A brief introduction - back in April of '23, I got fortunate enough to find a '78 F250 crew cab for sale for a very low price. It'd been abandoned in a vehicle hoard and sat since 2002ish, and the scrapper who got charged with cleaning it out decided to sell the truck (to me, in the end, obviously) instead of crushing it. It's beaten up and rusty and rotten but it's always been a dream of mine to own one, so it's getting a very budget-friendly frame-off driveway restoration. My slow progress has been documented with pictures in a thread up in the '73-'79 forum if anyone is interested.

I'm at the stage now where the engine is out of the vehicle and fully disassembled and ready to take to the machine shop. It is a 460 engine, as it should be (the truck is a 460/C6 truck from the factory). I've never done this before and I have a lot of questions/comments, I'll try to type this all out in an organized fashion but it may jump around a bit.

So first and foremost - a bit of background. I did wake the beast up and I got the engine running not long after I got the truck home. It had a bent pushrod because the exhaust valve on cylinder 8 was stuck shut, and there was another suspect valve on the opposite bank as well, although not as bad. I am fully committed to a new camshaft, valvetrain, and timing set. It has the D3VE-A2A heads on it as well. Otherwise, at least to my naked eye, the rest of the engine seems to be pretty fine, despite sitting for so long. My eyeballs aren't exactly precision measuring devices but I didn't note any horrors while I disassembled the thing. No metal in the oil pan, no sparkles in the oil (oil from the early 2000s, mind you), head gasket was 100%. There were some deep scores on some of the rod bearings though, and the timing chain had a pretty incredible amount of slack in it. Like, 2.5" of deviation instead of 0.25".

Here is my mindset for the "build," if you can call it that: I am boring. I like stock/original trucks that match their VINs, even if they have boring options. I'm not frame swapping or axle swapping or engine swapping or anything like that, and I'm not chasing horsepower or torque. This truck came out of the factory doors as a rear-wheel-drive shortbed F250 crew cab with a 460 and a C6 auto, and that's the way it's gonna be when I'm done fixing it up too. For financial reasons, and to scratch some weird "originality" itch in my brain, I get enjoyment out of using stock stuff, whether it's original to the truck or another part that is a match for OE spec parts. I've had success in keeping old Fords on the road, but this is the first full restoration I'm tackling - to me, as a rust-belt guy, a crew cab is special enough to deserve the attention. This has led me into unfamiliar territory, though, and I'm willing to experiment a bit as well.

And finally, here is my personal plan for the truck: I want to enjoy it. This truck sat and rotted for decades and nearly got crushed (some say it should have been), but I'm saving it, and I'm doing it for me. I'm enjoying the restoration process so far, but I'm excited for the day it's over too. This truck won't be my daily driver (although it will play back-up), but I still want to put a lot of miles on the odometer. I have some plans for some longer distance road trips (longest on the list so far is 1500 miles round trip). I also want to use it around locally to work. I want to be able to haul scrap and trash and brush if I want to, and to help friends move. More applicable to the current engine discussion, I would like to set it up to reliably pull a larger single-vehicle trailer. I rely on a friend to help my retrieve my project junk vehicles when I find them, but it would be a lot of fun to do the hauling myself too.

Ultimately, I want to put this engine together the right way, and I don't want to have to yank it back out again. I want it to run reliably for as long as feasibly possible. And in my mind, that means "no fancy stuff."

So, with all of that said, here are my questions:

- When I call the machine shop, what do I even say? "Hey I have this engine, can you...?" What basic processes are normally completed by the machine shop at this stage in a restoration? I'm probably gonna bug them a bunch during the process (for my own education, not to be a nuisance), so I want to try to start off on the right foot, hah!

- D3VE heads are Lincoln heads if I'm not mistaken, would this mean that they aren't original to the truck? And I know, I know, they are apparently the worst heads. But are they the worst for a guy who values boring reliability and simplicity above squeaking out extra horsepower? Or do they explode into a million pieces after 10k miles or something?

- Here's a big one that flies in the face of everything I said... is a roller cam swap worth it? A coworker of mine previously had many years of professional experience running the shop for a major race team (you've heard of them). He's got more time in performance engines than I probably have time breathing. He immediately said "roller cam swap!" But the more I look into it, for what I want, it seems more trouble than it's worth. I definitely see the benefits. But also, it adds complexity. It would be me figuring out pushrod length and rocker angle calculations and all of that stuff. For my boring plan, as described above - will a stock profile flat tappet cam keep me satisfied?

- What upgrades are must-haves, even for me? Are there any original parts that were actually poorly designed and prone to premature failure? I know people like to upgrade the timing gear material, the old one that I pulled off was still pressed fiber if I'm not mistaken.

- Brands to check for parts (camshaft, bearings, timing set, valves, springs, etc, etc)? Brands to avoid? I will ask the machine shop about this as well.

- The motor had a really beaten up Motorcraft 4350 4bbl on it. My initial plan was to rebuild it but it's really just kind of rigged together and some of the screw holes are stripped out causing vacuum leaks. I was thinking of trading it in as a core on a professionally refurbished 4350, but I don't hear a lot of good things about these carburetors. Obviously putting the same model back on would be plug-and-play, but a carb swap is something I can get behind. Thoughts on this?


Alright, sorry that this is pretty long and all over the place. But once again, this is new territory for me, and I've been trusting FTE for 17 years now (wow!) and it's been great information through and through. Hopefully this goes well enough and I learn a lot - I want to keep saving these old trucks when I can find them, so that means building up knowledge and skill!

