Kenney Moore's 434 Cleveland

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Last Updated: 16 Jul 2003

Author: Dave Williams; dlwilliams=aristotle=net

I trade some work with another engine builder and the balance of favors had fallen out of alignment a bit, so I put together a new engine for his shop truck. It had a 351M in it already, so the choice was clear... it had to be upgraded to a 400M and then opened up as much as practical.

I still have some pictures on 35mm I have to scan in, but these will show you most of it.


Cleaning is about half of an engine build. The heads have just come out of the hot tank and met the pressure washer.

These are real, early-type 351C-2V heads. I didn't think to take any pictures of the differences, but though it's widely claimed (even by Ford!) that the 351M and 400 use 2V Cleveland heads, it's not true. The 2V head has a nice smooth exhaust port. The M head has a "potbelly" port you can barely get your finger through, with the water jacket drooped down around the valve guide. You can't grind the potbelly out because there's water inside it.

I went through what I thought was a stash of 2V heads and *all* of them were M heads. I wound up giving all nine of them away. Kenney scrounged up two 2V heads from two different core engines. They needed a lot of TLC after laying out in the rain for several years, but they're a much better head than the M heads.


Since this was a low budget engine (no, really...) I resurfaced the rockers on the sander. Sioux used to make an attachment for my valve grinder to do this, but they're out of production now. It's no trouble to do it on the sander if you have a steady hand. If you screw up, no big deal - we have boxes of stock Cleveland rockers.

Closest is right out of the caustic tank, middle is resurfaced to get rid of the wear spot from the valve stem, farthest has been wire wheeled and run through the parts tumbler.

Block...
Some 351M/400s came with 4V-Cleveland style valve notches, some didn't. None of them needed them, at least with the 2V heads. I marked these with chalk so they'd show up better.

Boring block preparation, chasing all the threaded holes... but it lets the bolts come up to torque smoothly.

More grunt work - wiping out the bores with Marvel Mystery Oil and paper towels. You'd be shocked at how much crap is embedded in the honing pattern in a "clean" bore. That gross paper towel is from one hole... that already was shiny enough to see your reflection in!

MMO has a stupid name, but it's just a simple straight-cut, light base stock utility oil, like 3-in-1, except in big cans.

Notice the ugly appearance of the lifter valley. It's smooth enough, but the blotchy effect is from dirty casting sand and/or the iron being a little too hot when it was poured. Not that it means anything in particular; I just thought you might be interested.


Distributor gear thrust surface in the 400. Slightly smaller than a Windsor, much larger than a normal Cleveland.

Long 1/8" drill to reach in and go almost through into the distributor shaft oiling gallery, pin vise with a #50 drill to break through.

I do this mod to most Ford small blocks. The new oil passage directs a stream of oil right to the distributor gear. Back in the old days it was no big deal, but any more it seems that there are way too many new cams with gear tooth problems, so anything that might keep an engine from coming back is good.


Tapping the cam bearing galleries 5/16-18 for oil restrictors.

Installing the cam oil restrictors. The orifices are .058". They'll still provide more oil than the cam needs, but they'll boost pressure to the mains some, which is nice.

I made a whole set of fancy hex drivers out of fluted bar stock and cut-off Allen wrenches. Trick, eh?

Valves..
Brand new EngineTech exhaust valves, .015" oversize stems and heads. I back cut all of them for better low-lift flow.

I back cut the intakes a little more. The valve sealing area is now just a little wider than the seat in the head.

Reaching back behind the heads to back-cut. It really doesn't take long to do a set of valves on the lathe. Most shops don't have a lathe, so they use the valve grinder. That works, but it takes a lot longer.

Radiused face on one of the exhaust valves.

I ceramic coated the valves to reduce the chance of the engine pinging. Since Kenney was cheaping out on the parts by using some Chevy pistons he had on the shelf, the compression ratio figured out as 10.2:1, just a little high for a four wheel drive work truck.
Rods...
Narrowing the big ends on my fancy rod fixture. We got lucky; I didn't have to narrow the bearings!

Honing the big ends to size on the Sunnen hone.

Honing the pin ends of the rods. These are late 240/6 rods for .912" pins. The Chevy pistons have .927" pins. This is a suck job; not only does it take a long time, but it uses most of a stone insert for each rod. The inserts are $9 each. Add it up. [sigh]

Pre-Assembly...

This is the big part of doing a stroker - making sure all the bits match up. With the lowish lift on the cam the valves would just barely clear the pistons. It would probably have been okay, given it was just a truck and unlikely to be revved until the valves floated, but...


Checking valve-to-piston clearance. The pistons stick out of the bore .015".

If you have the urge to do one of these engines, use the aftermarket 1.43" pin height pistons, not standard 350 Chevy pistons like these. You won't have to cut .100" off the pistons tops!


