Hello everyone. I had to retire due to an illness. To get my strength back I decided to build a 1948 Ford Panel Truck. Stop your laughing I like the old panels. I bought a 77 lincoln for the motor and tranny. It has a 460 and a 4 barrel. I looked up the specs and did not like what I saw. I want a 400 hp to the wheels but don't have the big bucks. I want to put in a 373 rear end gear and the lincoln had a c6 in it. What rebuild kit do I need to acheive this? I do not want to spend over 1500 to 2000. I don't want to stroke it because I have no experience with it. I just want the truck to burn the tires off but I do not want to race it. It will be basicly for the local car shows. Can anyone help me? Thanks

 

If it was me, I'd look for a rebuild kit that is for 1970 or earlier cars. I don't know much about the heads (I'm no expert by far) but if you get a set of DOVE heads or earlier heads off a 429, that should raise the compression. You might even be able to buy a set or remanufactured heads at NAPA or Auto Zone that are made for 1970 or earlier 429/460's. Monster....Ivan, help me out here if i'm wrong.

 

It will be cheaper to stroke it. You can get a 4.3 stroker crank that will work with stock rods and requires no special machining or block clearancing. You will end up with a mild 521. In your situation, displacement is the cheapest power adder you can buy.

Pick up a ready-to-run 4.3 stroker crank and the proper pistons to get 9.2-9.3:1 CR. Have a shop do a quick cleanup on the exhaust ports - nothing fancy or expensive, but it will have to be done. Bolt everything together with good gaskets and top it off with a non-CJ Weiand Stealth and your choice of 850 CFM carb. Blow everything through headers with 2.125-2.25" primaries. Use a cam that will work with the modest flow potential of the mostly stock heads to max out off-idle & midrange torque and throttle response, and that will work with the rest of the factory valvetrain. The Lunati 61604 comes to mind (hyd flat-tpt, 233/241@.050, .564/.582). It won't be a barn-burner, but it will run on pump gas and produce prodigious amounts of usable low-end. The better to easily muscle your truck away from stoplights in a respectable manner. And the throttle response should be phenomenal.

Using the above combo, DD predicts 447 HP @5000 and 510 lb-ft torque @3500.

 

Nice response Brad, i knew someone would come up with a good idea

 

Go to your public library or get a back issue of the Feb 2006 Car Craft.
They do a cheap buildup of a 460 Ford and it may give you some ideas.

 

With the combo Brad suggested and the D3VE heads that you have on your engine, your gonna want a piston with a 22cc dish (don't get the earlier heads this is why I don't suggest buying them all the time even with the pistons down in the bore .010 and 22cc dish your still at 10.77:1 comp which is too high for a decent pump gas engine.) but if you get the block decked to zero deck, 22cc pistons and the 95cc chambers on your heads you will be at 9.35:1 compression.
The only other thing is I think the headers suggested are a little large try to keep them around 2-2-1/8max for a low end torque motor like this, the 2.25" headers will hurt your low end but would help on top end, I run 2.25" primaries on my 528 but I leave the line at over 5000rpm which isn't were you want to be with this engine.
I would also have the shop put in some stainless one piece valves in your heads a decent set of ferrera valves will run you about $140-$160 and have them step the size up to 2.19/1.71 (stock is 2.08/1.67 same as a 351C-2V) I would do this even if you don't stroke it, and then just do a bowl blend on the intake side, and a little work on cleaning up the exhaust to open them up a little.
The cam brad suggested doesn't sound to bad but if you want a comp cam then the xtreme 4x4 cam X4270H-11, 226/234 @ .050 554/574 lift would work good also with the stroker or for a little more thump thenext step up won't hurt to much on the low end with a stroker (bigger engines need a bigger cam) x4278H-11 234/244 and 574/580.
If your looking for a little more show I would spend the money on an MSD dist because it will be cleaner looking other wise just get the stock dist recurved to match your combo.

 

This brings up an interesting point, not to hijack, but this might be along the same line of thinking as Dawgs was thinking. Does a stroker hurt longevity for an engine. I've been reading around, and everyone seems to suggest stroke for quick gains at low cost, but with every positive, there is almost always a negative, so what is it? What's the downside to stroking a motor?

MoMo

 

The only issue with stroking an engine that can affect longevity is the fact that there is a little more side loading on a piston at BDC. The more side loading the more wear on the piston and cylinder. You'll occasionally hear people talk about rod ratios as a measure of how "safe" a stroker is to run. For example, stock 460 rods are 6.605" divided by the stock stroke of 3.85" gives you a rod ratio of about 1.71. This means that the angle of the rod in relation to the piston at BDC is fairly mild with very little side loading. Now go to a stroker combo like Brad suggests: 6.8" rods with a 4.3" stroke and your ratio is about 1.58. So yes, in theory a stroker is going to have a little more wear than a stock 460. However, given the fact that this is still better than a stock Chevy 454 (1.53) I don't think it's anything worth thinking twice about. 460's were the perfect design for a stroker kit. If properly built you won't have any noticable difference in longevity between a mild stroked 460 or a stock stroke 460. It's not like he'll be wrapping it past 8K . . . right Rob.

Seems to me it's gonna be tough to do it on that budget no matter how you go about it though, at least reliably. Even basic machining on that block and external balancing could eat up a good chunk of it. Then you have the carb, intake, headers, crank, pistons, cam and all the little expenses like gaskets and what not. Do you guys really think this could be done for under $2000?

 

Okay, that makes sense, thanks for the info. So, that leads me to which blocks are best to stroke. I know it was discussed before, but I can remember the thread. There were certain years that had longer cylinder walls, you happen to know which ones?

 

Ummmm, 8k umm past that ummm yeah thats right not past 8k.

BTW though Brad suggested teh stroker kits like the FRPP 514 uses that utilizes stock rods, instead of the BBC rod journal diameter so you would have the 6.605" rod leaving you with a 1.54:1 rod ratio which is pretty similar to the 454 chev and they actually don't seem to have too much of a problem with side loading (although more than then a stock 460 but still not bad), And after pulling my engine down after last season spinning it constantly above 7k the cylinders didn't show very serious wear, and infact I didn't even rehone or rering for this year, and if it can survive what I put it through it's gonna live a long and productive life on the street.
biggest difference here is only stroking to 4.3 isn't too bad of an option, but if your worried about it you can go to 4.14" but it's been my experience and opinion that the 4.3 stroke is a very nice comprimise.

 

Yeah the D9TE blocks (basically any block after 79 had 3/16" longer cyl walls)

 

Yeah, don't know what I was thinking because I read right in there he was suggesting stock rods but what do you expect when I hit the rock at 9AM.

 

I wanna know why you slept in so late, by 9am I already had 7hrs in for the day.

 

Those all-night bar sessions can be brutal, eh?

Brad

 

I believe it's 79 and up