1955 Dodge Pickup Rat Rod Build.

Well shit.

The engine was disassembled today. My buddy found that the 400 was already overbored by .060" so he can't rebuild it. 400 small block engines are already at the extreme for cylinder bores, and he said that he doesn't like to go .030" overbore on rebuilds. He also said this is almost certainly why my 400 always ran hot.

So, I am buying a 350 core engine from him for $50.

But I can't run a 350. Everyone runs 350's........

So my buddy is going to do some extra machine work on the crank out of my 400. So the rebuilt motor will have the bore of the 350 and the stroke of the 400. This makes the rebuilt engine a 383 stroker.

Plus side..... torque
Plus side..... 9:1 compression instead of 8.5:1
Negative...... I will have to run 91 octane gas in a hot rod that only gets 12-16MPG.

The overall cost of this 383 build is not much more. The engine rebuild kit costs much less for a 350 than it does for a 400, which will eat the cost of the extra machining. I think I will just be out the $50 core engine cost.

 

Crankshaft grinding. Had to take size out of the main bearing journals so it would fit in a 350.

crankshaft grinding by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

Finished Crank.

Crankshaft machining complete by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

Honing.

IMG_20150217_173257584 by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

resurfacing the heads.

DECKING THE HEADS by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

RESURFACING THE INTAKE by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Resurfacing the block.

DECKING THE BLOCK by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

Final machining of the bores.

FINAL HONING by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

Removing the paint on the vintage Weiland intake.

WEILAND INTAKE by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Here is the block all ready for assembly. new freeze plugs in and cast iron paint is applied.

BLOCK READY FOR ASSY by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Here is a photo of the material that had to be removed from the piston skirts so they would clear the crankshaft. Because stroker.

CLEARANCE by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Bottom end assembled and camshaft degreed.

DEGREEING THE CAM-2 by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Parts for the rebuild include:

King Bearings
Silvolite Pistons
Hastings Rings
Fel Pro Gaskets
Erson Camshaft and valve springs.

The camshaft specs are:
220/228 duration
110 Lobe Seperation Angle
.472" Lift

For reference, stock 350 cam specs, depending on year, are about:
184/194 duration
114 Lobe Seperation Angle
.410" lift


He welded the oil pump pickup tube in place because these can apparently come loose.

WELDED PICKUP TUBE by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr


Intake painted cast aluminum.

FINISHED INTAKE by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

ASSEMBLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

assembled-3_111610479 by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

assembled-2 by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

assembled-1 by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

I have an HEI distributor on the engine in my truck I was going to swap over. And my spark plug wires are from last spring. BUT, the engine guy offered me a pretty good deal on a brand new HEI distributor and a set of spark plug wires. $150 for the whole deal.

The bonus, is when he breaks in the motor this morning, he can use my new distributor and wires, and my new carburetor. So he can tune it in and time it properly. The engine will be ready to run when I swap it in to my truck. I just have to put my fuel pump and alternator on it and it's done.

Here is a photo of the distributor and wires.

HEI DISTRIBUTOR AND WIRES by Chad Truss Photography, on Flickr

 

Break in video.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=797554320311479


And listen to that idle. So nice.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...44&pnref=story

 

Make it out to back to the 50's this year?

 

The truck didn't. The radiator went out on it.

 

Lame! Hopefully not to hard of a fix. I have been failing at getting out to events this year. Hopefully I'll get to see it one of these days.

 

The radiator was a bitch to replace.

So when I built this truck, I built the radiator mounts around an old radiator I had, instead of making mounts for a modern, off the shelf unit.

So when my old radiator finally gave out, I had to find a universal aluminum radiator. On top of that, I had to make aluminum mounts for it to fit my truck. Then I had to find someone that could weld aluminum.

It's in and done though. And I had to make an overflow tank as well.

20150627_185746 by Chad Truss, on Flickr

 

Any update on this build?