might have to put things on hold for a few weeks. :( School comes first and I've got to work to make the money to fund my obsession. My ultimate goal is to have the truck running before the end of summer.

A few pictures (sorry they are blurry, I expected better from my new Galaxy S4)

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...psubjezt81.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...pshizzynqa.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0a5aoisg.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...psctw1nf53.jpg

They are blurry, but I get the idea. Making progress, and that's good. And, I understand that life gets in the way sometimes. ;)

Good plan on the ignition and carb. The 1406 is good but the 1806 will be better. One significant help is the adjustable secondary opening point as you can tune it for your application.

. Work and school and doing an engine and doing a truck? I got worn out just reading it... LOL!

. Did you check to see how long before TMI pistons available again?

He said he has .020 pistons in Stock and about 2 - 3 weeks for more of the .030 and over pistons to come in. I still have yet to take the block in (been too busy at work and applying to grad school) so I don't know what sizes to order yet. I was hoping to get that done this week but have been too busy. Hopefully next week I'll have a few hours free to take it in.

Hmmmm. 2 - 3 more weeks on the .030's isn't what I wanted to hear.

Last KB told me they would ship by the 1st of May.

Thanks, Tim.

Finally took the block in this week. I'm waiting on my machine shop to get back to me with all the measurements. I will then be putting in my order with Tim. I can't wait to get this truck on the road again!
http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3aryqojp.jpg

. We can't wait to hear how you like it... just use the .020" pistons if that is all that's available and the bores will clean up at .020"... won't be able to tell the difference between a 406" and a 408"... and will leave more meat for later overbores...

I agree. I hope to bore it as little as possible. The cylinder walls were worn more than I thought they would be. I'm guessing .020 will be fine, .030 over at the most. Machine shop said they would get back with me either Monday or Tuesday.

Well it's been a while, so here's a bit of an update. My machine shop got back to me and informed me that my block was more worn out than I had originally thought. The bores had about .018 taper on each side, so the block needed to be bored out .040 over to totally clean it up. The good news was that the rest of the block was in great shape. No cracks or anything. The heads were also pretty worn out. All new exhaust guides were needed (I assumed this would be the case) and also I had 3 bad exhaust valves and one bad intake. Anyway. I put in the order with Tim and I got all my parts in about a week.

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...pscgtaecsc.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...psvaujkfxu.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...pss61bquan.jpg

I also got my cam a few days later.
http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...psuvj2wvdc.jpg

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/...psfawchefk.jpg

Tim informed me that I will need to check my rockers for binding with this cam. He said it is right on the threshold of recommending roller rockers, but suggested I check the stock rockers before I fork out the cash for rollers. If anyone else has any more insight on this I would like to hear it. The good thing about rockers are that they are easy to replace later.

I have the same cam with recomended springs. I've used different roller than scorpion. I install a stud conversion kit with 1.7 rollers and custom push-rods. Got no problem at all.
Did your block was deck and the heads shave? If yes its changing the valve train geometrie and need shorther pushrods.