You can't really see the dent from the valve in this shot. Sections through the clay showed the valve didn't quite touch. I went ahead and flycut the pistons for clearance.
Pistons...
Approximate outline of where the Cleveland valve intersects a Chevy piston. The valve is canted, so the notch will need to be deeper at the side of the piston than at the middle.

The "P/S" marking means passenger side; these particular pistons have offset pins for quiet running, so the valve notches will be on opposite sides on each bank.


Pistons sandblasted, washed, taped, and ready for ceramic coating.

My flycutting rig is for parallel valves, so I wound up having to plunge a little deeper and feather the cuts over with the Dremel and a sanding roll. It's not like I was worried about conserving compression or anything...


Successfully coated without runs, fisheyes, or overspray. Sometimes the ceramic doesn't want to co-operate at all, but this time it was fine.

Assembly...


My camshaft installation tool. It's a 24" piece of 3/4" diameter 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock, with a 3/8" stud on one end (for Windsors) and a 7/16" stud on the other (for Clevelands).

Degreeing the camshaft. Competition Cams said put it on 106 intake lobe center; it measured out to 107. That's practically dead nuts; most multi- index timing sets only go +4/0/-4 degrees.

Putting the pistons in during final assembly. It takes a long time to get a stroker motor to this point.

Intake Manifold...


One each, grotty, heavy (50 lbs?) cast iron two barrel intake. Well, not so grotty after a trip through the parts washer...

Take one ordinary 351M/400 cast iron two barrel intake. Meet Mr. Milling Machine. Just buying an Edelbrock intake would have been a lot simpler and cheaper, but there's no fangle in that, is there?

It turned out that the 2V plenum was just big enough open up to a Holley four barrel. It looked like Ford had designed it to go either way, then only made two barrel intakes. Some of the filled-in area was over two inches thick!

I have more shots of the project - flame-cutting the carb flange, welding in pieces to adapt it to the intake, porting the plenum, etc., but they're still on 35mm film in the camera. Whenever I finish the roll and have it developed I'll scan 'em and post 'em.

Almost done...


Extra .150" stroke brings the big end close to the oil pickup tube, but I didn't need to "adjust" anything for clearance, thankfully.

The short block is done!

The heads are installed and torqued. The stock Cleveland valve train is not adjustable, but I checked the lifter preload anyway. Everything looked fine.

This shot shows the oddly-shaped 4wd truck oil pan. The odd color of the unpainted part of the valve cover is because I glass-beaded the rust off when I was cleaning the parts. For some reason the paint Ford used on Clevelands likes to fall off in patches, and the valve covers promptly develop cancer which shows right through new paint. Kenney wouldn't have cared, but it was an excuse to spend 10 minutes glass beading his valve covers and two hours glass beading the trunkload of my stuff I brought over...

Almost done. How about that color, eh? I sent my wife to the store with instructions to buy a couple of cans of the ugliest color Rust-Oleum spray paint came in. Looks twice as ugly on the engine, too.

That's the kind of thing that happens when you own a racing engine shop, and then you have someone else build an engine for your truck because you don't have time to do it yourself.


Loaded up in Thunder. No, back by the tailgate is not a good place for a big- block-sized engine, and yes it made the truck drive squirrelly. The front part of the bed cover is riveted down.

I managed to scrounge up a spare Ford air filter housing. Ford used that style in the late '60s and early '70s. They're ENORMOUS, fit Holley or Carter AFB carbs, have clearance for big Holley float bowls, a large radiused opening down to the carb like the fancy racing air filters have, take a 14x4" element, same as the largest of the open element racing filters, and have a large snorkel with barbs to hold a ram air hose. The hoses are available at parts stores for under $10.

The snorkels are screwed or riveted on, and you can add another. Some Fox body cars had an aluminum version of this housing that was slightly lower profile, and the one on the carbureted Mustang GTs had two snorkels already.

These things beat the hell out of those doofus open element "hot rod" air filters. Why would you want to suck in all that 200+F underhood air? Just to have something shiny when you have the hood up?

Build Sheet 
============================================================================
============================================================================

                       MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE RACING ENGINES

                434 Ford stroker for Kenney Moore, Traskwood AR

                              completed 06/18/01

     warranty:  If it breaks, you get to keep all the pieces you can find.



