I'm at an impasse. I own a 1977 f-100 flareside 2wd. Beautiful little truck. It had been sitting about 10 years and I bought it for a about 700 bucks. I've owned it a year now and I replaced the fuel tank and all the lines and fuel pump and stuff. Got the carb rebuilt and installed and I have it up and running and I drive it mainly for pleasure on the weekends. It runs decent but not quite perfect, I can't quite get all the vacuum leaks and lines figured out. I believe I might have a vacuum leak on the intake but I'm not sure. It is one of those fantastic 351m smog engines.

Anyways long story short up on craigslist popped up a 460 engine for 150 bucks with an engine stand. Looking at the pictures it is a pretty clean engine that won't require much. I know the 460 will just swap right out with my 351m. So here I am at the impasse. Do I buy the 460 and build it up slightly while it is out and then pop it in or do I keep the truck completely stock, and pay someone some coin to get it running just right cause I obviously can't.

To hotrod or to restore...a great impasse. I guess I'm looking for thoughts cause I'm truly on the fence. a decent 460 for 150 bucks might just be to good of a deal for me to pass up the engine, but the wife probably won't let me just buy it and store it if I don't have a plan for it. Anyways I posted on here as kind of a therapy. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Ultimately it all depends on what your plans are for the truck. In my case, I plan on using mine to pull my camper around, so I will be doing things to it to make it pull better and have a more comfortable ride, while keeping it as close to stock as possible. What is called a resto-mod. The engine stand is worth the $150 so I would be on that 460 in a heart beat. I would do a stand hook up and see if it runs, even if it doesn't run, you could get your money out of the parts. If your plan is to have a tire roaster, then get the 460 and put it in.

 

a decent 460 and stand for $150 and I went and got it. Now its in the garage and I have to decide what to do with it. The guy selling it was really bummed. He had picked it up and was planning on a major rebuild when he ran into money problems and needed to liquidate quick. I still don't know what I'm going to do but sometimes you just got to grab an asset when it presents itself.

 

Hmmm... a 557 ci stroker would be on my to-do list.

 

in little light weight 2wd. Glad I don't get too much snow here. I'd probably just beef it up a little as it is. Perhaps a new camshaft and good carb and intake with some headers. Something along that lines if I decide to put it in.

 

2x.. another man's misfortune is another namn's opportunity. As an aside, the guy's situation is a case of bad financial planning and management. Everyone should have at least six months worth of expenses tucked away for such situations. I don't get how folks live paycheck to paycheck.. that's plain stupid.

Following the KISS principle is a good thing... there are a a couple of links in the Tech Thread compilation on 460 builds. I recall Spike's "Horsepower" show did a mild build-up on a 460 doing what you are intending to do with a cam, intake, 750 cfm carb, and headers. They also did a port matching job and squeezed out like 392 HP out of what otherwise were stock and off-the-shelf components. It's available as an online video or a DVD.