So I finally got the time to get into my newly acquired truck. So I pull the whole front essembly and finally get the Cam out about 4 hours later. It doesnt show any overly apparent wear or seperated lobe or anything. I did all this in the search for why the hell my distrib gear kept getting eaten alive. So today when I get home Im going to jack the engine and get the pan off and look at the oil pump. Should I get a heavier cam or should I get a OEM cam? And could the cam be bad and I not even know by looking? The original problem is the gear got teeth sheared off so I bought a new one and slapped it in there after ALOT of working with it I got it in there and the engine cranked and fired a couple times then stopped so I pull the cap and the router wont turn when the engine does so I pull it and BAM the teeth are gone again. So it has to be the cam or oil pump. So here I am cams out and I think its good but Im not sure. And I still need to look at the oil pump.

 

yeah to my kowledge the oil pump is a gear driven device, and if so then something jamming it could shear teeth like that. But the cam should show signs of wear then, it's kinda weird that it doesen't. Either way you gotta drop the pan and get that metal out of it. The old rotor teeth may have jammed up the pump. I'd take a good look at that oil pump, and see what's going on.

 

SUCCESS. I found the problem. I pull the pan and get the oil pump out and BAM that MF is siezed like all hell. I cant get it to move even with a breaker bar and a vise. Its rough. So new Oil pump and Cam and Water pump. Any sugestion I should do since Im in there?

 

All new bearings, regular oil pump and an RV cam, replace the oil pump drive rod too.

 

Good point Mark. If the pump siezed I bet the drive rod looked like a piece of twisted ornamental wrought iron...

Check your timing chain for slack, consider replacing the front and rear main seals. Done now, you won't have to go back in after them anytime soon if at all!

Definitely do the bearings, that mill was turning with absolutely ZERO oil in the mains.

I better mention one other thing- look at the screen in your oil pump pickup tube/strainer. I knew a guy once who had so much junk in his oil pan that it sucked the screen into the strainer and dumped a whole load of crud right into the pump, which siezed it, therefore the the thought process leading to me mentioning it.

I thought it sounded awful familiar..

 

Beware asking questions in the engine forums here, you can end up getting a poor excuse for an answer that is mostly opinion, then supported by another ******* who can't answer it either, just call you out. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=479764
I left another Ford site for this same attitude, I'll not put up with it!

 

The drive rod actually looks pretty cool. Im going to keep it :-p but as for the Cam what should I get I could careless about the idle lug or top end cause Im going to use it for towing and hauling and well somtimes play with ricers around town with my 4.88 gears (yay for special orders) but yea I want a new manifold and 4 barrel but Im poor right now so internals first then some better intake. Its running straigh headers to y pipe right now so no exhaust restrictions.

 

I got my Melling cam from Mikes Speed Shop in the Boro, the duration is about the same as the Edelbrock cam sold with the Torquer intake combo for my engine. You don't want a tall cam with an auto transmission, it requires a stall converter and it's not a towing combo, the RV can gets you the power at lower RPMs, where you need it to pull.
I need 4.88's with the 35's our F-150 turns, but you don't want them with a smaller tire or you'll run out of engine quick, gas gauge will fall so fast you can see it happen.
Ebay is the place for a used intake, carb if you are lucky, but'll require a rebuild.

 

Yea I was worried about the 488 gears but thats what ford gave em from factory with the LS so Im not going to change them anytime soon cause keep the money for a good intake and carb. Wahts the max CFm Im looking at? 650? 700? Since Im this deep should I get higher compression rings and pistons? Iunno since Im this deep Im dead set on getting more power outter her in the range I want which is idle 5500

 

I'd just rering it, bearings, RV cam, headers, intake and carb.
Machine work to bore it and get it all together will run you way over a grand, why go that far? Small blocks can only withstand 600 CFM, anything larger is not only wasteful, but'll not run right.

 

CFM is best figured as:

RPM divided by two, times cubic inches, times 0.85 (volumetric efficiency factor), divided by 1728 = cubic feet per minute.

Round it off to the nearest 50.

1728 = 12 x 12 x 12, to convert inches to feet.

If you over carburate an engine you get low end flat spots.

For a 351 it comes to 700 CFM if you plan to redline at 8,000 RPM.

A 302 (5L) is 600 CFM at the same redline.

Pick your normal operating RPM and plug in the numbers, you might be suprised - the above are full race numbers.

750 CFM Holleys were popular in the seventies with a lot of people who over-revved their engines and blew the crap out of them without ever achieving maximum efficiency.

Be a tech - not a schmuck!

If you could pull it off - I'd go EFI.

Standard sizes being what they are, I'd say go 750 for a 351, or 650 for a 302.

Believe it or not - for the MAX RPM you want, the numbers come out 500CFM for a 351, or 450CFM for a 302...

Those should be your ideal carbs

 

ok since I want to stroke it to a 393 Not sure if Im going to now or wait but it says that a 600 would be suffise for a good 6000rpm lean for me. Should I get a 600 and de jet her? or just wait and get a new carb and stroke kit at the same time

 

Ok sorry for all the questions. Ive never done this solo before Ive always had someone order the parts and I install them. So when you say bearings do I do the mains and rod and do I undersize them and how much? and on the ring kit It looks like the engine has been rebuild cause I pulled lifters and there are no wear on them at all like nada. So How much is a bore measuring tool (I cant remember the techincal name) and where to obtain one. And what about the thickness of the top and second ring? oh yea I have my power steering pump off should I flush it and try to rebuild it?

 

600 or a 650 should work out - and ought to manage after the stroke.

You're going to want to do a complete teardown and then load up the crank, rods, block, heads, and cam and take them to a good machine shop to see what they recommend. They can mike out everything for you and tell you what sizes you need.

Have the heads and block checked for straightness, and the valves & guides checked out.

 

If you plan a hotter cam this is the time to replace the stock valve springs for some to match your cam.