Hi there guys. The time has come to rebuild the motor on my 1997 F250 HD 460 EFI with over 236k. I use this truck as my work mule. I tow a dump trailer almost every day. Loaded it is about 8,000 -9,000lbs so I need plenty of power. After looking for different set ups I’m not really sure what would be better for me. I want to spend about 3,500-4,000 on the new set up I’m open to any suggestions. I like to thank you in advance for your input.
Saul

 

What exactly are you asking here? How to get more power from the beast of a 460 you have? or question about good rebuild kits?

 

Stroker kit, some decent head work, and hydrualic roller cam if it doesn't already have one.

Sounds like a fun project. E-mail if you like, and I may be able to help you spec a custom cam that will really make this motor perform for your application.

Lee Atkinson
vcxzrewq@yahoo.com

 

Thanx for responding guys. I bought the truck about a year ago. It looks likes all factory. However it has headers. I don’t even know what they are. My question is I like to get more hp and torque out it. I heard good things and bad of aluminum heads. I also seen that people also use the iron heads but they are board and are just as good or better then aluminum ones. All I want is for my truck to pull my dump trailer like a toy when its loaded and to have a better mpg than what I have know.
Saul

 

Stroker kit for sure. Coast High Performance has some nice kits at great prices. With no other changes, you will roughly pick up about 1ft-lb of torque for every inch increase, probably a little better than 1-to-1. So, add 70 cubic inches, and probably pick up from 70 to 85 ft-lb across nearly the whole powerband.

Mild heads, like maybe Edelbrock Performers or the smaller TrickFlow heads should increase those values even more.

From there, camshaft spec selection can massage the torque curve even further to make power where you want it.

The old International Harvester 345 and 392 V-8's made near-diesel-like low-end, easily getting loaded school buses and dump trucks moving from a stop - they used REVERSE-splits on their durations. That is, the exhaust lobe would be 8 to 10 degrees SMALLER than the intake - totally opposite of the "horsepower" cams we are all used to seeing.

 

FYI, the Edelbrock or Trickflow heads are NOT EFI manifold friendly, something that needs to be kept in mind on a 1997 model. Same thing with camshaft selection, especially since he is wanting to stay in the 3500 range. Real easy to blow through that amount and then some once you count all the machine work, basic parts (pistons, rings, bearings, etc)