Possibly, but having been knee deep in that engine bay with only a 351, I will remain skeptical until I've seen it done. That's one tight fit!

The factory doesn't put the body on until the entire drive train is in place. Much easier that way!

 

Update time.

I didn’t try it, but no way the motor and transmission could come out as a unit. Fortunately I was able to use a fancy transmission jack with an adjustable table that made pulling the transmission a relative breeze. Line up the table to just the right tilt angle, ratchet strap the trans to the jack, and wiggle wiggle, no binding and it’s off.. Sweet.

Not so sweet is the tole of broken bolts. Both of the steel bolts that hold the rear transmission mount to the aluminum tail shaft housing were seized, and no amount of soaking in liquid wrench, acetone and ATF, and as much heat as I could apply to it laying under the vehicle made any difference. Eventually it came down to make it or break it, so break it it was. Both have enough of a nub sticking out to weld on a nut, hopefully the heat from the welding with break them loose.

As for the heads, 4 exhaust manifold bolts were already broken off before I touched it, 2 more snapped off like rotten twigs with virtually zero torque applied, and two more felt like they were wiggling… before breaking off. So 8 of 16 exhaust bolts are broken off in the heads (6 are recessed and 2 are sticking out), and one of the heads is cracked at the exhaust manifold bolt hole. So all of this is leaning me toward the $300 pair of DOVE heads the machinist has for sale, or just maybe a set of fancy Eidelbrock performer aluminum heads!

As for the head bolts, I’m guessing Ford installed them dry back in the day since a couple of them came out very rusty. One was especially gnarly and I feel fortunate to have worked it out without breaking it, and that the threads in the block look okay.

Otherwise the lifter faces look great, but there is some wear on the cam. Overall the cylinder bores still show excellent crosshatching with no significant vertical scratching. However, both sides of each cylinder shows wear as you can see in the photo… so I’m wondering if the thrust bearing has excessive play? which can’t be good for the rod bearings. Curious to know your thoughts.

Next step is to remove the oil pan, flip the motor over, and inspect the bottom end.

 

Easy enough to check the crank end play. Go to harbor freight and get a dial indicator, and take a screwdriver and pry the crank back and forth while reading the indicator. Then look up the spec in the book. If this engine was hooked to a automatic, having too much end play would be a rare problem.

 

Well the motor I pulled from a Jeep 360 / TH400 had a LOT of end play.
Now being I was told to "go get it out of a yard" I dont know if the motor was the one the truck left the factory with but it sure looked like it.

I did not find the play till I went to throw bearings & rings in it for my drag car.
The cast crank had a groove worn in it and why all the play.
Motor ran great when I had it, sold the car so dont know what the car / motor is doing now.
Dave ----

 

Nah, a little JB Weld and you'll be good to go!

Nice work! That's gettin' it done!

 

Overdue update time.

C6 Transmission has been rebuilt, the short block is complete and I should receive the long block for installation as soon as the push rods are in. Meanwhile I’ve been sprucing up the front end and engine bay, sorting out the AC system, and spending money like a Politician. Rationalizations are important in situations like this so I keep reminding myself how well Noline served us over the last 25 years, and how I’ve got maybe another 20 years left to enjoy it, if i’m lucky. A suitable modern replacement would cost more, be more complicated, much less capable, and worth far less when I’m finally done with it than what I’m building now.. so keep smiling, writing, and doing!

Needs:

Transmission cooler solution. A direct replacement for E5UH-7A095-AA is unobtanium.
Tall valve covers to accommodate the after market rockers.
Thermostat, rad hoses, coolant
Temp and oil senders
Small, low profile air cleaner for tuning (cant get to any adjustment screws with the factory air cleaner on and I don’t want to run it without one).
Embossed heat shielding for engine bay rehab
Dum dum tape for AC expansion valve installation.
Exhaust Manifold bolts.
Water pump bolts.
Intake bolts.
Aftermarket alternator bracket.

Maybe’s

AC Condenser and evaporator.
3 G conversion and alternator
Aluminum radiator with electric fans
T-stat water neck.
Steel Eez AC, PS, and Alternator brackets. I think they look nice.


Let me know if you have any thoughts or advice. I’ll come back and post some pictures. To be continued…

 

I do.

 

Yes, of course you do . I believe when you replaced your motor you had an oil seepage issue where the dipstick adapter is riveted to the oil pan. I’ve got the same set up, did you come up with a good sealant for that area?

Meanwhile I’ve come to the realization aftermarket “tall-ish” valve covers may make it too wide to go back into the van chassis. Hopefully 3/8 or 1/2” VC spacers will allow the stock valve covers to clear the rockers, without adding much width across the top edges of the VCs.

 

You can always's put the valve covers on after the engine is in...

 

On the trans cooler get the biggest Haden trans cooler you can and install after the radiator cooler.
I used 2 & the radiator cooler on a van I used to pull a 2 car open deck trailer and it still run hot!

On the covers I was thinking might not clear the brake booster but in a van I have no clue as I just ran the stock 460 / C6 in it.

On senders dont get rid of the ones you have now as new may not work right and you got something to fall back on.