                                     *****




400 Ford stroked to 4.150", .080 overbore  (434 CID)

Competition Cams 268H High Energy cam

Ford 351C-2V cylinder heads

Compression:

          890  cc   swept volume per cylinder    (bore/stroke 4.080/4.150)

          78   cc   nominal chamber volume
        -  3   cc   +.015" deck
           7.3 cc   .035 gasket
           5   cc   valve notches (estimated)
        --------
         87.3  cc   total clearance volume

         890+87.3 = 977.3 total volume

         977.3/87.3 = 11.2:1 CR




                                     *****


===========================================================================
COMPONENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------

crankshaft:
        Ford 400M casting
        stroked to 4.150"
        mains Clevite 77
        main bearing clearance .0015"
        rods 2.125" Ford 240/6 standard
        polished journals
        balanced 28oz  (drill only)

pistons:
        Silv-O-Lite 8-1436+.080
        350 Chevy, milled tops
           piston measured 1.538", .245" top land
           cut .100" off
           new top ring land .140" thick
        flat top with four cast valve reliefs
        fifth valve relief cut for Cleveland intake valve
        4.080 diameter
        wristpin offsets to quiet side
        pistons flycut for 2V Cleveland heads
        minimum .100" valve/piston clearance intake, .200" exhaust
        CBC2 ceramic coated decks
        +.015" deck height

rings:
        standard small block Chevy. 4.080, Hastings, moly top
        oil scrapers installed flex up
        gaps:
                                #1 .031
        #5 .028                    .027
           .028                    .035/.030
           .028/.032
                                #2 .032
        #6 .035                    .028
           .034                    .035/.033
           .028/.038
                                #3 .028
        #7 .034                    .028
           .033                    .038/.034
           .035/.033
                                #4 .028
        #8 .032                    .026
           .028                    .026/.028
           .030/.032

rods:
        Ford 240 Six, 6.79"
        narrowed big ends to .895
        pin ends honed out to .925 (.002 press for .927 pins)
        rod side clearances .012, .012, .010, .014  (1-4)
        resized big ends (minimum size)
        chamfered sides of big ends
        Michigan 77 rod bearings, 240/6, standard width
        stock bolts
        new ARP nuts

block:
        400M block casting
        bored .080
        honed to .002" piston/wall clearance
        #600 finish (ultra smooth)
        2 piece rear main seal (RTV around edges)
        new core plugs (RTV)
        new cam bearings  (Clevite 77)
        tapped, .060" restrictors in cam oilways, .125" in p/s lifter oilway
        oilway radiused at oil filter bend
        all threaded holes chased

heads:
        Ford 351C-2V
        new .015" oversize EngineTech valves, single groove
        2.06" intake / 1.65" exhaust
        exhaust valves ceramic coated
        intake and exhaust valves 20 degree back cut
        exhaust valve faces radiused
        new Competition Cams pn 743-16 chrome moly retainers  1.460"
        new Competition Cams pn 940-16 dual valve springs  1.460"
        guide clearance .002-.0025; some are 1/2" iron repair guides
        three angle valve job, .065/.080 intake/exhaust seats
        standard 11/32 single groove stamped keepers
        deep umbrella seals, .050" int. / .038" exh. clearance at full lift
        1.812" spring installed height
        all threaded holes chased

cam:
        Competition Cams 268H High Energy hydraulic  pn 32-221-3
        268/268 @ .006"  (218/218 @ .050")
       .494/.494 valve lift (.2853/.2853 lobe lift)
        110 lobe center
                opens      closes
        intake  28 BTDC   60 ABDC
        exhaust 68 BBDC   20 ATDC

        recommended install on 106 intake centerline, closest keyway position
          was 107, used that

        Competition Cams cam lube used for assembly lube


pushrods:
        new SBI 5/16", stock replacements, pn 190-1417

rockers:
        stock pedestal type, tips resurfaced
        iron pedestals
        separate sheet metal oil deflectors

timing set:
        dual roller
        cam chain index +0  (degreed in at 1 degree advanced)
        two piece fuel pump eccentric
        oil slinger on snout of crank

oiling:
        new Melling M-84 high volume oil pump, 1.1" rotor height
        stock 4wd pickup, Teflon pipe dope on threads
        stock 4wd oil pan

harmonic balancer:
        checked TDC, OK


intake:
        Ford 400M iron, modified to four barrel flange


miscellaneous:
        paint Rust-Oleum Mediterrenean Teal #7740 over red primer


===========================================================================

assembly lubricants:

                  rod bearings:  30wt ND

                         rings:  Unilube two stroke oil

                cylinder walls:  30wt oil

                 piston skirts:  30wt oil

                    wrist pins:  Mobil 1 5w30

          head bolts - threads:  30wt oil

          main bolts - threads:  30wt ND

 head, main bolts - under head:  ARP moly grease

                     rod bolts:  30wt oil

                      cam bolt:  30wt oil

      cam retainer plate bolts:  30wt oil

                     cam lobes:  Competition Cams cam lube

                  cam journals:  Competition Cams cam lube

    cam distributor drive gear:  Competition Cams cam lube

   cam retainer plate/sprocket:  Competition Cams cam lube

      crankshaft rear oil seal:  Mobil 1 5w30

===========================================================================

Stewart-Warner Model 2000 Industrial Balancer

balance:
    (reciprocating)
        519     big end (narrowed)
        519     big end (narrowed)
        53      bearing
        53      bearing

