Install date

The motor will be installed on Jan. 2 2012.

She is starting to come together.

Today is crank and piston day.

Today I will be installing the crank, installing the pistons, and degreeing the cam. I am getting very close to having the motor done. I am waiting for a break in the weather so I can get the engine bay painted. The build has been going pretty smooth so far. I will post more pictures of the motor as I install more components.

freshly painted block

fresh painted heads

Measuring the ring gap

Installing rings on the new Mahle pistons

Finally I got the motor back

So the motor finally came home. The cost was a lot more then expected, but it was a quality job. So I ended up with a .030 over 390 with the 428 bottom end. The expected HP is 420 and the expected torque is 460. I will be posting pics as soon as I get some paint on it.

The motor is finally at the machine shop

So I have finally dropped of the motor at the machine shop. I chose Blue Oval Performance to do the work. They are a great shop with lots of knowledge of FE's. Well he had it for a week and did a full inspection on the components. Turns out it was a 390 block that was bored .080 over to take 428 pistons. Thats a lot of material to remove from a 390. So the walls are to thin to reuse. Which is ok since I didn't want to use .010 over 428 pistons. They are only available in cast. I have a line on another 390 block. So I am going to use a 390 block that has been bored .030 over and my 428 crank and rods and have a screamer 410. I have chosen Probe pistons to go in the holes. I will reuse my cam and lifters, there in great shape. I am going to let it breathe through an Edelbrock performer rpm intake, topped with a quick fuel 680 carb. I am still looking for headers, motor mounts, and a clutch kit.

more to come soon

Camshaft spec card

The cam is a Crane Cams HIT-280-NC.

• Valve Setting
• intake .000
• exhaust .000
• Cam lift
• intake .2925
• exhaust .2925
• Valve lift
• intake .515
• exhaust .515
• Rocker arm ratio 1.76
• Advertised duration 280°
• Duration @ .050 224°

Nice cam for a truck. If I were buying  a new cam I would have picked a dual profile. This cam is good enough to not spend the money on a new cam. 

 

new info on the truck

Clark hopefully you are following.

Well I pulled the motor this weekend. I wanted to pull it to go thru it and identify the parts, fix a few leaks, and replace any worn out parts. The valves look like they are in bad shape and need to be replaced. On further inspection the exhaust valves are sucked into the head, which usually means worn out seats. So new heads might be in order. Then I moved on to the cylinders. They seam to be in good shape. They just need a hone job. Then I grabbed my calipers to measure the size. To my amazement, it measured 4.13 dia. I thought it was a 390 which should measure 4.05. I also thought it was .030 over so it should have been 4.08 dia. The pistons are stamped STD, so they aren't over bores. Then I measured the stroke. It is 4.00. Now I grabbed my book to look up bore and stroke on all FE motors. There is only one motor that has that bore and stroke. THE BIG BAD ASS 428. I also cross referenced the block casting number and it shows a 428 made between '66 and '68. This is a good day. Earlier today I was trying to figure out how much it would cost to stroke a 390 to 422 by overboring .06 using mercury 410 pistons and a 428 crank. Let me reiterate THIS IS A GOOD DAY.

Parts Identified

Front Axle: Dana 60 4.10 gears D9TA ACD B/M 610023
axle break down drawing
http://www2.dana.com/expertforms/dedraw.aspx?part=610023&drawing=00002393&product=AXL

Rear Axle: Dana 60 full floating 4.10 gears D8TA RB B/M 603903-3
axle break down drawing
http://www2.dana.com/expertforms/dedraw.aspx?part=603901-3&drawing=00002396&product=AXL

Transmission:
All I could identify so far is a casting number C-96391 which from my online research looks to be an NP435

Transfer case: Spicer Dana model 21 Serial 1950435 B/M 300756-2
This is a single speed 1:1 ratio transfercase. It simply engages and disengages the front axle.
There might be a swap in the future for this t-case.

1st parts ordered

Well today I have ordered my 1st parts for the build. Let the receipts start piling up. I order a new black steering column, steering wheel and steering wheel installation kit for summit. A new steering u-joint from Speedway motors. I could not find a new steering column with the same spline as the original. So I got one that had readily available off the shelf u-joints. So for the steering shaft I will cut of the existing u-joint and weld on the new u-joint. I might have to make up a little length from cutting off the old u-joint. So I will make a shaft extension and weld that on to the shaft between the old  shaft and new u-joint. I think being an experienced metal worker is going to come in handy during this build. I am working on a design for a billit dashboard from aluminum. I might even have it anodized blue.

The drive home in my new baby.

The following pictures are of her at the start of the renovation.