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Currently have an all original blacked out '66 f100 352 cruisematic (auto) flairside long box truck...
Motor is exhausted. I bought the truck a year ago, and the motor was ready to grenade itself. No oil, exhaust manifolds hanging off, next to no oil flow through the motor, transmission was dry... etc...
I changed the oil and fuel pump, new timing chain, threw in some gaskets, rebuilt the carb, topped off the transmission... All stuff to "bandaid" the current drivetrain until I'm ready to swap stuff. truck has been running ok, but this engine is super tired. Running 50-75psi compression on each cylinder. Assuming valves are and rings are shot. There's a bit of a deep knock as well.. not sure if it's coming from the torque converter area or if it's a rod nock....
Been driving the truck as is for the past year and a bit. (put on around 4000kms) Getting all the rest of the kinks ironed out of it. Now it's time to start planning out the drivetrain.
As I mentioned, it still has the original 352 2bbl with cruisomatic. I'm leaning towards a 460 swap. Think I'll just stay with a C6 for now, as I've seen a tonne of 460/c6 combo motors sitting around. Goal down the road would be to either move into an overdrive auto trans, or possibly do a Manual swap.
So far reading through forums on here it looks like the 460 is a pretty straight forward swap. Looking to get some info from guys who have finished it.
Goal with the truck is a super reliable torque monster daily driver. Something I can load bikes on the back and tow a camper cross country with. Although I think I'll just swap in a decent running carbed motor now, the goal is a low compression (8-9:1), aluminum heads and intake, roller rocker, efi motor. Really want to keep it running low octane fuel (87 around here). I have a few grand set aside for the motor. Just trying to plan out what I'll do. Initial thought is to find a lower mileage ford motorhome motor with a 460 and C6 as I seem to see a lot more of those floating around than '70's ford donor trucks with the same drivetrains. Swap it into the truck this winter (truck is off the road from Nov. till April as I want to keep salt off the chassis). Drive the truck next year as is, and then swap the heads, intake, and EFI in next winter. Not really looking to have insane HP, just want a tonne of tq and reliability. I figure making the engine breath the best it can while keeping the compression low is a good way to do that. Am I out to lunch?
I get there's a tonne of small blocks out there that are lighter and get great HP/$ but it's kinda fun having a huge CI motor under the hood. Fuel mileage isn't a huge concern, but from what I've heard, it's not hard to run 15+mpg with an decent EFI setup. I probably get 12 (on the highway) with the truck now. This truck is more about the fun factor than anything. I own 2 VW TDI cars that I use when I'm at all concerned about fuel mileage.
So motor questions... where should I start?
Ford/Mercury/Lincoln 460's... a lot of motor mounts I've looked at only support the ford motors. Yet I've read of a lot of guys using Lincoln motors in these trucks. What's the differences? What issues am I going to run into with different blocks?
Is it wise to go the old motorhome route? There's a lot of low mileage 460's being pulled from rotted out old motorhomes. I've been looking for decent donor trucks for a while, but haven't seem much worth jumping on.
C6 transmission.. what's it take to mount up to my existing mounts. Will I have to fab and/or relocate mounts? What's involved with mating up the shift linkage to my column? What's the output spline like? will it mate up to my existing drive shaft? Will I have to shorten/lengthen the drive shaft?
I know I'll need a new rad in it.. one of the ford supercooler ones if I'm not mistaken. I'd like to go electric fan right away... any recommendations?
According to my VIN, I have a 3.23 rear end. Looks like the ford 9" although I could be wrong. I'll put a limited slip diff back there, would like to keep it a similar ratio... any recommendations?
I currently am running non assisted 4 wheel drum brakes, and manual steering. If I can remember right, the factory f100 460 mounts from the '70's were offset to accommodate the power steering, I would eventually like to throw power steering in. Who makes strong offset aftermarket mounts? I see a lot of mounts out there, just not sure what I should go with. I just rebuilt the brake system and find that I have more than enough stopping power. I can lock the brakes up at 100kph if needed. I may switch to power assisted disc brakes in the future, but I'm not that concerned about it.
Hope that explains everything. Would love to hear some input as I plan this out!
The '65-'79 F-series 2wd trucks share most all suspension and drivetrain mounting points. You can bolt, using factory pieces, most any engine and/or transmission combination into any of the above rigs as long as the engine and/or transmission was available in any of the trucks. You will need to mix and match pieces from different year rigs and maybe do a slight bit of fabricating along the way.
The same goes for suspension and brakes.
Sounds like you need to decide what you want to do then go for it.
Seems like you have some very definite ideas and that is where you need to start.
Don't get bogged down with subtle differences between widgets or wickerbills at this point. Narrow down your ideas to specifics and then start getting dirty. Once you know what you want it will be easier for others to offer direction.
Over the years I have built a number of trucks with different drivetrains. It is all pretty straight forward, but there isn't a "one way" approach.
Decide specifically what you want and ask questions. Most everyone here will be more than willing to offer any help they can.
As I mentioned... wanting to start by a 460/c6 swap... wondering what to look out for as I find a donor motor.
I know I was a bit long winded, but I outlined a bunch of the questions that I have for guys who have done the 460/c6 swap. Wondering what I can keep and what needs replacing from my current setup. Hoping to get as many parts as possible together before I start tearing down the truck. Hoping to have as much as possible ready to rock and then install.
I know there's no "one way" to building the drivetrain... just looking for opinions based on the thoughts I outlined.
Josh
1966 F100 2WD 352/MX Cruise-O-Matic with 8' Flareside bed (a Stepside is a Chevrolet ).
Doesn't make any difference what the 460 came from, as long as you use the correct 1973/79 F100/350 460 engine mount* parts, because the car and Econoline 460 engine mounting parts will NOT work.
