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I recently took ownership of a 79 F150 4x4 long bed. It's an amazing truck and a gift since it will be leading me through learning how to take care of my own **** (and teach my youngest son). I am working through some basic tune ups stuff and some easy upgrade/replacements before I tackle bigger projects. But before I go too deep, I keep coming up with the same question.
The VIN says this truck shipped with a 351 but so far, the parts I bought (specifically, the Water pump - which took two days to figure out) match up to a 460. So the motor has probably been swapped and there is no record of when or to what. I am planning to do gaskets next - valve covers, intake, oil pan, and I don't want to waste a lot of time with the wrong gaskets because I am not 100% sure what motor I have - 351M? 390? 400? 460? Heck, I want to make sure I get the plugs, wires, that kind of stuff, right the first time.
How can you identify the engine other than the VIN. Is there a stamping? Where is it located? How do I interpret it if I find it?
Some pictures of the engine bay:
I did the WP, PS and alternator last week - mostly to learn.
Yes, I spilled some oil on the PS belt. I'm an amateur ;-)
The snorkel hose is in pieces. I've disconnected it until the replacement arrives.
That, my friend, is the gas guzzling, big-inch, 4 barrel, low compression, retarded cam, 460. I bet the motor mounts look questionable too as well as the exhaust? Must be an automatic? Too bad you already did the water pump. It was about half way to getting into the timing cover and doing a timing set to get some of that power back with a strait up timing set. Good engines, hard to kill and pretty cheap to fix if it goes on you. Tune that holley in and it should purr like a kitten.
Thank for the quick response F250_WARHORSE. I am probably going to go back into the timing cover in the not-so-distant future. Would you consider this confirmation of what you wrote?
I believe behind the starter and in a very hard position and maybe even upside down to see are some block casting #'s to tell you what you have and also to get the year it was made.
X2 on following march's directions to figure it out quickly. Is it a front sump oil pan? If yes it can be a transplanted car engine, or a 2wd Ford truck. 460 never came in 4wd 73-79 Ford trucks.
It looks to have a small rubber plug on port the passenger side of the water pump/block adapter that was for the car front sump oil pan dip stick. Not sure what you have going on now with that odd position one.
The folks that know say.....
460 info
I think the 1979 casting number prefix could be either D1VE or D9TE
1971/78 and some 1979 460 engines: The block casting number is D1VE-AB, A1B or A2B. These 460's do not have a weighted spacer / D1VE also applies to 1971/73 429's, as the block is the same.
Mid-model year 1979: FoMoCo changed the 460 engine, has a weighted spacer, the block casting number is: D9TE-AB
Since this was a "running change," there are no before/from specific serial numbers or production dates, so in 1979...the block casting number must to be known to get the correct parts.
The flywheel (flexplate) & harmonic balancer are specific to either the D1VE or D9TE blocks.
460 WAS not available (FROM THE FACTORY) with 4WD or a Manual Trans until 1983, then only in F250/350's / No 460's available in F100's after 1976, F150's after 1979 (CA:1978), Passenger Cars after 1978 / No 460's available in 1980/82 F250/350's, E250/350's only.
1983/97 F250/350 460's have a hydraulic clutch.
1973/79 4WD's do not use engine towers (aka perches, stands), as there is no engine cross member to bolt them to. 4WD engine supports bolt to the inner frame rails.
1968/78 Passenger Cars, 1975/97 E250/350 and 1983/97 F250/350 460 engine mounting parts will not work on 1973/79 F100/350's.
The air cleaner needs to be rotated so the relief on the base is aligned with the distributor. Doing that will also straighten out the driver-side hose to the breather cap. Unclip the fitting on the air cleaner and rotate it to point to the breather. Reinstall the clip.
Found the casting number D1VE AA. Underneath, there's a series that seems to read BO or a 60 in slightly smaller letters then 15 in slightly larger letters.
So D1VE 6O15. From reading other posts, this could be a 429 or 460. Presumably, this engine is built around a block from the DIF foundry, first cast in 1971 (if the Internet is wise and true) and available in 429 and 460 engine builds from Ford until 1978.
If the 79 F150 4x4 did not come with this engine, even as an option, I assume an engine failure demanded a replacement and the previous owner wanted towing capacity with his replacement? Lucky me.
Either way, this clarity should be good enough for me to source parts. Until I want/need to rebuild that is.
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