    (rotating)
        552     piston   (flycut)
        148     wristpin
        61      rings
        187     pin end  (honed .927)
        ---
        2092    grams bob weight

        setup RPM:   710
        balance RPM: 590

        front balance: .01 oz-in
        rear balance:  .01 oz-in

        8 spins to completion


balance was drill-only

balanced for 28oz damper and flywheel

===========================================================================

TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS -----------------------------------------------------

--------torque---------------spec-----------thread---lube------------------

rod bolts
  torqued to 45 ft-lb  (Ford spec 45)       3/8-24   oil

main cap bolts                                      
  torqued to 100 ft-lb  (Ford spec 95-105)  1/2-13   oil
  note: 1) use moly grease under bolt head
        2) step 1:  50 ft-lb
           step 2:  80 ft-lb  (reverse pattern)
           step 3:  100 ft-lb  (reverse pattern)

head bolts
  torqued to 100 ft-lb  (Ford spec 95-105)  1/2-13   oil
  note: 2) block is blind tapped, no sealer needed
        3) step 1:  50  ft-lb
           step 2:  70  ft-lb  (reverse pattern)
           step 3:  100 ft-lb  (reverse pattern)

damper (harmonic balancer) bolt
                        (Ford spec 70-90)   5/8-18   oil
  note: use automatic transmission fluid as lubricant when pressing damper on

intake manifold bolts
                        (Ford spec 23-25)   5/16-18  sealer
  note: 1) see drawing for pattern

exhaust manifold bolts
                        (Ford spec 18-24)   5/16-18  antiseize
  note: 1) see drawing for pattern

rocker studs

timing chain sprocket bolt
  torqued to 40 ft-lb   (Ford spec 40-45)   3/8-16   oil

cam retainer plate                                  
  torqued to 10 ft-lb   (Ford spec 9-12)    1/4-20   oil

oil pan bolts                                        
                        (Ford spec 7-9)     1/4-20   dry
                        (Ford spec 9-11)    5/16-18  dry

oil drain plug
                        (Ford spec 15-25)   1/2-20   oil
                        
water pump bolts
                        (torque 12-18)      5/16-18  antiseize
timing cover bolts
                        (torque 12-18)      5/16-18  antisieze

1/4 NPT threaded oilway plugs          1/4, 3/8 NPT  Teflon tape

oil pump cover plate
                        (Ford spec 9-11)    1/4-20   Loctite 242

oil pump body                            
                        (torque 30-35)      3/8-16   Loctite 242

spark plugs
                                            14mm     oil

bottom pulley to damper
                        (Ford spec 35-50)            oil

valve cover
                        (Ford spec 3-5)     1/4-20   oil

fuel pump to timing cover
                        (Ford spec 12-15)   5/16-18  oil

fan to water pump
                        (Ford spec 12-18)   5/16-24  antiseize

carburetor to intake
                        (Ford spec 12-15)   5/16-18  antiseize


SPECIAL PARTS ------------------------------------------------------------

modified parts:  rods narrowed on big ends

                 rod pin ends opened up to .925"

                 pistons flycut for Cleveland valves

                 pistons decked to clear heads

                 intake and exhaust valves back cut

                 exhaust valve faces radiused

                 intake converted from 2bbl to 4bbl


Kenney:
        bore and hone block

Dave:
        stroke crank
        narrow rods
        hone pin ends
        resize big ends
        glass bead rods
        balance rods
        mill pistons
        balance pistons
        cut Cleveland valve reliefs
        balance rotating assembly
        clean lots of parts
        mill, weld, grind to convert 2V intake to 4V
        clean heads
        ream guides
        cut valve seats
        back cut intake and exhaust valves
        radius exhaust valves
        check valve/piston clearance
        check retainer/seal clearance
        check rod side clearance
        check stack
        degree cam
        verify TDC on harmonic balancer (OK)
        gap rings
        assemble heads and vacuum check
        assemble long block
        coat exhaust valves
        coat pistons
Postscript...

Kenney got it in and fired it up. It was hard to start. It pinged badly even on premium gas and the timing backed way off. He put his compression gauge on it, and the gauge pegged at its far end - 300 PSI cranking compression! I had told him the cam was too small, but NNOOOO... well, it was his engine, so we have this big high compression stroker motor in a three-ton four wheel drive F350, and a little weiner cam to save gas?

The truck could not be driven as it was, so I found a 235 degree cam on a 108 that looked good; he has it on order. I'll let you know what happens...