My truck has a 300 in it. The motor is running very well (even after ive driven the hell out of it on many occasions). Its never bogged out, and has pulled people out of some nasty situations. Sounds like the perfect motor. No reason to swap. However the problem is im 19yrs old. I want something big loud and unnecessary. I have had this truck since i was 16 and held on to the 300. But the thought of having a 460 has been eating away at me. Obviously when i talk to my dad about it he shuns the idea of the swap. That is understandable. Anyway i just wanted to see yalls opinion.

 

There will be a difference in gas milage.

 

i put a 460 in my 76 F-150 5 years ago and have been happy ever since, except when i go to the gas station.....i have a perfectly good 351m in my 4x4 F-250 and i plan on swapping in a 460 in it, ill never go any smaller ever again, if i want good gas mileage ill drive my pathfinder!!! not many engines have as much bone stock torque and guts as a good running 460, they will pass everything but a gas station, if they are tuned right......

 

Use a 300 for a daily driver and good mileage if tuned and geared properly.

Use a 400 for a daily driver and power with an occasional highway tow (small camping trailer etc). It can make good mileage if built, tuned, and geared properly.

Use a 460 for huge power or a HD tow vehicle. Gears down in the 2.x range can make ~OK economy but you loose towing capability etc.

-Just my 2¢

 

my first hiboy i ever had, and that was 7 years ago, had the big six. i have had a few more trucks, and almost every motor in a hi-boy at times.(302, 351m&w, had a few fe's, and a few 460"s) i even have a 76 crewcab with a powerstroke in it. they are al real cool, and the bigblocks, 460 and 390 especially all made lots of noise, which was real cool at 19. at 23 it gets old. i am in the process of restoring my 6th hiboy right now. and keeping the 300. for a couple grand, you can build a 300 that will hang with any 460 truck. torque = torque no matter what, and the 300 is capable of 400LBS plus. what makes a truck cool is it being different. i love the sound of the 300 with a dual exhaust rapped out to 5 grand. no one else has it. it also comes down to reliability, the 300 will run with no oil(experience), stuck and burnt valvs(once again, experience)a broken conecting rod(damn experience), and whatever else you can throw at. i know at 19 the v-8 sounds cool, but listen to your pops, he must be an ok guy, it sounds like he raised you right(you like old fords) if you are anywhere in the great state of washington, look me up, and i will take you for a ride in the hi-boy with the six, and you will understand how they can come alive

 

I know at 19 it is hard to believe the old man knows anything, but I think in this case he does. While the 460 is an great engine, the 300 I6 is no slouch. With the 460 you will get the sound you want, but when you mash the gas the only thing you can't pass is a gas station. Don't get me wrong, I love my 460, but if I were doing a engine swap I'd go the other way.

 

And put a 502 in when you want to be stupid like me.

 

ahem, you can BUILD a 300 that will hang with a stock 460, but no way are you going to build a 300 that will hang with a 460 that is also built, assuming you dont gimp the 460 build like a buddy of mine always tries to do. As soon as he mentions nitrous I just roll my eyes. He starts talking nonsense about cost for cost.

Assuming you are going naturally aspirated, i.e. no nitrous or super-charger, a 460 will outperform any similarly built/geared small block. The only reason you see small blocks leap ahead at the track is because they are usually geared lower. Generally this is because a small block runs outa *** around 120. My 460 runs outa gears before it runs outa ***. Doin 150 in a square box sitting high in the wind with half a pedal left.

I will say though that it does cost alot more to build a 460, and its alot more of a PITA finding performance parts. a 302 is a better route for a youngun with a limited budget. Much wider selection as well. Granted you will top out around 300 HP if you intend to run pump gas.

Now, what I would recommend is that you rebuild that 300, get H beam rods, a forged crank and forged 8.5:1 pistons and a 2 stage 125HP nitrous kit and an MSD Digital 6 ignition. The reason being is that with the 8.5:1 pistons you can still run 87 octane pump gas, and when you want to race it you can use the nitrous. If you dont like nitrous then you can keep the stock crank and rods and push the pistons to 10:1 and run premium.

 

Wow I coulda had a v-8.

Wait, I do and I am so happy!!!!

I love my 460 in my 79 crew 4x4 shortbed. Runs awesome. I also put the 460 in my hot rod. (I mean my 79 Bronco).
One word describes cubic inches. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

Finding performance parts for a 460 is no longer hard but it will cost more than building a small block.

 

I6, I have a 460 in my truck, and I love it. I've had just about everything from a 240 to a 460 in it. The 460 is definately my favorite.
I have a close friend that has a 240 in his truck. He rebuilt it and put a cam in it along with an aluminum intake, headers, and a 4 barrel carberator. His truck will realy run for a 6 banger. It may be another route to consider if your not quite ready to go all the way up to a 460.
Mike

 

NO kidding. I was gonna say, my mill puts out just over 600hp AND torque and I consider it mild for a stroked 460. Guys are making over 1200hp na on stroked 460s. I just don't see the sense in "building" a 400. Go big block or go home.

 

Stick with the 300 better gas milage and does have surprising pulling power.

 

I have no experience with the older 300 i6 but I do with the engines from the mid 90's and they seem to last for ever. We had 4 sales/demo F150s all with 4.9s in them and all of our manufactured truck equipment installed. These trucks all ran over 300,000 miles with no major engine work ( we did replace transmissions......) Tons of guts? No...reliable? Very much so. And yes, they will pull quite well when geared right

 

I would definitely keep and build that 300. I have both a 460 and a C6 with 3.31 gears and a 300 with a 3 on the tree with 3.00 gears. The 300 will pull well once you get up to speed and don't hit many hills. Empty, I can get 22 mpg on the highway. The best I've ever gotten with the 460 is 12 mpg. Besides, it is just cool to be different with a 300. My 300 is going to be put into a my F250 4x4 someday.....