Stroked Ford 418ci V8 - We've Got To Have Morrre Power, Captain!

An oil-pump drive fitting for the Melling oil-pump shaft was installed in the oil pump before mounting it to the engine block. It's an important part of the oiling system. And the last problem you want with a new engine is oil starvation.

Now a bit of locking fluid was added to the bolt threads.

With the Melling oil pump shaft in place, the Melling oil pump was secured to the engine block.

Next Bill bolted the Milodon oil pickup in place to pre-fit the Milodon windage tray and oil pan.

With the Milodon oil pickup and windage tray in place, Bill rotated the crankshaft to check for clearance.

One little click was heard when a rod cap came in contact with the tray. A minor shave of the rod cap provided the clearance needed for a silent rotation of the balanced rotating assembly.

Finally Bill was satisfied with the minor adjustments to the windage tray and rod cap. A bit of thread lock on the studs and the bottom-end was nearly complete.

We learned an important part of engine assembly is pre-fitting (or test fitting) each part before final assembly. He checked the Milodon oil pan for clearance of the oil pickup and windage tray.

When Bill was satisfied that every part of the oiling system was correct, gasket sealer was applied to the engine-block side of the oil pan gasket.

The synthetic fabric oil-pan gasket fits perfectly on the sides of the block.

Two plastic seals fit snugly into the front and rear crankshaft.

A bead of gasket sealer was applied over the plastic crankshaft seals.

About an hour after the assembly began, the anodized oil pan was put in place and secured with the oil-pan bolts.

Systemax aluminum cylinder heads (356-T6), by a division of Holley, are a significant weight saving over cast iron heads. The intake and exhaust runners, designed to flow a maximum amount of air, produce optimum power for 351W Ford engines. Computer-designed combustion chambers are engineered for the best combination of torque and horsepower. These heads were checked for proper valvespring pressure before we arrived.

COMP Cams lifters are stronger with a chrome-moly pushrod cup and C-type retainer clips. A stock lifter typically has a sintered-iron pushrod cup and a U-shaped horseshoe clip that can be prone to malfunction at higher rpm. The COMP Cams lifter will also improve oil supply to the cam lobe.

Bill does a preliminary check for burrs or foreign material in the block before oiling and installing the hydraulic lifters. This will assist greatly to prevent problems later.

With all the lifters in place, the head gaskets are checked prior to applying gasket sealer. A good-quality fiber/metal core gasket is not only important for a good seal; it's also impervious to gasoline, oil, coolant, and alcohol.

The synthetic fiber gaskets are clearly marked "front." Doesn't hurt to visually check to see that the water passages match. The larger water passages are in the rear of the head and block to help flow cooler water to the rear of the engine.

The water passages in the gasket are smaller to the front and the gasket is stamped with the word "front."

It has become our habit to use ARP chrome-moly bolts on each engine build. They are stronger than typical engine hard-ware and resistant to cross-threading and seizing.