how does the 460 carburted run? I really like what I saw in my old 400M, it was upgraded when built, and the performance was awsome. I found it to be a sheer blast to drive. I've had it up to 105 on the interstate with a Honda one time. not bad for an old 77 f-250 Highboy with 4:10 gears! She was humming pretty good. The look on the Honda's driver was priceless. He gave props for the old ford.

 

Well my current truck has a 400 in it and i must say it's been very reliable but not exactly a powerhouse compared to fe and 385 series engines ive been around.

 

ok i shouldn't bother but you really might want to enlighten yourself a whole lot before dragging up 8yr old threads. Show that you know something about ford motors by the realization that there is no M after the 400 first and formost that just makes you look ignorant of anything to do with Fords, only chevy guys use that. Second off the 400 was developed and originally released in 1970 BEFORE smog was an issue, thus there goes the very first sentence you uttered, next the 400 originally came out with the small block bell housing, oops there goes another of your arguements, the 351w has more hp then any of the 400s ever did there goes another one, the highest hp rating of the 400 was 170 the lowest of the 460 was 220, oops there goes your claim that the 400 made 80% the power even if you use the high/low extremes.
Also I have yet to see a naturally aspirated 400 make 500hp, even stroked and still even remotely be streetable (actually haven't seen one done at all but thats another story) but I have seen several 600hp 460 based strokers that are VERY streetable.
And the claim that the 4" stroke means it's going to be so much more torque has been shown many, many, many times to be a myth preprated by people that want to sell you stuff. A 460 is 3.85 and if you think that 1/8th difference is going to help well let me show you what another half an inch will do with a 4.5" stroke. And don't forget that a stock 2 bolt main 460 block will support over 900hp
It's an old argument but when you start comparing apples to apples the 400 loses hands down everytime, people constantly try to make the claim that because someone in a magizine made 400hp with a 400 that proves the point, well it takes a cam and intake swap to make that in a 460 so what? when you can make a 400 produce 927hp NA come talk to me... in fact I don't even care if you keep it NA, only requirement is you have to use a factory 400 block and I don't care what you do to it, just get it to reach that power level without blowing the block apart.

 

This is a goofy thread but I guess the jist of it is that if your truck came with a 460, there is no reason what so ever to go to a 400. If your truck came with a 400, then it can be made to run but you will spend some dollars on a set of heads, intake and headers. It's an air pump, remember? I had a friend that ran a speed shop and he built a 400 with '70 cleveland 4V heads, cam, 4V, headers, MSD (the usual bolt ons for any performance build) and it ran like a bat out of of hell. And that was in a '71 LTD. In stock form the low compression 351C, 351M and 400 were gas eatin dogs, period. Okay lets let this thread RIP for another 8 years!