What will a diferent intake with a 4 barrell do for me that a stock 2 barrell does not? I am trying to find a simple way of increasing the the low end of my f-350 1 ton dump for pulling the hills of southern Vermont.The motor is a rebuilt 360 stock.

 

Greg, Not much, Dual exhaust and rear gearing is the first place to put your bucks. You could see some improvement, but nowhere near the $400-450.00 in return on the intake and carb.
If you are hauling much of a load regulary, you might need a different engine setup. I am thinking you are working on the outer limits for that engine vr. the load weight. A FT motor would be better than the FE. A 428 crank and piston set to make that a 410 would be a good return.
Oh well, I suspect you'll get plenty of advice on this one.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Is that a huge job to do or a standard run of the mill thing for a shop?

 

define job, which one are you refering to?
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

I am giving serious thought to doing the 410 upgrade. Seems that everything else is icing on the cake and not changing the batter !???!

 

I have a similar situation ('65 F350 dually, tired 360 2 barrel, lack of power, lousy mileage). But I already have dual exhaust and 4.88 gears/0.85 OD.
I am very slowly putting a mild 390 with a small Autolite 4-barrel together. Maybe by summer I'll have it done and swapped in.

A new Edelbrock Performer manifold goes for $220 at Summit. All the used ones on Ebay are selling for $200 and up which doesn't make sense to me... a used stock Ford aluminum intake just sold for $301!
Rebuildable 1.12 (580 cfm) Autolite carbs are around $35-$40, then plan on another $50 for a rebuild kit and any missing parts. So low $300's, anyway.

 

A good RV type cam, along the order of the Crower "Baja Beast", a set of small tube headers with at least 2 1/2 inch pipe and balance pipe and free flowing muffers wold go a long way.

I have this set in a 69 F350 with 390 and 4.10 gears, I have 3" exhaust, but 2 1/2 is big enough. This is a Chassis Mount Camper, weights in exess of 10,000 lbs. Pull a 3,000 lb boat. Pulls like a freight train. MPG,,, not something you should expect a lot of, if you really need fuel mileage go Diesel

 

The best bang for your buck is, as stated above, improving your exhaust breathing. Some would say that simply going to a good dual exhaust with free-flowing mufflers, and keeping your stock manifolds, is the way to go. I think most of us here believe that good headers offer significantly improved exhaust breathing over the manifolds, even if you already have dual exhaust. A good set of small tube headers and a full dual exhaust system with low restriction mufflers can be installed by any muffler shop for less than $500. I've heard great things about Stan's Tri-Y headers, and ordered a pair for my 410 buildup.

Of course, if your theory is "damn the cost, give me more grunt!" then adding more cubic inches is the answer. After all, "there's no replacement for displacement." You can either stroke your 360 to 390 or 410 cubic inches, or find a replacement motor like a 390 FE, 391 FT, etc. Stroking a motor is not a simple or cheap job. It requires removal of the engine and complete disassembly. You'll end up replacing the crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons, and all the little bearings, seals, and wear parts along the way (basically a complete rebuild, but with a longer-throw crankshaft and shorter, stronger connecting rods). The cheapest you'd be able to do a 390 or 410 conversion is about $750 if you do a lot of the work yourself, and shop around carefully for deals on the parts you need. Figure on $1250 and up to have a shop do it for you, and add another $500 if you're not willing or able to remove and replace the motor yourself.

I don't agree with the recommendation to replace the cam. The stock Ford cam used in the 360 motors is actually pretty good at producing low end torque and gas mileage. It really limits upper rpm performance and peak horsepower, but you don't need that for your application, anyway. Of course, if you're going to do a 390 or 410 conversion, you might as well drop in a fresh aftermarket cam and lifters while the engine is torn apart.

 

Greg, All you gotta do is find the 428 crank, the rods and pistons should come easy after finding the crank.
BTW, What do you use the truck for, What kind of weight are you dealing with?
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Thanks for the information so far. The truck is worked all summer delivering bark mulch, topsoils and gravel. I pull my tractor on the 10,000 lb. trailer as well .

 

Sounds to me like 3800-4000 rpms is about all the engine is turned, so a 4 barell or headers would have nearly no value on this engine at all. Everyone says that the long stroke of the 428 crank in that 390 block makes a mean low rpm pulling machine.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Isn't it interesting, Karlsd says I don't need my RV cam and Jowilker says I don't need my 4BBL and headers.
Truthfully I can't tell you which change made the most differance, as I Install the Cam,intake manifold, Headers and 3" exhaust at the same time.

FWIW I can tell you this, hills I use to pull in 3rd gear, on the floor, struggling to maintain 50mph I now pull in 4th gear at 60mph + and still have trottle left, so something worked.

If you are going to have the engine torn down, thats the time to do the cam, if not try the headers and big exhaust.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Dec-01 AT 10:01 AM (EST)]>Isn't it interesting, Karlsd says I don't need my RV cam and
>Jowilker says I don't need my 4BBL and headers.
>Truthfully I can't tell you which change made the most
>differance, as I Install the Cam,intake manifold, Headers
>and 3" exhaust at the same time.
>
[SNIP]

Yup. That's the usual problem, isn't it? We make a bunch of changes at once, so we have no way of knowing once we're done what changes actually made a difference and how much. The only way to know is by trying things one at a time, and in various combinations, and doing some dyno (engine, chassis, or the ole "butt" kind) testing each time. None of us has the time or money for that. Race engine builders and magazines do, I guess.

>If you are going to have the engine torn down, thats the
>time to do the cam, if not try the headers and big exhaust.
>
[SNIP]

Yup again. I agree completely, though I'd also go along with John and say that the best way to really build torque is to stroke the motor. If you're going to tear it down for a rebuild, anyway, might as well drop in a 428 crankshaft while you're at it.

 

Yup again. I agree completely, though I'd also go along with John and say that the best way to really build torque is to stroke the motor. If you're going to tear it down for a rebuild, anyway, might as well drop in a 428 crankshaft while you're at it.

====

Absolutely, would have went this route myself if I had the $$$$, However Greg's orginal post didn't sound as if he wanted to go to that extent.

 

Fellers, My point exactly, the man wants to haul mulch, and pull his tractor to spread it with, not build a motor for Big Daddy Don to drive in a straight line.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.