Two different 460 engines, one was internally balanced, t'other was internally balanced. This change-over occurred mid model year 1979, so you need the block casting number to define which is which.
No 460's in Passenger Cars after 1978, no 460's in F100's after 1976, no 460's in F150's after 1979.
Block casting number: D1VE-6015-AB - AB1 - AB2 internally balanced: 1971/73 429 / 1971/78 460 / Some 1979 F150/350 & Econoline 460. Uses a different flexplate and harmonic balancer than the following:
Reason I'm looking aftermarket as I live in Ontario, Canada, and they heavily salt the roads in the winter up here. Just about every old ford pickup that i've looked at in junk yard has the motor mounts rotted out. Kinda just want to order a new set in as apposed to spending hours searching for a set.
Might be a stupid question... why do a lot of aftermarket motor mounts for the 460's say they're not for Mercury or Lincoln motors?
Josh
Because, you cannot use Passenger Car (or Econoline) 460 motor mount parts on F100/350's, as these parts are completely different.
Many people swap 460's into 4WD's that never came with them originally. Have to use aftermarket parts.
1983: First year 460's came with M/T & 4WD, F250/350 only. All have a hydraulic clutch thru 1997.
Been there, done that. Toronto: Traffic almost as bad as London UK, Vancouver BC is terrible too. People seem to think it's OK to double park on narrow streets.
'Course I live in LA LA Land, where traffic is horrendous, worse than all 3 of the above.
Blue Jays having an excellent season, went to two games there 20 years ago.
Ya, I cringe every time I have to drive through Toronto. I swear I encounter more incompetent drivers in Toronto than any other city in North America. I'm a photographer by trade, and sadly have to travel to/through Toronto often.
So, based on this (unless I run into a solid late 70's f series donor truck) I'm going to be searching for a low mileage pre 1987 ford motorhomes with the 460/c6. I'm assuming a lot of these will have similar motor mounts to the econoline vans... so I'll be sourcing my own motor mounts.
Do you have any idea if I can use the driveshaft currently in the truck, or will it require modification/swapping to mate to the 460/c6?
Any idea how difficult the shift linkage is to mate to the C6? How did the linkage/speedo drive change throughout the years of the C6. I used to drive an '88 f250 and I'm pretty sure that C6 was an electronic speedo.
Ya, I cringe every time I have to drive through Toronto. I swear I encounter more incompetent drivers in Toronto than any other city in North America. I'm a photographer by trade, and sadly have to travel to/through Toronto often.
So, based on this (unless I run into a solid late 70's f series donor truck) I'm going to be searching for a low mileage pre 1987 ford motorhomes with the 460/c6. I'm assuming a lot of these will have similar motor mounts to the econoline vans... so I'll be sourcing my own motor mounts.
Do you have any idea if I can use the driveshaft currently in the truck, or will it require modification/swapping to mate to the 460/c6?
Any idea how difficult the shift linkage is to mate to the C6? How did the linkage/speedo drive change throughout the years of the C6. I used to drive an '88 f250 and I'm pretty sure that C6 was an electronic speedo.
The driveshaft will have to be modified and you'll need a C6 from a truck, because the manual control lever for a car or van will not work.
Class C motorhomes are E350 (Econoline) Cut-Away's. Ford cut the cargo van body off behind the front seats, so that Class C motorhome, ambulance, people mover and etc. bodies could be installed.
I'm driving one of Roger Carter's 460 conversions. My 460-C6 came from a 77 F100. It seems to me that it would be worth a long drive to acquire a 73-79 pickup for your conversion because you would have all the parts and pieces for not only the engine conversion but power steering and disc brakes. Because the front frame architecture is the same you would be guaranteed everything would fit.About the only thing custom made for the conversion was the driveline and the exhaust system.
My 66 really shines when pulling a loaded trailer but I have to be careful with the throttle when empty.
Been MIA on this for a while. Work got a bit busy.
I finally had some time to start working on the truck again.
Found a '78 low miles Lincoln with a 460. Still in the car and runs like a top. Car ODO is reading 26,000... might be 126,000, but the car is in solid shape. Owner wants 850 (CDN) for the motor. I'm going to do a leak down and compression test early next week. I'll also pop the valve covers and have a look at the oil. Anything I need to be wary about with these motors?
After a bunch of research, I think I'm going to go with an E4OD trans with a controller behind the 460. Anyone have recommendations on where to source the trans from? Should I a late model runner ('95-'96), get a rebuilt, or source a new one? I'm not looking for a HP monster. Just something I can reliably tow with and pull the odd burnout. I doubt I'll ever build the motor past 500ft lbs. Want to keep it running 87 pump gas.
From everything I've read, it looks like the 460 swap is pretty straight forward as long as I have the 460 motor mounts and supercooler radiator for the 460. Anyone have pointers to watch out for during the swap?
As for the trans swap... from what I've read, I'll need to make a bracket for the transmission mount crossmember to mate to the longer trans, shorten the driveshaft, and fab a new shift linkage to mate up to the trans as well. Does anyone have a source for pre fabbed mounts and linkages for this swap? I know it's been done a lot out there. Would save me a bunch of time.
I think that's a 202 hp motor. I would advance the cam timing by swapping in a '70-ish timing set and leave the rest alone if it's ok. The 460 is hard on gas even when compared to the 500 Caddy or other big v8s. If it were my project I would buy a core 390, a stroker kit and make do with 445".
Eric
Ya, this 460 is the 200hp model. It's fairly low, but I've heard that advancing the timing and swapping the intake and exhaust make's a pretty solid difference.
From what I've heard 390 strokers are every bit as thirsty as the 460? Is this not the case?
09-10-2015, 03:37 PM
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