well the 460 in my 1978 f250 is burn oil. was wondering what everyone here thought of what i should do at rebuild time. need a good reliable motor able to tow and take the punishment of farm/ranch life. dont need a drag motor or a pulling truck engine but would like to get as much out of it as possible. truck sees hard duty. hauling fire wood cows hay and whatever else i can stick on the flatbed behind the cab. truck an auto guess this might give me a good reason to buy a d60 for the front end. thanks.

 

Be sure to use a pre 1970 timing chain when you rebuild.
It will make the engine pull much better compared to the 4* retarded one that came in your '78.

 

thanks ya this motor is out of a 1987 1 ton that got scrapped. just think to stroke or not to stroke.

 

If budget allows you could stroke it to maximize torque. But realize that there are negatives to everything.

The increased stroke has the potential to wear faster and limit RPM. The increase piston travel can wear the bore faster but with a modern ring package it shouldn't be that bad. On bigger strokers the wristpin has to be moved up on the piston and that can affect oil control. So limit yourself to a smaller stroke and shorter rods to keep the pin out of the oil ring land. If you're planning on reusing the stock 87 top end you are going to suffocate this engine. Though keeping in mind that this isn't a drag strip engine you don't need it to rev to 6K+. But the stock heads can barely breathe up to 4K with stock displacement. The addition of 60 some cubic inches is going to limit you to around 3.5K if that. Not that big of a deal considering that you will be idling through cow pastures and pulling hay trailers but some more revs would be welcome while pulling the cow trailer full of heifers on the interstate to the Sunday sell. So if you need this motor to do this you may want to look at some new heads and a better intake. You don't necessarily need aftermarket heads but a set of slightly worked over early casting would work.

As you can see there are a lot more to consider. If you stay with a 4.3" stroke and 6.7" rods you'll stay out of the oil rings and, if you stay off your redline, it should wear very well. Look on Ebay for a used set of ported iron heads. If you have the money an alloy set would be nice but completely unnecessary at this power level. Don't be tempted by those imported aluminum heads. They're cheap but the quality is not there. A low raise aftermarket dual plane intake with a 750 Holley would finish up the package. A set of tuned full length headers would be a given. This combo could give you around 375-425HP and 475-500+ ftlbs according to your cam selection.

You're not going to pass by many gas stations but I think it should get the hay hauled in time, the cows feed before supper and Becky Sue home before midnight.

 

well joker after a crappy day that made me and my girl both laugh. i have a weiand intake on it already with a 650 edelbrock carb. no interstate travel though thats what the diesels are for. my truck is an a/c truck and i would like to keep it that way what headers do you recomend? i have three 460s setting around any year to look for in the head department. granted my old trucks no show pony i took out the drivers side mirror today thanks to a hungry bull. jokerforever thanks for the time and info.