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The cam is a mild performer cam and im using the 7800 timing gear set. I followed the directions that Edelbrock called for on the install. The cam i got is mild, just slightly better than stock. The timing gear set has provisions for hotter cams but i was to use the stock marks with this cam.

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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.

you might check your dist and make sure your mechanical advance is not advacing to soon.you may have to change springs, i have seen some starting into there advance curve at 900 rpm. I`m sure you already know the vacuum advanced gets hooked up to ported and not manifold vacuum. that seems to be another one i run across quite a bit.
what carb did you put on? it might need some bigger jets in it to help with your pinging. when is it pinging wide open or is tip in?

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

With the vac line disconnected from the dist and capped, my timing will reach full mech advance of about 20 degrees(give or take a few) Im begining to think the distributor is mis-stabbed. I tried running at 8 degrees and i gained more power. The closer i get to TDC, the stronger it runs.

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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.

that's what going on with my car! I put a timing light to it and it says nearly TDC, but the instructions in the manual say to put it at 10degBTDC. It runs like SHIT at 10degrees though, so I just set it by ear. Runs pretty good now.

Damn Ford.

at what rpm? if your springs are too light it could be advancing at idle. also if you have an hei and have not checked the weights they have a bad habbit of wearing out the bushings and the poles on the advance mechanism ,throwing everything out of wack

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

racelife, you were on the right track. I checked the mech advance and it had bad bushings in it. I got a kit at the parts store and fitted the new stuff to the distributor. Im using the heaviest springs in it to avoid pinging. It made a world of difference! I set the timing at 14 degrees and it will light em up easy.It has some mild detonation but i can tune it better to eliminate that.

_________________
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.

i heard you can stuff some paper in the spark plug hole to get top dead center and watch out it comes out like a rocket and supposively works accurate and its fun i dont know if it works i heard it does

glad I could be of some help. now go out and enjoy the torque of that 400 have fun

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

I've gotten jumping on it out of my system for now and i can concentrate on the little details of the conversion. The idea of proper break in is weighting on my brain. I went to the wrecking yard to get a decent distributor hold down clamp. The one i got at the parts store is junk. It bent enough to allow the distributor to move. I rechecked the timing and took a 15 mi test run down some farm roads. The motor felt really good and the temp never got above 190 degrees. A car moved to the side to allow me to pass and i went around him like it was nothing. Cool! Got back to the house and checked the timing again along with other little things. The temp climbed to 210 degrees. I figure it's because im running straight water thru the system. Bought some coolant and drained the water completely to let any scale flush it's way out. The system now has a 60/40 mix of anti-freeze and i filled the recovery tank. Once the motor cools, it should suck some coolant from the tank. Im going to try it out again later on today.

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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.

As i get more time on the motor and more bugs worked out of it, It's turning out to be a sharp setup. I've gone thru fuel faster than i would have hoped but the power of the setup keeps things interesting( 2 tanks of fuel in 2 days of testing and adjusting). The one cool aspect of the truck now is the feel of a V-8 under the hood. I still stand firmly on the idea of not having a V-8 for a daily driver. The cost of fuel to feed it makes it tough. You will most likely try and drive conservatively to stretch every mile per gal out of it for most of the time you're behind the wheel. But the small block sure is fun to drive!
Plus now the truck really IS a Chevy!!

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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.

Man o man... Makes me want to go work on mine.

I want put my 3.8 in my 4wd and still keep in manual with all the 4wd capabilities. And I'm slowly getting my 350 ready for assembly for the other one. Got it all tore apart, just waiting for the trip to Napa.

i am still contemplating the v8 conversion..after having the v6 in it for so long i think i am getting jealous of all the v8's.

i got a 305 from one of the guys on the site and don't know if i can handle be patient enough to build it right.

i like the fact that my v6 is pushing 235hp and all but a 350hp v8 sure does sound nice.

Patience is the key when doing the mod. Even when you think it's all planned out and you're ready to jump in to the conversion, things will pop up that will test your patience. I had a tough time with mine because of the little things. Plus my Dad has no patience and was always trying to get things done even if it was half-assed. Half-assed now is the same as big problems later. Big problems later can leave you stranded on the side of the road and a bunch of ruined parts. You will have headaches and you'll get pissed dealing with unforeseen problems and more money spent than you planned. Try and deal with these things as best as you can and focus on the end result. I had a head start with my upgrade and it was frustrating at times. I already had a cooling system, dual exhaust, charging system wired, shifter in place, e-brake installed and even a drive shaft. It's now in and the memory of all the hassle is fading away fast. The truck WILL jump up and go on demand. As for the V-6 conversion, i wish i had another truck with that 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.

you ll love the 400........don't worry about the fuel ........it will come down...one day ...for some reason the damn motor looks like 'theres no way its gonna fit'headers etc........but no problem.....you always have to tinker somewhere..good luck..i ll probaly change mine back to a streetable driver after the fall.one last year of hurrah.....

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434 pushing 732 hp with no spray!!!

It's been in the truck now for a few weeks. There's no room spared with the install. Yes it's a blast to drive especially on the Hwy when i go around somebody. It doesn't waste any time accelerating from 60m.p.h. and above. Im going to change the secondary spring in the carb to delay the 4 bbl from kicking in. For a while i was concerned with the fact that my front wheel bearings were still the original so i recently changed them out and now i have piece of mind knowing the extra weight could have cause major problems with the old bearings.
I just had to point out to those that want to do the conversion that gas mileage will be non-existant so it would be a drag to have a truck that has to be nursed around just to make it to work every day.

_________________
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.