So finally fixed my noisy 445!

[My427stang]

Unfortunately it was by replacing it with a 390 LOL

I will dive in to the 445 in the next few weeks, but wanted to let everyone know how the 390 did.  It was a bench build, leftover parts I had, a roach std/std 360 I bought locally, Brent shared a leftover cam he had, and I went real low budget.

Now:  390 cid, cast 4V piston, .004 below, for 9.45:1.  square decked, line honed, 427 cast crank at .010/.010, CJ big bolt rods resized and mag'd, C8AE-H heads, unported, new guides, cheap Elgin stock valves with back cut and decent multi-angle valve job, Alex's springs, Viton seals, HMV-272 cam, on 109 ICL, headers, unmodified Streemaster and a 750 3310 with a 4 hole 1 inch spacer.

Of course it was a heavily ported solid lifter, 10:1 445, custom cam, Ersons, ported RPM, 1000 Holley, etc. etc etc etc

Is it slower?   OMFG it is WAYYYY slower LOL    NP435, 3.50s, 2nd gear used to light them up, now chirps a little and pulls hard to 5000, 3rd used to break loose and pull hard to stupid speeds, now it just sort of goes faster....4th is sorta snoozy now where before it would scare you in the 4x4 and 4 inch lift very quickly

That being said, it is a very nice combo, and I had a blast just cruising around today, all you hear is a little header noise at acceleration, all the growl behind you, and no more of the noise.  Now I can get to dialing in the rest of the truck to where it used to be

For those following over the years  , the 445 had been apart more than you'd expect and unlike any job I have done before, I ended up starting to just swap parts.  Anyone who gets paid to do this work knows how much of an insult it is to say you are blindly swapping parts, but I got there with the blessed 445 LOL

The only thing I haven't checked or replaced is that I never zyglo'd the Probe pistons, but from day one it has always made this noise and did so with different block, valvetrain and all kinds of different components.  My hunch is I will find a cracked piston at a pin boss, but I hadn't seen anything using just my eyeball in the past.  I won't assemble this 445 again until I definitively find the noise though!!!

This little 390 is sure a sweetheart, going to be hard to get me to pull it back out, but another 200 hp will eventually be welcome again, once I figure out what next with the 445

[plovett]

Just transfer your 445 parts to the 390 short block, AND put 4.56 gears in the differentials.  You'll think your 445 is back in there.  Just don't go far.....

I hope you find the cause of your noise.   I think you will. 

paulie

[jayb]

Good luck on the 445 teardown, Ross, I'm hoping you find the problem quickly, and I'm curious to see what it might be.  With the new engine in and the noise disappearing, there is certainly no doubt that it is in the motor.  I had to laugh at your comments about how much the truck has slowed down with the 390, those extra cubes sure make a big difference.  And to think you actually have to talk some people into a stroker kit...

[plovett]

Jay, you have no idea how hard it is to talk someone into using low gears and some rpm.  It's cheaper than a stroker kit! 

Well, being four wheel drive ups the cost a fair amount. 

JMO,

paulie

[Dumpling]

Naive question, but are the pistons offset properly?

[My427stang]

Well they were installed properly LOL I never measured the offset of the pin

We will soon see, but the noise was much more pronounced than simple piston slap, I expected that it would go away pulling plug wires, but it never made the noise at idle and hard to kill individual cylinders driving down the road

[Drew Pojedinec]

Jay, you have no idea how hard it is to talk someone into using low gears and some rpm.  It's cheaper than a stroker kit! 

I did it both ways at once.

[My427stang]

Jay, you have no idea how hard it is to talk someone into using low gears and some rpm.  It's cheaper than a stroker kit! 

I did it both ways at once.

This one will eventually get EFI, the stroker returned, gears, and a tranny I can actually shift quickly (with OD)  LOL  I am pretty good with this NP435, been banging the gears on it since 1984, but it's no car tranny

The problem was, I spent so much time on the 445 I haven't had the desire to do anything else to it.  Driving the little 390 was actually a good thing, motivated me to work on the truck again.

Another option is to fix the 445 and sell it, put the 489 from the Mustang in the truck and do the blower motor I have been wanting for the car.  Options are endless once I get the 445 done!

One thing I will say, other than this little bench build, buying parts from all over is rarely a good thing.  I went Probe pistons on clearance from Summit, SCAT BBC rods were clearance on Amazon, SCAT crank was a bulk buy where I bought 4 and did some horse trading.   All the parts were new in the box and high quality, and supposed to be what they were advertised, however clearance stuff is clearance stuff.   Rods and crank were beautiful, and the pistons were new, but I still think something was fishy with the pistons in hindsight, the timing is right as Probe went belly up almost immediately after I ordered.  Didn't see anything with the naked eye, and no skirts measured poorly in any of the tear downs, but it has to be something I missed without doing a good zyglo

If I can't decidedly find the bad one, or maybe even more so if I do, I will likely just stab a set of Racetechs in it

[machoneman]

My bet is a small end rod issue. 

[KMcCullah]

That opening line got me. Lol Good luck on the hunt, Ross. Look on the bright side...swapping to the 390 will save you from having to build ladder bars. 

[Tommy-T]

Ross, you're preaching to the choir on that one.

I pulled the 428 out of my '56 'Bird because I couldn't get it to run cool. Stuffed a 352 I built from my junk pile in it.

The little motor ran so well I never pulled it back out. Funny how burned out you can get trying to fix something that you just don't want to fix it again after you've "fixed" the problem.

Glad the 390 runs well. give it a rest for a while.

[Leny Mason]

Ross this tell some thing about you it takes a lot for us to admit we can not find the problem, but you did it openly that is Cool, on the truck transmission  when I used to race my 61 Unibody with the 390 then 428 and junkyard rear ends out of 1949 or so Ford trucks, all were vary low posy gears I would start in third and all I needed to do was pull the shifter down it worked vary well. Leny Mason

[TorinoBP88]

That way too funny, but so true... When frustrated, sometimes just go a different direction for a time.  Can't wait to hear what is was. My last motor had really loose Pistons, but they were not at noisey as my mechanic season they might be.  Then it ate a sodium valve for lunch one day...oops, I'm the fool for missing those in the old CJ heads.

My bench build is running great except for a minor oil issue in cylinder 1 and 3.

Good luck!

[justintyme73]

Funny, the last Big Block Mopar I built back in the late 90's for my Roadrunner I used Probe pistons,  Broke it in, ran great, really revved with those light piston!  Then I decided to put my exhaust on and run it on the street......Hey whats that noise??? Tore the thing apart with the help of a very good mechanic I worked with at the time.....found nothing, put it back together still there.....Mine was present at idle only though, and the thing ran strong till I sold the car a couple years later.

[My427stang]

We will see, might start pulling it down this weekend.  The 390 is a sweetheart and anyone, including me, would be happy with this motor.  However, the goal is an EFI 445.  So far it's been my Moby Dick, but it's only metal, and with the miles I put on the 445, there has to be a hunk in there that is different than the rest.