Thread: 390 to 460 swap
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:31 PM
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banjopicker66
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Nope. You will need a lot more than that.

I swapped my FE (352) for a 460 and a C-6 as well - and I like it by the way.

As for the bellhousing, I do not know. My best recommendation would be to find an '80 - '86 460 with a T-19. Perhaps someone in the 385 forum here at FTE can answer that question.
The '79 and later 460s are externally balanced, whereas the '78 and earlier are internally balanced. Other than that, they are very similar. This may have an impact on which clutch set to get.
Nothing interchanges between the FE and the 385.
You will need a complete engine from top to bottom.
The most important part of this swap will be the engine perches, to properly locate the engine in the truck. They are 3 piece, and are only found on trucks '73 - '79 with the 460. By the way, I am assuming you have a 2WD; the perches are only for the 2WD frame. Ford didn't put 460s into 4x4 until the '80's.

The radiator, alternator and power steering pump will work fine, as long as you use the correct truck brackets. The Lincoln 460 motors are the same, but they use different bracket setups, and sometimes different PS pumps and A/C compressors.

Here is what I did to my truck, with a description of what it is like now:
I am getting 14.8 MPG at 65 MPH with a nearly stock 460 in my '66 F-100. And I have power to spare.
‘86 460 bored 60 over with stock '86 heads - no porting
'77 F-250 460 engine perches and mounts
'69 straight up cam gears, Cloyes double roller with RV type cam
Edelbrock Performer (not RPM) intake and 1470 750 CFM carb on a 1" phenolic spacer
'76 Duraspark II ignition
Stock aftermarket manifolds with a 2 1/2 inch dual exhaust (plain mufflers); copper gaskets
'93 serpentine belt brackets and pulleys
'78 power steering pump, hoses, with ’93 PS pulley
'76 power steering box
’76 power steering pitman arm
'92 power steering cooler, mounted in the frame
'70 steering column
'66 radiator (re-cored)
'66 alternator, with '93 serpentine pulley and fan
'86 water pump
'86 fan clutch with '77 7-blade fan
'83 C-6 from an '83 F-350 fifth wheeler, with '77 C-6 linkage (internal shift rod and kickdown)
2.75 rear end

'83 stock rear sump oil pan, with stock oil pump, pickup tube and dipstick (includes main bearing bolt with stud to hold pickup in place)
Includes '93 A/C compressor, but A/C is not installed. (Needed for the serpentine belts.)

The only modifications I had to make were:
Fabricate an accelerator cable bracket by combining an FE one with a 385 one.
Shorten the front driveshaft to adapt to the C-6 (with a conversion joint)<o></o>
 

Last edited by banjopicker66; 09-25-2006 at 04:37 PM.