Stationed up in alaska and stuck here for the christmas break... New Years eve I got hit by a red light runner going 45... totalled my truck (though she still ran and drove a little). Now Im finalizing a 97 F250 HD Crew cab 460... naturally you guys taught me a lot about small blocks but again I have to venture into retard territory.

My biggest question is what to do for torque. Its stock everything right now and is pretty lacking until Im guessing about 2000 rpms (no tach). I read through the first couple pages and saw a lot of people getting 500+ torque on moderate builds. How bad does the computer mess with this. I have about 1500 to play with for the motor. I'm thinking little things, cam (XE262 seems to be about right), headers, exhaust, intake, mess with the timing (10 degrees seems pretty popular). Can I get away with porting the heads and calling it a day, or new heads? And the opinion of MSD replacement ignition. The electric fans would be okay if i could get some with a quick swap out so I could be the stock one on for off roading. Also Im thinking if I can find out how the coolant temp sensor works maybe I can rig the switch on to the fan relay to start once the truck gets to operating temp (-40 here)


I like deep rumbly exhausts and wouldnt mind a bit of a lope to the idle. On my 2000 with a 5.4 I had a single after the four cats and had two inline thrush tubes, sounded pretty deep. It sounds like I'm going to have to get a high flow cat to get the truck to run right. Im looking for something that I dont have to modify the rockers and springs. I read that float starts at around 5000 so if there is a 1200~-4800rpm that would be nice. I tried looking on summit and it seems like they mostly have racing cams, but I couldn't find the lift on the OE cam to compare.

I have already set aside 2500 to play with a 4 inch lift, 35s, and some micky classics and dressing up the out side. Diamond plate bed guards, Im thinking about trying to find some pocket style flares for it, grill guard (made my last one), and some flood and long beams. Some pipe steps (im 6 3 my fiancee is 5 4)

Its a clean truck and Im trying not to over do it to much, but I still want it little better than it is. Its going to be a daily driver but since its alaska, I dont have to worry about long trips, or not having an opportunity to let it stretch its legs.