How much tuning do you think you will be doing that you need a different air filter? Do you think the tune will be thrown off with the factory filter over this "low profile" one?
Just tune it with the factory filter and if need be remove it for 1 or maybe 2 tunning setups.

I hope that "Aluminum radiator with electric fans" is not replacing the motor driven fan?
I never had a problem running hot when pulling the trailer in the heat of summer, cant beat the factory setup in my book.
You dont have room for a pusher fan out front with the AC condenser, might not have room for the transmission coolers as my van did not have AC.

I know vans with big blocks are short on engine bay room with the dog house in place but off you can get to most of the motor IIRC.
Dave ----

 

Yes, that was me. Been trying to find that thread but the search function has been acting up for the last few days.

IIRC, I initially tried Seal-All or something like that. It came in a tube and looked like clear contact cement. I cleaned the surface well and followed all directions but it didn’t hold up.

Ended up using fuel tank sealer putty from Permatex or Loctite. This is a two part putty, packaged like a big Tootsie roll. This is weird stuff and seems to adhere better when the surface is wet with fuel or oil. The only downside was cleaning off the previous repair material. This putty is still working just fine several years later.

 

+1 on that. I’m very pleased with the factory belt driven fan with thermostatic clutch on my truck. The only catch is everything has to be in good working order. For example, if the radiator has lots of internal scale, heat transfer to the air will be minimal. The poor thermostatic clutch doesn’t sense coolant temp climbing due to the inadequate heat transfer. The poor clutch gets blamed when it is responding exactly as designed.

I’m no fan of aftermarket electric fan conversions. My car has a factory electric fan and it works great. But most aftermarket versions I’ve seen perform poorly.

 

Would something like this work with your carb?:


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...re-screws.html

 

Karl, thank you for the epoxy tootsie roll suggestion. I’ve seen that product around and it’s encouraging to know it works even when wet with oil. Your idle adjustment **** solution is genius. The 4180 carb I have was designed to be tamper proof. For those foolish enough to run one the first step in adjusting the idle mixture is knocking the anti tamper plugs out of the throttle plate. This qualifies you to go on a quest to poke the idle adjustment screws of a running 460 that are diabolically located underneath the front fuel bowl. Grab your little 3/32 allen wrench and probe past scalding rad hoses, heater hoses, t-stat neck, 2 vacuum tees supporting a dense thicket of vacuum lines, to the throttle plate and there! Just above the hot intake recessed in deep little caves you may find the little 3/32 allen head idle mixture screws,, and then, only if you’re worthy may you join with them and adjust the sacred mixture. But after seeing your post just I’ll have to add some mixture screw extenders to mine now too. Even though it will eliminate most of the difficulty and danger.

Since it was running well enough (except for the dead cylinder of course) I plan to use the old familiar 4180 for the initial start up and tune, and then upgrade the carb after I have some data from AFR and my wallet has had time to recover. I can change the primary jets on the 4180, but the secondaries are not adjustable and I suspect they may prove too lean at WOT.

Dave, appreciate the trans cooler info. The stock cooler looks smallish to me but seemed a good compromise for the grill space available. I bought a bigger one from the transmission shop but wonder if mounting a large transmission cooler in front of the condenser and radiator, for a “triple stack”, would restrict air flow too much? If I could get the rusty flakey steel lines to unscrew from the stock aluminum cooler I’d likely run it again using barb fittings and hose.

As far as I know I’m running the stock radiator. Roughly 10 years ago I replaced it with a Chinesium Rad from O’Reilies but that one sweated coolant at the seams from day 1, I had the stock one cleaned and rebuilt at a local radiator shop before re-installing it and returning the sweaty one under warranty. On a hot summer day it will run cool around town or cruising down the freeway, but pull a long hill or coast or cascade pass and temps climb, so thinking there’s room for improvement. Could it be running lean at or near WOT? I’m installing an AFR gauge to find out. The other “hot spot” is parking for 30 to 45 minutes on a hot day. The oven-like conditions of the engine compartment vaporizes the gas in the carb leading to rich restarts. Was thinking an electric fan could help with airflow pulling the boat over Willamette pass, and maybe set the fan to run parked for for 5 minutes when temps are high, but I’m not sold on the extra layer of complexity and I appreciate the down votes.

Otherwise what about an aluminum rad and the claim they’re better at radiating heat than the stock copper rads? I’ve also thought about adding a subtle cowl induction hood scoop. The cab-over creates a good high pressure area at the windshield, why not use it to push fresh air into the engine bay driving down the road at speed, and then let hot air escape at the high point of the engine bay when parked.

I thought about sending it without valve covers, but don’t want to risk bumping the rockers on anything going in. The valve cover spacers come in many sizes and i believe a 3/8” or 1/2” spacer + another thick gasket should allow me to run stock steel covers with minimal increase in precious width. The spacers even come with little valve cover stud kits to make stacking and aligning easier.

 

The china aluminum radiators do seem to work good. There is a champion brand that I am running on my diesel. I have heard of problems with damage in shipping, but maybe they have overcome that by now. Don't worry about the heat pulling the mountain until you approach 230F. You can then think about pulling over and giving it a rest. Though unless you have a aftermarket temp gauge, it's a guess how hot you are actually running.