VERY nice!!
CK5
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Project Cowboy...9/6/08 havent quit just delayed
- Thread starter JohnDeere
- Start date
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
what's the advantage of being square?
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
Ok I'm no engine expert, still learning alot of things. From what I've been told the more square your engine is, the more low end torque it will have and flatter torque curve it will have.
For towing and offroad use you want an engine with a lot of low end power. For racing you want an engine that will make power up high in the rpms and has a high redline.
For example. Say you have a engine with a 4" bore and 3" stroke. That engine will beable to rev high in the rpms like around 8k and will make most of its power above 4k. So this engine would suck for towing or offroad use becuase there wouldnt be much power on the bottom end, but would be great for racing.
Now say you have a engine with a 3.5" bore and 3.5" stroke. It will make power way down low. It will have good low end torque from about 1.8k to 4.5k and the torque will stay pretty consistant. The down side to this is that it wont have the high redline as the other engine.
Now I now the cam can change and help move the power around the engine to, and depending on what kind of material the engine parts are made out of will also change the rpm limit.
This is why lots of people that offroad like the 383 stroker because it makes the eninge more square for a flater torque curve and more low end power. A 383 is just a 350 bored .030 over and a bigger stroke 3.750 from the original 3.480. If you have noticed that a lot of circle or dirt track race cars have the 355(350 bored .030 over) engine in the so they can have those higher rpms.
But still THERE IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR DESPLACEMENT.
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
Well since there was no school today I decided to work on the truck.
I got pretty much all of the rear body worked patched up. All thats left is to box in where the gas neck comes through the body, but I wont do that until I move the gas tank. I didnt really feel like taking all day on it so the patch work aint perfect but its good enough.
Before
After
Then the other side
And the top corner
Rear almost all primed up
O I had to rotate the 36/14.5 TLS on my 85 so I thought I would have a little teaser (she looks like she is ready to wheel)
I got pretty much all of the rear body worked patched up. All thats left is to box in where the gas neck comes through the body, but I wont do that until I move the gas tank. I didnt really feel like taking all day on it so the patch work aint perfect but its good enough.
Before
After
Then the other side
And the top corner
Rear almost all primed up
O I had to rotate the 36/14.5 TLS on my 85 so I thought I would have a little teaser (she looks like she is ready to wheel)
Just to get back to your glowing header problem, glowing primaries DO NOT indicate a lean condition. Glowing primaries are cause by UNBURNT fuel getting into the exhaust and burning off from the heat. I would look into and ignition problem. Check the cap/rotor if youve already tried the plugs and wires.
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
I guess I forgot to post that the headers dont glow any more. I replaced the T-stat and the wires and plugs with some other ones I had laying around. with everything I changed the glowing got less red. Then it was to were you could barely see them glow, so I played around with the carb and that fixed them more. I think what alot of it was, just the engine had been sitting for so long with out running the rear rods wernt oiled enough even though I squirted a little on them. I run it for about 20 minutes every 3 days and every time it seems to run better, just idels high for a minute or two when I first crank it, but thats ok. I drove it down the street today and it didnt run hot or anything. Its got a pretty good 350 in it and the tranny is good. It had good firm shifts. I power braked it and it lit up the tires pretty easy (33/12.5) and left about a 25ft skidmark (the old lady across the street didnt like that to much). So now I might keep the engine and tranny and put it in my dads heep.
lolYou can use that area between the bumper "brush gaurd" and the grill as a livestock hauling area.
Put your goats in it to carry to market
can i use this in my sig? thats awesome!
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
Well since Im talking about engines I have some more plans for the 454. So once I get my tax money back and save up about 4k I will get her built. I know for sure it will before june, just depends on how much I can save and if I dont find any good deals on other parts come up.
Ok I have finally decided what rotaing assembly to get. I was wanting to make a 489 out of it, but I dont think the miner suface rust in the cylinders will all clean up with just a .030 overbore. So to be on the safe side I decide on a 496, here is the rotating assemble http://C:\Documents and Settings\Ow...ssemblies ESP-18022060 - summitracing_com.htm
Im still deciding on the cam. I dont know if I'm going to go with a Comp Extreme 4x4 cam or Lunati. Looking for something 1000-5000rmps
Since fuel injection has jumped up a couple hundred bucks since I was doing research on them last year. Im going to get the quadjet rebuilt and tuned in for the new engine. Then next year when Im done with this build up, I will hopefully put a Edelbrock rpm pro-flo efi on it.
Now the heads. They are 120cc oval port heads. I dont really know what to do with them, I know to put some roller rockers and have them port and polished, but dont really know what size or anything and I dont want to go crazy with them. I will proble leave this up to the shop to figure out.
Really my goal for this engine is to have a little more than 500hp and about 520trq.
Ok now for the questions.
1. Will I have to get new motor mounts and will they have to be moved?
2. I will need a new radiator, but what do I need to do about the shroud for the fan. Look for one in a junk yard with a big block in it or can I buy a new one?
C. I'm thinking about rebuilding the th400 myself. Is this a good tranny to rebuild for a first timer or is there special tools required?
O and on the body work. I have a hole in the roof to fix then I will start my custom front floor I'm a little and 
about this part. So I will either start this weekend or next weekend.
