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The motor/trans is fitted to the truck and all kinds of stuff is adapted to fit. Now i got to get a welder over here to weld in the mounts. It looks like rain and im thinking that he's gonna cancel. This will suck!

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Everything is in place and i drove the truck with straight headers. It was nasty ugly. Right now the truck is at the muffler shop getting the exhaust tied in. After that, i can tune it a little better.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Nice engine Blue Looks great wanna build one for me

Hell, i've got a Buick V-6 and trans ready to go in to a Luv right now! It's for sale. It's a good running setup. It kind of a drag having a decent powerplant sitting around. Part of me thinks that i made a mistake up grading to the V-8. The Buick fit perfectly compared to the Small Block. It was a quick running setup. And right when i got everything sorted out fully with the Buick, along comes the 400. Go figure.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

yeah, but aint it fun changing it???
im enjoying working on my truck.

hell do what I did.....put the engine and tranny in another luv and sell it.
my cousin has all my old stuff now in a red luv.
you should be able to find a cheap luv around somewhere.
and let me tell you....it doesn't take long to put that stuff down in another luv once you have had it in and out of yours.

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03Cobra

If i did find another Luv truck, I'd most likely keep it. But i just dont have the room to do it.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

If i was closer to you I would come get it from you but thats a long drive

I've been working the kinks out of the conversion and one things for sure, the 390 c.f.m. carb aint right. I know the timing is correct and the motor pings when i try to put my foot in it. The jetting is far too weak for a 400. I got to fix this problem fast! If i dont, i could risk destroying my new motor. I took it down a 2 lane hwy for a bit and the motor was spinning at 3500 r.p.m. to keep pace with traffic. The Buick setup would do 2700 r.p.m. but the carb was correct for that. I figure once i have a carb thats correct for the 400, i'll do 2700 r.p.m. at cruising speed.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Im an IDIOT!!! I forgot to reset my tach from 6 cyl to 8 cyl. This explains the high tach reading. I did the math and it confirmed the erronious reading. At least now i know that the trans is good. At idle you cant tell the difference so it got by me. But after talking to a good buddy of mine, he asked if i reset the tach? I can laugh about it now. Im getting a bigger carb Tuesday so that should fix all the major issues with the new setup.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Good luck

HAHAHAHA!!!!!
dude hey at least you found it out sooner instead of later.

you have the 390cfm on there??????
ok get that mo bigger carb on there man. that 400 will love you for it.

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03Cobra

Hey Luv4me... Why do i have this strange feeling that you went out into the garage and reset your tach after reading this post? Didn't want to go thru the same thing huh? (ha ha)

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

no, but a loooong time ago when I put the tach in for the v6 it wouldn't turn hard past 5,500 rpms and I had wondered if the switch was on v8 or what. I just remember it wasn't and I was pissed cause it would float the valves at about 6,200 rpms.

im dying to get mine on the road.
peeps keep asking me to do stuff and other stuff keeps me from working on it all the time....it sux.
if I had a full week to get it going (even after work) im almost sure it would be on the road.
im having patience though......grrr....

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03Cobra

At least you can work at your own pace when you can. My Dad has been helping me with my project and he has NO patience whatsoever! I'd like to build the truck to certian quality levels. Dad takes the Jethro Bodine approach to putting the truck together. For intance, the plug wire guides cant take the heat from the headers and they deformed and fell off. Dad took a zip tie and bundled the wires together. I thought that this was unaccepable, but i didn't say anything. I got new wire guides and installed them. He hasn't seen them yet and i know im gonna hear his thoughts on repairing his repair. The entire build has been this way. When i was getting the truck fixed up 2 years ago, i needed a new thermostat housing for the Buick. Found a better than stock housing but the stock bolts were too short. As i was hunting down new hardware, my Dad took one of the old bolts and was threading it in to the intake to clean out the threads. I found out what he was up to and advised him that they should be tapped out to clean the threads. He dismissed my advise and pressed on. I calmly restated that it wasn't right. But he continued to force the bolt in to the threads. Then came a the sound of aluminum breaking. Dad threaded the bolt too deep and broke the casting around the threads. You could see the threads by looking in to the intake at the thermostat housing. All he said was "Opps". It took a long threaded bolt with the head cut off and J-B Weld to fix the problem. That intake now has a permanent stud at the housing. Dad is very, very old school and i work on aircraft for a living so the 2 worlds dont quite jive together. So count your blessings. Everything built to your project is to your standards. If i could take more time to build my truck i would but Dad is impatient as hell and hates the idea of not doing something to the build. I thought i'd never get the timing correct because Dad has a bad habit of timing by ear. I had to take the distributor wrench away from him. The carb is too small and it pings but Dad wants to experiment and see if he can eliminate the pinging by playing with the timing. I wasn't about to let this happen. All that detonation on a new motor could do some major damage. If he kept on playing around and experimenting and fried a piston, "Opps" just wont cut it. Man it's tough trying to build something AND having to watchdog somebody else. Be patient and you'll have a clean running rocket in no time.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

wow man. have you tried to "teach an old dog new tricks?"

You might not like how he does things, but when he is gone you can think back at all the times he helped you and smile about them.
I can think back at working on my stuff alone. yeah it might be done how I want it, but where are the "good times" while on the journey to the blacktop?
I can understand your concern about him doing things old school. I would guess that you would have to approach that subject carefully, but I still would talk with him about it. maybe you could teach him some stuff?

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03Cobra

Yea... You're exactly right. When i was younger, Dad was the one who knew how to patch my tubeless minibike tires. He's the one who figured out that my voltage regulator in my first car was bad. He's the guy that spent tons of hours sanding the rust off of the truck body when i was getting the Luv fixed up again. He complains that im too picky about how things are done to the truck. Things would be different if HE shelled out over 2 grand on parts for the conversion.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Yes i agree it probably would be.....I am the same way I can tell if there is any change in my engine sound or transmission....thats how i saved my truck from too bad of damage....

I installed the new carb today! It made a big difference in performance but it still pings a bit. Moved the timing from 14 degrees to 10 and it made it easier to start but it still pings. My ancient-ass Chilton's manual calls for 8 degrees timing. Edelbrock calls for 14 degrees with their cam. I have 2 more degrees to adjust to before i start scratching my head.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Alright congrats on the carb....

does your new cam need to be degreed in?