You too, huh? I miss my 460. It had straight "pipes" on it (more like "just enough pipe to get it away from the transmission") and I actually enjoyed starting that thing up. Something about the sounds it made. Kinda like listening to a turbine engine start up... nice combination of sounds.

I like my 351 too, but it just don't have that same feel at idle even with glasspacks. It does sound good though.

As for easing down the road... I tried but I just love hearing a nice V8 winding up around 3000 between shifts so I only got around 10.5-11 MPG with mine.

Oh and GREAT looking truck there by the way!

 

460 is hard to beat. Mileage aint great, but it aint really that bad either. I was a bit freaked when I first bought mine, but I don't find myself at the gas station much more than I did with my '08 4.0L Ranger...


And having the torque of a 460 under your right foot cant be beat. I'll pay to keep her filled up for that alone...


With only 28k on that one, shes just barely broken in!

 

Sounds like fun mods! Does the $6K include install?

Using this nifty calculator someone very thoughtful created, it appears it would only take me 7 years and 95,000 miles to breakeven money wise
Modification Cost Effectiveness Calculator - Ford Trucks

Since I've only got 28K miles now + the 95K, I will only have 123K miles at break even - so plenty of life left to really reap some savings

Miles to Break Even
Current cost per mile: 0.26923076923077
Future cost per mile: 0.20588235294118
Saving per mile: 0.063348416289593
Miles to break even: 94714.285714286
Days to Break Even
Miles per Day: 32.876712328767
Days to break even: 2880.8928571429
Months to break even: 92.93202764977
Years to break even: 7.7443356374808

 

6k is parts only. And thats lowball without all those features. Gear Vendors alone is $3k new. Banks powerpack exhaust is $1800. But a gear vendor used can be had for $700-1200 if you know where to look. But the exhaust is a fairly easy install. Gear Vendors also is a fairly easy install if you have a driveline shop cut the driveshaft to proper length.

 

I have a 1990 7.3L NA diesel F250 4x4 long-bed stretch-cab 5-spd 3.73:1 gears. It weighs about 6500 lbs.

I have (almost) ever tank of gas and mpg and conditions in my log book. With my 1st injector pump I got better mpg as it was advanced a bit. Now my mpg is down a tad, but with 3 people on board plus luggage on a long freeway trip at California speeds (65-75) I got 22 mpg! Witnessed by objective passengers. Previous pump gave me a bit more on average. A FAST (75 mph) trip to San Francisco (175 miles) I got 23 mpg. Towing my 7000 lb 26' 5th wheel, under ideal conditions (freeway, level, no wind, 100 miles), I got 15 mpg! I tow in 4th gear to not put too much torque on the OD 5th gear. 4th is straight-through, no problem.

This engine (by my observations and reading) gets better mpg than any later diesel. It has 21.5:1 compression ratio. Or is it 22.5? Anyway, high compression helps yield efficiency. The later turbo diesels went down to 17-1/2 or 18:1 CR.

These are real numbers, consistent over time. I have had the truck for 22 years. I am an old careful educated guy with nuthin to prove.

I liked this engine so much I searched high and low for a diesel RV. Just got a 1992 E350 7.3L NA with 40k miles on it! Box-stock, nobody been wrenching on it, runs like new. Except for an E4OD tranny problem I am working on. Hope it's minor.

This is my rig I was describing

 

My bro-in-law runs a fleet of ~100 plumbing vans, think E350s. 460's and auto tranny in all of them. Typically gets 300k miles out of one.

 

For what it might be worth, when I was in college a professor in an internal combustion engines class told us that both gas and diesel engines had optimum efficiency at around 17:1 compression ratio. The problem with running gas engines there is that they'll knock themselve to death in no time, so you have to run them a lot lower. The problem with diesels at 17:1 is that they're hard to start, so they are often run higher, at least 18:1 and sometimes around 21:1. So if he was right (and he seemed to be most of the time), then the ~22:1 on the older doesels was to help starting and they could theoretically be more efficient with a lower compression ratio.

That said, I agree that the older diesels got better mileage. As time went on through the '90s and up to now, diesels have been all about putting out more torque than the other guy, and mileage has suffered. I had an '02 PowerStroke. It had more power / torque than I needed and had higher fuel costs than the 460 in my '97 F-250. That's great if you need the power, but for most of us diesels have become a waste of money.

 

I've owned several. Ten MPG is about the best I've ever experienced with a 460. The fuel injections were somewhat better than carbs but 10 was it.

 

at 70mph, I get 13.9mpg on the interstate, pulling or around town 9-10, unless it's a real heavy load then forget about it turns into gpm. I also have 3.55s and a 5speed w/OD.

 

What they lack in mileage they make up for in reliability, that's for sure...


I was very hesitant to buy a 460 truck. But now that Ive owned one I'd buy one again in a heartbeat.