I have a 96 F250 460 e4od that I'm wanting to start rebuilding this summer. I don't know much about rebuilds though, so I'm not sure what to get. Basically, I'm wanting to make this thing as efficient as possible. Wanting the hp/torque up as well as mpg. Already have a brand new exhaust and cat.

Instead of specific part numbers, I'm more trying to figure out what types of modifications I should do. Such as, what type of a cam should I install (and if possible, why), or what the different types of pistons are?

I'm looking for an understanding and information on performance upgrades more than anything, I suppose. Assume money isn't a factor (I'll figure that out later!), but if you know the cost of the upgrade might as well include it

I'd love to be able to use the Torque app on my phone using a Bluetooth OBD II sensor, but this truck is OBD I. What would I need to do to get my engine rebuilt as an OBD II?

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

it's not the engine that determines whether or not the truck is OBD-I or OBD-II. It's the actual hardware and OBD-II computer (PCM).

You might want to check out this forum to answer some of your engine questions: Big Block V8 - 385 Series (6.1/370, 7.0/429, 7.5/460) - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

This thread has some great 7.5L build info as well: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ts-are-in.html

 

Thanks for those links!! I'll definitely check out that big block forum for those questions

And I remember reading through the 7.5L Build forum a couple months ago. Read through it again just now, and there are some great ideas

As someone mentioned, I'm going to do a tune up entailing:
Replace Fuel Filters
Clean my K&N Air Filter
PVC Valve
Spark Plugs
Test COP's & Replace If Required
Test Battery & Replace If Required
Sepentine Belt
Change Oil & Filter
Change Coolant
Change ATF and Filter
Examine Ball Joints
Examine Brake Pads
Lubricate All Zerks

As far as performance upgrades go though, would headers be the best way to start? I already have a high-flow cat with a brand new exhaust (forget the brand)

 

I have banks torque tube headers on my 460. Nice welds, fat flanges, stainless, but expensive. On the other hand you get what you pay for. Noticed power increase. Add a banks ram air kit, bbk throttle body, and bbk fuel pressure regulator, and youll really notice alot more towing and passing power.

 

Headers will help noticeably. A low rpm high torque cam seems to help. Get one that is for RV/Towing/truck useage. This will be able to allow more efficien breathing of the engine and generate more torque through a broader rpm range that OEM and this in turn makes the engine more efficient, it works less to make more. Any roller componetry is rather costly, but does help significantly in friction reduction, less drag, such as roller cam, roller rockers. Any way to shave weight can't hurt either, get rid of those heavy exhaust manifolds and possibly (not probable in your scenario though) aluminum heads. Aluminum sheds heat faster than cast iron and weighs less, allowing for more timing, compression, and a more efficient, slower, and more complete burn, thus allowing more "power" from the same amount of fuel or less fuel to make the same power. Just the basics, good luck.http://performanceunlimited.com/projectmpg/ try this link for dyno and teat proven mods.

 

The way I see it, I got my truck for about $4,000. New trucks are around what, $45,000? Spending 10, 15, $20,000 on upgrades to my truck is well within reason!

That project mpg was a great read. I'll definitely be doing some of those upgrades since they all seem pretty simple, and fairly cheap

How big is the difference between those Banks headers and something like Hedman? The price is almost 4:1!!

Is it safe to say that replacing anything in my engine with aluminum counterparts is an upgrade?

 

What do you have in mind? Heads, intake, rods, pistons??

 

I was thinking heads and pistons specifically, but it was more of a general question for engine upgrades. So you can also do aluminum rods? Is there any component that I SHOULDN'T upgrade to aluminum?

 

I was just hunting around for what your reference to aluminum was. Aluminum rods have no place in your engine. As far as heads go, I am not sure there are any aftermarkets out there for the 7.5L EFI engine. They are not the same as the older carburetor equipped engines. The port spacing is way different. Your pistons are already aluminum, cast to be exact.

As demonstrated in Boport's head porting thread there is plenty of potential bottled up in the factory heads. It gets $pricey$ to duplicate what he did. There are Ford 460/7.5L based sites out there with proven combos.

The problem is supporting that extra power with fuel and electronics. Granted you could use a relatively mild cam, ported or aftermarket heads (if available) and stay with the factory Speed Density powertrain control system then pony up for a custom tune.

 

As far as I know, there are no heads that work with the factory intake. However the EFI heads have plenty of potential.

 

Would something like this work for heads? Edelbrock Performer RPM Cylinder Heads 60669 - SummitRacing.com . Or is porting my stock heads the only way to go?

My main goal for this build is to make it as efficient as possible for fuel economy when I take it easy (currently, I take it so easy that I'll often get passed by semis off the line, and still average only about 8mpg city), BUT, if I "flip a switch", or really get on the pedal or something, I'd like to see a lot more power (mainly for offroading). I've looked around a lot for some way to switch between economy and power, but haven't found anything. Any ideas for that?

 

No, those are carb heads. Like I just said, your only options are to have the stock heads worked.

As for doing a build for economy, you might as well just stop now and get a Civic. The engine work will never pay for it self.

 

Oh okay, I looked for carb or efi, but didn't see anything

Haha you'll never catch me in a civic... Okay let me rephrase. Instead of just dumping fuel into my engine, I want it to run as efficient as possible. I'm not saying I'm against increasing the fuel that goes to the engine, but I just want it to do the most amount of work possible

 

You might want to read up on using a Tweecer or Quarterhorse unit on a stock ECU. If you have a manual transmission, it'll make your search for a compatible ECU easier. With the right ECU, you can modify injector sizes, compensate for otherwise incompatible cams, and switch the injection from bank fire to sequential injection.

 

Where is my EEC located? I'm on Tweecer's website now, and they need the code on that
And I have an auto tranny
So are these basically programmable/performance chips?