1992 4.9/300 Rebuild Thread

[TurboBronco]

My son and I are rebuilding a 1992 4.9/300 for his 1982 F250 4x4 with a NP435 4 speed manual transmission. The donor engine came out of an F150 with less than 100,000 miles on it. He is a Ford Master Technician and I am an IT Manager. Working on old cars and trucks is something we do together for fun.

To get started, we tore the engine completely down to the block, had it hot tanked, and decked it .01. Had the bores checked and since they were still in spec, all we did was a ball hone on them to remove any glaze and prepare them for new pistons and rings. Took it to the machine shop in the trunk of my Crown Vic:


Purchased Sealed Power H519 Hypereutectic pistons, Hastings Rings, Clevite Main/Rod Bearings(Std Size) and a gasket set. Had the rods reconditioned and installed ARP rod bolts.


More to follow.

[TurboBronco]

Installed new main bearings:


After installing the main bearings and torquing the caps to 65 foot lbs, we checked bearing clearances with Plastigage and got .002 on all but one journal and got about .0018 on it. Clearance tolerance is .0009-.0028.

Next, installed rings on the pistons and set the ring gap at .018 on the top ring and .020 on the second ring. Sealed Power recommends .016-.018 first ring and .020-.022 second ring. Speed Pro Piston Ring Gap Info Link

Installed pistons in the bores:


Installed rod bearings and checked rod bearing clearance. Rod clearances were .0018-.002.

Lubed all bearing surfaces with Permatex Ultra Engine Assembly Lube before torquing them. Very thick and sticky.


Permatex Ultra Engine Assembly Lube

Mains and Rods all torqued down:


New Oil Pump & Pickup Installed:

[TurboBronco]

Read several articles about polishing crank journals at home. The journals on our crank had no visible scratches and we couldn't feel anything with our fingernail, but they looked like this:


So I used 1000 grit sandpaper dipped in oil and ended up with this:




Ended up very shiny and smooth. Hope this is ok.

[TurboBronco]

Painted the block:




Pushrod Cover, Timing Cover:


Oil Pan:


"CAT Yellow"

[TurboBronco]

Purchased a standard thread chase kit and chased all of the bolt holes:


Result:


Got this kit from Amazon for $39. Worked great.
LANG Thread Chaser Kit - Standard

First time I've ever done this and I highly recommend it. Was able tighten main bolts all the way down with my fingers before torquing them.

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

It looks like you've been thorough and did a nice rebuild. The only other thing I would consider on future builds is grinding the casting flash off the block parting lines and chamfering all the sharp edges and corners to avoid the proverbial skinned knuckle. I also like to grind the outside smooth before paint - purely aesthetic.

Good luck with your project.

[TurboBronco]

This engine was a '92, so it had the dreaded fiber cam gear:


I read many horror stories about removing this, but I found a video on youtube that worked on youtube, so I tried it and it worked great for us:


This video is a 3 part series and each video is a bit long, but I learned a lot and enjoyed the poster's patience in what he was doing and clear explanations. I recommend watching the entire series. This link is for part two, which includes his procedure for removing the fiber gear.
Removing a Ford 4.9 Fiber Gear

[TurboBronco]

Installed Comp Cams 3224 Steel timing gear set:


Tried to purchase a Cloyes Adjustable Timing Set 8-1014, but they are currently unavailable. They are listed as discontinued on the Cloyes website.
Cloyes Discontinued Items List 3-5-2018

[TurboBronco]

We chose the Comp Cams 260h to replace the OEM cam.

We had new cam bearings installed and lubed them generously before installation with Comp Cams camshaft lubricant:




Also lubed the cam:


Installed the Cam Spacer ring with the beveled edge facing the cam:


Installed it carefully and lined up the dots.

[TurboBronco]

The bottom end of the engine is 95% completed. Starting to work on the top end now. The cylinder head had a 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of oily gunk in the top of it, so Austin took it to his work and cleaned it. We will be replacing the seals, locks and springs. The springs are the comp cams springs for the Comp Cam 260H. We plan on re-using the rockers and pushrods. This is a 92 cylinder head that has the air tube holes which we will block off with bolts. We plan on using an Offenhauser DP intake and EFI exhausts with an Edelbrock 500 carb.

[TurboBronco]

Finally, a little progress!

Finished installing the new Comp Cams valve springs (#903-12), Valve Seals (#502-12) and Keepers(#601-12).


Installed ARP head studs:




Sprayed cylinder head gasket (Felpro #1024) with copper spray on both sides and installed on block, then added the cylinder head:

[THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER]

nice!

[TurboBronco]

nice!

Thanks FTF! I really appreciate the encouragement. We are getting pretty close. Cylinder head is on and torqued. Need to add back the rocker arms, timing gear cover, oil pan gasket and oil pan, then the harmonic balancer, accessories, exhaust.

Can't wait to get this thing in the truck and broken in.