Hi, I have just had my 78 F250 reskinned and painted and am now in the process of rebuilding the rest. It is a 2wd that I am having rebuilt similar to what I had in high school what is mainly a tire eater. Here is what is being proposed. Please let me know if there are better suggestions or something just doesn't make sense. Thank you.Engine: The factory engine is a 460 and will be bored out to 520. Planning to add Eagle crank and rods with Molly Forge pistons. It will have 9.6.1 compression with custom ground camshaft with hydraulic rollers. AFR aluminum heads with Super Victor Edelbrock intake manifold. A 950 Holly carburetor, an MSD ignition, and CVF serpentine system, headers, Champ radiator, new AC and heater core. We believe this will produce about 650hp.

Transmission: It has a C6 but with this much horsepower, I believe we will install a TCI Super Street Fighter Transmission with 3,000 stall converter that claim to handle 875 Horsepower.

Front Suspension: I am not real knowledgeable about suspension, but this is what is being proposed. For the front suspension: Classic Performance Products bolt in front suspension mustang II IFS kit with coil over springs, gas shocks, and modular spindles. It also has bolt on caliber brackets and 11.75 inch disc brakes. Will this handle very good?....seems the Mustang II suspension would struggle with a 6000# truck with a big V8, but this guy thinks it will be fine.

Rear Suspension: For the rear suspension he is proposing a Strange Dana 60 with 11 inch disc brakes, a 3.54 gear ratio and posi track with 1/2 ton leaf springs, new U bolts, new spring hangers, and new shackles. Also, going with a 5 hole conversion kit so I can have more options for wheels.

Thanks in advance for any kind comments or advice you may have.

 

I am NOT a 460 guy, more SBF guy….why forged pistons? Are you doing a power adder?

I guess the 1st question is:

what are you wanting to do with the truck? Just a tire shredder, cruise around type, towing?

man, paint looks great!

 

Thanks! Yes the paint turned out nice. Still a few pieces of trim to add and badging, etc, but almost there.

No, I won’t be doing any towing and with that mileage it won’t be a daily driver. Rather just a fun truck that has the power and feel when I want a little punch. Always had a fairly hot truck when I was in high school but now that I am retired I have some extra money to do it right. Thus, just asking some advice from this community. There are some amazing people on this forum.

 

I think because this will be a cruiser and not a race truck I would go smaller on the carb to a 850 vacuum.
The small carb will give you better throttle response for cruising. If you were building a drag race truck then maybe the 950 and even then I think the 850 would be better based on a 650 / 750 I had on a 360 drag motor, same ET but the 750 had a bog that was a PITA to work out and just felt slugish off the line.

I am also not a fan of the Mustang II front end in big heavy cars / trucks and even you brought it up.
I would look into a Crown Vic set up as it comes from a heaver car to start with and I hear it uses Fox Body Mustang parts so should be able to get larger brakes that bolt on.

Out back I can see the Dana 60 but why cant you build up a 9 inch? What does the truck have in it now? I cant see having great traction out back so do you need anything bigger than a 9?
I see why the 1/2 springs for ride but I think there is something better that could be used.
If you stay with leaf spring (I am thinking something else) for traction, again how great will it be? I would look into Cal - Trac Bars. Might be a little noisy for street but can be adjusted to hook up for drag racing.
If you dont go Cal Trac's and keep the leaf springs have a set made like the Dodge SS drag racing cars ran.
You will need to stop axle wrap up and the bars or SS springs should help.

I would look into a 4 link with progressive springs for a good ride. With the 4 link you can adjust for traction like the Cal Trac's and may work better (no noise) on the street and think with the right shock valving should have little if any wheel hop.
Sway bars front & rear will get it to handle the turns. The CV front end has a sway bar from the factory.
Dave ----

 

2X on the 9" rear. You can even get them brand new from Currie, Strange et. al. No matter what rear end you choose it will be imperative to deal with wheel hop. CalTracks are a bolt on that you can use with the axle in stock location or atop the springs with a C notch in the frame for lowering the rear. Beyond that, you have 3 and 4 link bar kits with coil overs to toss the elliptical springs altogether. There are bolt on kits for this too. Choose between a long pan-hard bar or watts linkage to harness side x side movement. The CV IFS is widely used and there are kits that make the installation easier if you can weld or have that done for you. The shortcomings of the CV (a tad too wide) can be handled with shorter aftermarket control arms. You can even convert to coil-overs.
Your truck looks good already so you can concentrate on the mechanicals (power train and suspension). Keep us posted with lots of pictures. We love pictures.

 

Thanks @FuzzFace2 and @flowney I much appreciate your comments and recommendations. I was wondering the same thing about the 950 carburetor so thanks for that. I am not as familiar with the suspension suggestions so I will look into them and give your feedback to the guy doing the work on the suspension. Thanks again!

 

the super victor is probably not the best choice for what you are describing either.

 

Head over to 460ford and they have the thread in the pics I attached. The list proven builds and the necessary components to get there.

 

The AFR heads require a piston with the valve reliefs in a different location than stock. The limited stroker kits that have this type of piston typically are high compression. Not sure 9.6:1 is enough for a cam that will make 650 hp.

I would pick a builder/vendor that has a complete package of parts that has been tested/ dyno proven. I estimate the build cost being $10-13k. Might as well do a 4.5 crank and get a 545 ci.

 

There have been some significant changes in best practice for improving performance of the 385 series engine since 2009. Be sure to check out John Kaase and others who have specialized in this engine.

 

Well, I would say the 460 build will be plenty fun, and enough to raise a few hairs on occasion.

I'm runnig a 429 balanced engine in my Trekker Van. The block is a D9TE-A running a mid-range Crane flat tappet hyd cam.
My E250 Van is actually classified as a BUS, not SCHOOLBUS. so some commercial vans got Truck engines.
For whatever that is worth. LoL
Also running a Holley 83310 List carb, and Crane roller rockers. Supposedly it is 9:1 comp.
Very fun engine that loves running mid-range to upper rpms.
I'm running 32" BFG mud terrains and 4:10 final gears. What a kick in the pants Big-Boy UTV.

Oh, almost forgot, as I was surfing the "Boat Parts" on Craigslist I came across a Kodiac Marine GM 496 engine.
As a result, I've been drooling all day long, while dreaming of placing it into my '57 ****** utility wagon for some punch.

 

First off - thanks for keeping you Ford FORD! That big 385 series won't give up a thing to any Chevy. Glad you're at a point in life you can do it YOUR way! I have a 78 Bronco project and I'm having to pace myself for sure. LOL!

 

The only thing I can see that might be a question when asking the person doing the work is what does he use on other builds?
If all he uses is a Mustang II front end he may come up with everything but the kitchen sink on why to use only the M II setup.
I just feel it is to light duty for a lot of cars & for sure trucks it is put under.
Maybe before you talk to him look into the CV setup, how it gets installed, most I see are welded but did just seen a bolt in kit.
Take that info with you so he can see there are other ways to build a suspension.
Look up member "Monkey-1" I think it is as he has done the CV swap on 2 different trucks so you can see how he did it.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post18052546

Then we have the motor I know the 950 carb for street would be too big I did not look into the RPM range of the intake or the cam?
The builder might be great at building full on drag motors based on the intake side of parts but you have to look at real world street use RPM range.
To make 650 HP at 6000 RPM what good is that driving on the street? I would rather make 1:1 HP:CID at a street-able RPM but that is me.
Just my .02
Dave ----