I recently picked up a 1987 f250 and was told it came with a 351W but two owners ago, it got swapped out for a 460. The last few times I've gone to the parts store to pick up parts, I come home to find out they are not right. For example, I bought cork valve cover gaskets that have bolt holes around the lip of the cover, but the current gasket is a small rubber gasket that sits inside a lip and the cover has 4 bolts down the middle that hold it on. I have a serpentine belt running my accessories, but the 1987 460 ran on v-belts.




Long story short, I'm starting to wonder if I have something other than a 460. Maybe a 4.9 or 5.0? It is carbureted, but I am not confident it wasn't originally EFI. The valve cover has E7TE stamped inside it if that helps.....

 

If you can post a pic that would help. The 4.9 is an inline 6, so that should be easy to ID. You could have an older 460 with swapped pulleys for running a serp belt. The valve covers sound like 460 covers but I'm not that familiar with 351 covers either.

 

I was afraid you'd ask for pictures! LOL. I am bad about taking pictures, but I know most threads are pretty worthless without them. That will be my goal for tonight.....for my truck the F in F250 stands for Frankenstein. It's an 87 body, non-original motor of questionable vintage and a ZF5 from 89. Reminds me of that Johhny Cash song about a '54 '55 '56....etc Cadillac. 1 piece at a time.....

 

Obviously I could bring a part in and have the store match it up, but it would be nice to be able to tell them a specific yeah/model and get the right part the first time. I hate to have to tear the truck apart and bring parts in every time....one day I'd like to drive this baby on a regular basis.

 

What engine did the trans donor have? A 460 (big block) won't attach to the same trans as the 351, 302 or 300 (all small block bellhousings). The diesels are different yet (although they are close to the big block pattern).

So if you know what engine the trans donor had you must have one from the same family.

 

Not sure, the trans and engine were swapped by the guy who owned it before the guy I bought it from. Any way I can figure it out based on numbers on the trans? By the way, everywhere I look, replacement 460 valve covers have perimeter bolts (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mo...view/make/ford)
My valve covers are 4 bolts right down the middle of the cover. I'm not saying it's not a 460, but I do know my '87 valve covers fit my heads, but I can't find anything online that looks like mine. Does anybody else on here have valve covers that bolt down the middle as I described?

 

BTW nothing special, I saw your thread on some of your old rides - I'm a fan of all your restorations! Where did you go for your engineering degree?

 

On a side note, what is the consensus on using RTV instead of a replacement gasket for the valve covers?

 

New gaskets are reasonably cheap, easy to replace,and if your heads or covers aren't warped, they work very well. The factory used them. You don't want to have to be the guy cleaning up the old silicone when it comes apart again.

EFI 460 heads have the four center bolts on the covers. Older carb heads used 7 or 8 bolts around the outside.

The simplest test to figure this out: attempt to drive past a gas station, and if the empty fuel tank won't let you, it's a 460.😃

 

Haha, I'm not sure what mileage I'm getting because none of my gauges work, but I'm sure it's not very good.....I was lead to believe the engine was older than the truck, but if it's EFI, that helps me narrow it down (and maybe it's fairly low mileage...??)

 

I found some '92-'94 valve cover gaskets that look like the correct design....but it still seems like a pain to find the valve covers. Even in that year range, there are a lot of perimeter bolt designs and not very many center bolt designs

 

The University of Minnesota. I live in the Twin Cities, so it's pretty much next door.

I like every vehicle I've owned (well, at least the ones 1997 or older!). I keep trying to figure out how I can get some of them back now that I'm an empty-nester!

 

I had to work pretty hard to talk my wife into this truck (including selling a motorcycle), considering we just had a baby and the 3 car garage is full with our daily drivers and a 1969 beetle. The truck found space in the barn, so it's working. Not sure I will be able to pick up a classic bronco without getting rid of something else first though....

Here is a picture (carb currently out) - anything look familiar to anybody? I know it's not very good, but if there is something more specific I should take a picture of, let me know.


Trying to figure out what year this (probably) 460 is at this point.

 

Yeah, that's a 460. It was EFI with those valve covers and front dress. Look on the heads above 2&4 or 6&7 exhaust ports for a casting number E7TE (87-92) or F3TE(93-97). Provided it's the original front accessories 10mm heads on the bolts for the ac compressor is 1990 or later (think it's 1/2" for the older).

 

Great info, thanks. I will check the heads when I get home, but for now I can tell you that inside the valve covers, there is a serial number that starts E7TE