Ok I have finally decided what rotaing assembly to get. I was wanting to make a 489 out of it, but I dont think the miner suface rust in the cylinders will all clean up with just a .030 overbore. So to be on the safe side I decide on a 496, here is the rotating assemble http://C:\Documents and Settings\Ow...ssemblies ESP-18022060 - summitracing_com.htm
Im still deciding on the cam. I dont know if I'm going to go with a Comp Extreme 4x4 cam or Lunati. Looking for something 1000-5000rmps
Since fuel injection has jumped up a couple hundred bucks since I was doing research on them last year. Im going to get the quadjet rebuilt and tuned in for the new engine. Then next year when Im done with this build up, I will hopefully put a Edelbrock rpm pro-flo efi on it.
Now the heads. They are 120cc oval port heads. I dont really know what to do with them, I know to put some roller rockers and have them port and polished, but dont really know what size or anything and I dont want to go crazy with them. I will proble leave this up to the shop to figure out.
Really my goal for this engine is to have a little more than 500hp and about 520trq.
Ok now for the questions.
1. Will I have to get new motor mounts and will they have to be moved?
2. I will need a new radiator, but what do I need to do about the shroud for the fan. Look for one in a junk yard with a big block in it or can I buy a new one?
C. I'm thinking about rebuilding the th400 myself. Is this a good tranny to rebuild for a first timer or is there special tools required?
O and on the body work. I have a hole in the roof to fix then I will start my custom front floor I'm a little
and about this part. So I will either start this weekend or next weekend.
Randy92782
1 ton status
Damn man. How have i missed this build?? Subscribed 
Looks good man. Wish i could get off my ass and do some work like this
Looks good man. Wish i could get off my ass and do some work like this
JBo214
Registered Member
TDAWG1
1/2 ton status
Nice work man
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
Ok I got alot done today. I patched the hole in the roof and put some bond over some dents and parts that I patched to smooth things out some. I also put some silicon sealer were body parts come together on the top of the cab to keep it from rusting in side out on me. Then I went a head and reprimed the roof and the hole rear of the truck, so no more rust. At least I hope. My next step will be to start cutting the floor out I hope. Well here the picks.
Hole in roof
New piece patched in
Cleaned up and primed
And the rest primed
Hole in roof
New piece patched in
Cleaned up and primed
And the rest primed
chevy wrangler
1/2 ton status
looks good dude 
Randy92782
1 ton status
Looks good to me. you're moving along so well on this. I am definately jealous. Now i want to fix the holes in mine 
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
thanks guys. With the body I'm trying to get rid of 90% of the rust. That way it will look better and the body will last longer. Right now the rear bed and roof are done, with most of the rear side pannels. I have some repair work on the rear side pannels at the bottom and fix where the side pannels run into the door(lots of rust there), but I wont mess with that until later. Im trying to get a good thick coat of primer on it to keep out rust and help prevent sratches to the metal. I'm useing a brush to put it on and sanding it down some when I aply the next coat. That way when I start to sand it for the final coat it will be easier and it takes off any primer that didnt adhear to the body very good. The finish coating wont be for a good while. I will end up painting the inside with black bedliner (proble 2 coats) and the outside will get a gloss red coat (2-3 coats and maybe a clear coat) that I will rattle can on. The biggest pain will be painting the under carrige and the engine corpartment. But I will do that most of during the engine swap.
), but I wont mess with that until later. Im trying to get a good thick coat of primer on it to keep out rust and help prevent sratches to the metal. I'm useing a brush to put it on and sanding it down some when I aply the next coat. That way when I start to sand it for the final coat it will be easier and it takes off any primer that didnt adhear to the body very good. The finish coating wont be for a good while. I will end up painting the inside with black bedliner (proble 2 coats) and the outside will get a gloss red coat (2-3 coats and maybe a clear coat) that I will rattle can on. The biggest pain will be painting the under carrige and the engine corpartment. But I will do that most of during the engine swap.
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
I started cutting the floor out. I got most of it out with the saw zaw b and air chisel, but I need to buy more cut off wheels for my air grinder to get the rest buy th fire wall.
Well there is no turning back now.
O and I think I decided on what color im going to paint it.( the first one on the left) It looks 10x beeter in real life than on the picture.
I primed it with rusto then sprayed 2 coats of white paint over that. Then sprayed 4 varios coats of red. The one I like the most is the first one Flame red. The order from left to right is Flame Red, Bright Red, Red, and Radiant Red. I sprayed the white on it first to make the red really stand out and not make it look dark. When I sprayed the first and second coat of red on the white it was almost a bright pink then as I added coats it became a darker red.
Well there is no turning back now.
O and I think I decided on what color im going to paint it.( the first one on the left) It looks 10x beeter in real life than on the picture.
I primed it with rusto then sprayed 2 coats of white paint over that. Then sprayed 4 varios coats of red. The one I like the most is the first one Flame red. The order from left to right is Flame Red, Bright Red, Red, and Radiant Red. I sprayed the white on it first to make the red really stand out and not make it look dark. When I sprayed the first and second coat of red on the white it was almost a bright pink then as I added coats it became a darker red.
adamforsythe
1/2 ton status
ohhhhhh my god that brings back a lot of memory's
My Floor replacement article
My Floor replacement article
I started cutting the floor out. I got most of it out with the saw zaw b and air chisel, but I need to buy more cut off wheels for my air grinder to get the rest buy th fire wall.
Well there is no turning back now.
JohnDeere
1/2 ton status
Thanks for you write up, it gave me a couple ideas. I pretty much know how I'm going to redo the floor. Im going to add some 1" square tubing to the sub structure already there and get rid of the back hump on the tranny tunnel. The hardest part I think will be making a new tranny tunnel. I'm going to add a 1" body lift to the truck to make room for some of the 1 inch square tubing and to help keep my COG down some.
