September 19, 2006
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1969 F100 Stepside
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351W, 420hp
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Back in early March my truck's engine developed a very loud rap.
It started out sounding like a valve tapping, but within minutes it was
quite loud. I didn't get a low-oil pressure warning, but it seems
like that is what happened. Either that or the engine
self-destructed. Digging in to the situation, I started finding
lots of little problems with the engine installation. Loose bolts,
jury-rigged wiring, etc. I started getting nervous about the whole
thing.
At this point, I had a few possible options: Get the engine
rebuilt, try to do a quick fix (with a low chance of success), or get a
new, crate engine. The crate engine path includes short and long
blocks.
After some research, the long-block route looked promising. There
are a number of suppliers on the internet, with numerous build
configurations. Since I didn't want to go back to a stock engine,
I looked mostly at the high-performance alternatives. Eventually I
concluded that I would have the highest probability of getting a
reliable high-performance engine if I bought a turn-key engine from an
engine building specialist.
I settled on an engine from Pro-formance Unlimited in Ocean, NJ. I
was working with a client in New Jersey at the time, so I stopped by to
check them out. It's a small shop (4 guys I think), with one main
engine builder -- the owner Doug. I shelled out my 50% deposit on
a 420 hp 351W.
Aside from the fairly long lead time and some delivery issues, I am
pleased with the engine. The engine arrived about two weeks late,
and was damaged. The delivery agent, UPS Freight, promised
delivery on three different days, and failed to arrive. This cost
me three extra days of vacation, so I wasn't too happy.
Pro-formance sent me a check to cover the cost of replacing the air
cleaner and valve covers. The flex plate was also bent beyond use.
They upgraded the distributor without discussing it with me and charged
me for that. They installed it because they either had ordered the
wrong one, or didn't have the right one in stock the day they built the
engine. Anyway, they corrected this by not charging me for the
upgrade. These adjustments did demonstrate their desire to make
things right for me, and I appreciate that.
The only thing that really got to me that Pro-formance could have
controlled was the torque converter. I purchased a 3000 rpm stall
torque converter through them thinking doing so would ensure that I
would get the right one, strong enough for the engine, and that it would
arrive either before or with the engine. Unfortunately, it arrived
2.5 weeks after the engine arrived. I found out after the fact
that they had not ordered the torque converter until I asked about it
while the engine was in transit (shame on me for not asking sooner).
Pro-formance failed to give me accurate build or shipping information on
the TC, leaving me in limbo while I waited. Finally, I decided to
call Art Carr, where the TC was coming from, and got the information I
needed from them. I also found out the the wrong TC had been
ordered (right transmission, wrong configuration), so this took a couple
of days to correct.
Anyway, enough complaining. I installed the engine with the
mileage at 72,122 miles. I have a thousand miles on the engine
now, and it runs great. It sounds great too. If I'm not
careful when I accelerate quickly, the back wheels will start spinning.
Even when I'm going 20-25 mph. That's cool.
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