 

I personally like to buy trucks and fix them up. If you don't build motors you should pay the have yours rebuilt. Install a ready to run carb like an edelbrock AVS2. Fix your radiator, alternator and voltage regulator. Get some exhaust. Don't go crazy. But don't start calling around until you have 5k and more coming. As for the quality of rotating assemblies. I've been told to just buy unbalanced and let the machine shop do it. With complaints from engine builders about cams and cranks and lifters. (Recent complaint is that Scat cranks suck now) Not sure if it's a case of everything new bad everything old good. I don't build motors as a professional so I let them do it. And I let whoever is building choose the parts they prefer to work with. And since engine builders have a warranty I prefer complete to short. It's a square deal that way. Also get advice on the torque converter to use. To match the motor build. My favorite motor purchase is the most recent one. From a dirt bottom barn with a stash of old motors and parts. Where they store cores. It was also the least expensive. A built "customer never came back for it" motor. Crate motors from a performance shop are expensive but easy to buy. Look pretty and shiny. And having an engine guy build you one takes longer. But sometimes you have to. I've spent as little as 4500 to as much as 30 000. And right now parts seem to be pretty well priced across the board. Sales on accessories and stuff. Paid more for MSD 20 years ago for example. A lot more.

Must haves are the timing set to give you the power. The exhaust because you have to. The carb obviously. And an updated distributor. Which is cheap. And a radiator. Which needs to be nice. Since you're in the machine shop a cam and intake is the most HP for dollar you're going to add. Plus the sound matters. So you need to find a cam sound you like.

Or
.. go nuts. EAGLE forged rotating assembly. Stroker build. Nuts cam. All in crazy build it with aluminum heads and intake. High rise. And a cage.

 

The head casting D3VE DO NOT mean that they were originally Lincoln heads - they are just the product line that whatever engineering change was charged to! D3VE heads were used across ALL FoMoCo product lines from '73- to mid '80s model years.

It is very easy to 'wake up' a smog-era 460. First and foremost - replace the timing set with a '68-71 or 87-later 'straight up' timing set - Starting in '72 Ford retarded the crank gear 6° for emissions purposes. Not that if using a dual-roller set, you'll have to eliminate the sheet metal oil slinger since it will rub the dual-roller chain.

I used a cheap Summit camshaft, early timing set, added dual exhaust and changed the rear gears from 2.42 to 3L25s on my wife's former '77 Marquis. It woke that beast right up! That one used the stock Motorcraft spreadbore carb. My '78 Country Squire wagon substituted a '70 square-bore cast-iron intake, 600cfm Holley, and a Crane 260 cam, and 3L00 gears.... Same results! MUCH MORE fun to drive!!!

 

If towing power (torque) is what you want, a modest bump in CR would help a bunch. Stock, your 460 with D3VE 96cc chamber heads is 8.0:1. A bump up to 9.0 would still run fine on 87-octane unleaded. This can be achieved by decking the 10.322 block a bit, as well as piston choice. Some pistons have a 1.752 Compression height, leaving the piston further down in the bore at TDC, while others are 1.772. Ideally to promote swirl, which help lessen the chance of detonation (pinging), you want ~.050" from the top of the piston to the bottom of the head in the quench area - remember also you have gasket thickness taking up a great portion of that!

Next we get into camshaft choice. The stock camshaft for a 385-series truck is only .443/.486 lift. The cheap Summit SUM-3500 cam takes that up to .486/.512. Don't let the 282/292 advertised duration fool you - this cam has very 'lazy' lobe profile at only 204/214 at .050 lift. Great for towing. Better yet, a custom camshaft from Parkland Machine or other 460-specialist will not cost much more and would be matched to your needs...

Another thing that will help is to get rid of the huge thermactor bump in the exhaust ports of the D3VE heads, along with any sharp corners in the valve bowl area (you'll see what I mean if you look there with the valves out). An hour with a rotary grinder and carbide burr is all it takes to do both heads! No need to go nuts on a 'stockish' rebuild.

 

Caleb H,

I like your thought process and plans for this truck! You've certainly got the basis for a great build. The 460 will do anything you want and more. I too would recommend a roller camshaft, but would opt for a SMALL custom grind. Get new stainless valves, retainers, keepers, springs, Viton positive valve stem seals. Probably stick with hyperutectic pistons - as suggested 9:1 or better compression, ARP rod bolts, resized rods, balanced of course. Intake - I'd go with an aftermarket 4bbl. Unless you REALLY wanted to keep it all stock appearing.

 

If you're going to port the heads keep in mind that both sides can have big improvements in airflow that will help power but the intake side matters the most to power and it can make the greatest gains with the least amount of grinding. Good valve job, proper back cut on the valve, bowl sizing, chamber blending and getting the short side in shape all helps a ton. And it will increase the mean port velocity which will help torque and hp.

I remember when Scott Johnston was doing his original research on the base big Ford heads, D0VE, D3VE etc, non CJ. He shared his findings with me many times and they were not only interesting but also quite counter intuitive. On the exhaust port what he found out was that it was best to leave a lot of that stuff in place. He didn't remove the AIR boss but instead he ground it smaller and shaped it into a vane that pointed toward the exit. Not only did this flow more than having it totally removed but it also reduced the turbulence in a port that is already horrendously turbulent above about .300 lift. The same goes with the head bolt protrusion and the exhaust bolt bump on the other side of the port. Both can be smoothed and reduced in size but removing them actually hurts. Getting the short side, valve bowl and the valve job itself right helps tremendously. A typical D3VE exhaust port will flow about 125cfm peak at 28". I've seen one of his ports flow 200cfm at 28".