Hello Y'all,

I have just picked up my first Ford. It's a 1978 F250 SuperCab 2x4 460CI.
It's been sitting since 2004 so it will need some work to have it running properly.
I'm going to take the heads off of it this weekend and have my buddy do a valve job.

It only has 98000 miles, so I hope I won't have to mess with the rest of the engine.

I would like to put a better intake manifold/carb combo on it, but there is so much to choose from that I don't even know where to start. Do you guys have any suggestions?

Here are a few pics from last fall when I first looked at the blue goose (btw, I picked it up for $500!!!):

 

Nice truck! Edit: you want to find an intake that operates from idle-5000 or more. that will give you the lower end power u want for normal driving. If you get on that operates from lets say 1500-8000 you wont have much power till 1500 rpms

 

Thanks! Yeah, I want to use it as a daily ride, so idle to 5k sounds good.

 

This is what i just got Edelbrock 2166 - Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifolds - Overview - SummitRacing.com I got mine for 100 off of craigs brand new so look around. This one would work too Weiand 8012 - Weiand Stealth Intake Manifolds - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

I'll try to post more pics of the blue goose this weekend. I've been reading the tips and tricks part of the forum and I'm amazed at the amount of knowledge accumulated here.

You guys rock

 

Lol. The F250 Camper Special for $500 Surprisingly common. Common in the sense that if you look for an old F250 that's what you'll find. I know because I have the exact same truck and it wasn't the first one I looked at.

Good choice, I love mine It's classic and pretty much indestructable. Took me years to figure out that loud banging sound was the drive shaft hammering against the frame because the center bearing rubber had disintegrated. You should check that by the way, it may be due.

As far as the engine goes there probably isn't much to do. Here's what I've done:
-Replaced the lower rad hose, it looked like a dry river bed.

-Replaced the rubber fuel line, it was gushing fuel

-Replaced the thermostat with a new one, it was old and rather restrictive looking, the 460 ran cooler after that.

-Replaced the distributor cap, plugs, and wires, it's just good insurance and not costly.

-My rad leaked but maybe yours won't, I replaced it with a junkyard rad which also leaked so I threw some stop-leak in there and it's been fine for years

-Changed the oil with 15W40 Shell Rotella oil. It's got better additives for trucks our age, you'll probably find other mentions of it on the forum. Also the extra weight helps the oil pressure in an old engine.

-There's a good chance your carb has a throttle rod instead of a throttle cable. You may think you can just attach it to a new Holley and call it good and you'd be half right. The rod will attach to a standard throttle ball but the relocated Holley throttle lever screws up the geometry of the rod and pressing the gas to the floor might only get you half throttle. You'd lack power and you might assume the engine is no good when in reality you just have to adapt the rod or better yet buy a Lokar throttle cable kit and probably a new gas pedal. I'll do that eventually; for now I just made a bracket for the throttle lever that lets the rod get about 3/4 travel (I don't race this truck lol).

-You may have gotten the point already but look for pretty much anything rubber; the truck is old.

-If you do crack the engine open, even just the surface, you can get some nearly free power by replacing the factory retarded timing set with an aftermarket one. I haven't done that yet but you'll find it mentioned on the forum; trucks from our year were crucified by emissions standards and the quick and dirty way for Ford to help emissions was to make the truck run less efficiently with retarded timing :P

You're pretty lucky, your cab corners look great. They tend to rust faster than the rest of the truck; mine are destroyed and need to be replaced. If I think of any other advice I'll let you know. Enjoy your new beast

 

Thanks for all the great advice. That's what I'm talking about
I have a newer truck, so this is my toy to run around town and look cool
I'm surprised that except for some surface rust there is no cancer damage. It looks like the truck has spent most of it's life here in Oklahoma.