Was this engine well maintained?

[Big Don]

If you are going to jazz up a ford 400. Get a high volume/pressure oil pump. Ford in their infinite wisdom oils the main bearings last.

[Ken3030]

Looks like it was already used for an anchor! LOL

[Buick Guy]

Looks like it's the car Hoffa was buried in.

[TRX]

Originally Posted by Big Don

Ford in their infinite wisdom oils the main bearings last.

Just like a Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, or Cadillac... and some non-V8 Chevrolets.

Hank the Crank and Mario Rossi went to elaborate lengths to alter the Cleveland oiling system. Down in Australia, nobody worried much about it, either at the drags or at Bathurst.

I had one stroker engine stick a valve on the run stand, for no reason I ever found out. It pretzeled a Manton pushrod and spat a lifter out, which dropped the oil pressure to zero. I welded up a retained bar and bolted it into the lifter valley; it keeps the lifters from coming out. I've done that to several Clevelands since.

[Bradrock]

I live THREE miles from town & am disabled. My wife is a quad. I just want a fun grocery getter with a comfy ride at the same time. I can put more stuff in this trunk than the little pickups I see around.
I don't expect to be taxing the oiling system all that much. But I did get the high volume Melling pump.And I may or may not use restrictors to redirect the flow a bit. I'll talk to my machinist about it. Hell even if I grenade it.....I only have to crawl on my hands & kneees a couple miles at the most..Heh...heh

[TRX]

When you assemble the motor, make sure to Plastigage the main bearing clearance. Ford had an intermittent problem with oversize main bearing bores on the 400. If your clearance exceeds spec PM me for further details.

[Bradrock]

Will do. Thanks for tip. I plan to get it align honed. I have plasigage & bore mikes . From my racing days I have a habit of checking maybe TOO many times.
Sucks too get it back in the car & have low oil pressure right off the bat.Or spin the bearing. I ran my 2300 pinto up to 7000 rpm's by the end of the straight [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[TRX]

Don't align hone it unless you have to. Check by dropping the crank in on dry bearings, Plastigaging to check for excess clearance (which would point to a possible oversize bore problem), and then oiling the bearings and spinning the crank with your hand, no rear main seal. If it spins freely, the block (and crank) are straight enough.

Besides the $100-$175 cost of align honing the block, you'll be out $100 or more for a .003-.005 undersize timing set.

Too bad you don't live closer; between Fords and Kalashnikovs, we could probably find something to yak about...

[j427x]

eons ago i raced the old 351c mills some --only time one failed was cause the oil pump shaft twisted off. had a 340 mo-pig do the same thing once--

i don't recall any serious oiling problems with it. it was one of the more fun fords we built--

at one time i was thinking of building a 426 stroker mill from a assortment of 351/400/ and 351w parts for an AC kit project. i figure some of you remember that 426ci 351w kit that PAW out at chatsworth sold back in the day?

only thing this one had aluminum 351 boss heads with 7/16 studs and so on. so it was sort of a mini-big block chevy painted ford blue--

the cobra deal fell through and i ended up selling the mill new in crate and never fired it up--LOL

the fellow that bought it said it was a real screamer though---

we didn't build that many fords -i wanted to build a 429-460 back when summit was selling those big -altered port heads-- but never got around to it.

-mostly chevy big blocks with a few MOPARs tossed in for fun.

those were the good old days--LOL!''hell we thought that 500hp 327 chevy was er--small back in the day--

[Tommo]

Looks like some of the gun parts sold by SARCO as excellent condition, yukedy, yuk!