Just looking for opinions as to what to do should I get to the point of doing the rebuild on my 77. I have a 460 that I took out of a 92 F350, came with ZF 5 speed, but the problem is that since the speedo reads the rear axle, there never was a hole machined in the trans case to put the speedo cable in, otherwise, I would like to use it. This motor has 227,000 miles on it, and smokes blue when revved. Bringing the 350 home, my mother was following, and she said it smelled of burning oil all the time, so a rebuild is in order there. Then I have the 400 4 speed that originally came with the truck. PO says it has at least 200,000 on it as well. It overheats in a short period of time, and is being obnoxious about staying running. A rebuild there would also be in the plans. The 460 is injected, but the harness had to be hacked up to make the F350 operational with the Cummins motor, so that isn't a good plan. I could possibly go with a premade harness like Painless or such, if one is available, or just swap it to a carb and be done with it. I would love to use the 5 speed no matter which motor I use, but the speedo hole problem is the issue there. One question I have is if I went to the 460, do I need to change the mount towers, or will the 400 towers work. I know the bell will trade, just not sure on that. For this truck, I don't need a lot of power, it will be more of a play truck than a workhorse, but it may be asked to do some work every once in a while, something like pulling the car trailer to the races or such maybe. I would like the truck to be somewhat affordable to drive, but I do realize that with both these motors, efficiency isn't exactly part of their nature. However, while rebuilding the motor, I would not be adverse to building them up to capitalize on their strengths, but I don't want to break the bank in the process. I'm not seeing much for parts readily available for the 400, and the 460, being a 92, isn't showing to be any to chep either... Sources for parts on the 400 and 460 would also be appreciated. At this time, I'm just tossing the idea around, so if I get around to working on this truck, I have a plan in mind. It may sell between here and then, but if it doesn't then I will go ahead and restore/rebuild it. I certainly will not be crushing it, way too good of shape for that.The little bit of rust it has isn't that big a deal, small hole in one floor pan, and over the rear wheel wells, rear box corners, and damaged driver's door and hood. Some of the parts I already have, but what I need won't be that pricey. I'd probably save the box, as it has the storage on the side, and isn't all that bad of shape. Heck, the floor's solid, that's way ahead of the 75 Highboy I had...

 

i love my 400. about the same power as a 460 and better mileage. since ur truck had the 400 originally, you wouldnt have to modify anything to keep it. As for tranny, i run a C6. its a strong trans but u lose alot of power through it stock. I am in the process of rebuilding a 400 for my car and am going to rebuild the one in my truck very shortly. parts for a 400 arent too hard to find. heads from a 351 cleveland work wonders on the 400. and an rv cam does nice too.

 

Check with the engine forums for engine parts, there is a lot of info and parts are available. Electronic speedometers are available but that would require a custom dash which some users have made. Go for a specific cam grind based on your application.

 

If you have 4x4, the NP205 transfer case has a speedo port in it. You could just hook your speedo up there

 

I prefer the 400. I, too, have a 77 F250 4x4 the had a 351M originally but I am in the process of building a stroked 400 using Tim Meyers 434 stroker kit. My block has been bored .030 and has had 4 bolt main caps installed and I plan on using CHI 2V heads and more to come. The 400 can be built to way output the 460. Just my opinion though....

 

Mines not 4x4, i had already thought about the transfer case,but being 2wd, that drops that option. It has the casting for it, just never was machuned out.

 

There is a user on this forum named teds74ford that made his 74 F250 2WD into a 4WD. It is possible but as he said it is very complicated.

 

It's all a matter of opinion. I have not been super happy with the power of my '76 460. It is in good tune, has timing set at straight up, and an Edelbrock carb. I was just expecting more, I guess.

I had a better torque 'feel' out of my 351M's and my 400's for some reason, and they were 2V!

You 400 will be the easiest to do, of course, and it will fit all the good Cleveland heads. (like the Aussie 302C quench)

Mark

 

I would go with the 400. Parts are readily available, if you know where to look. Tim Meyer, a sponsor of this site, has everything you could want as far as the internals go. Other places such as Summit Racing have all the intakes, carbs, ignitions, water and fuel pumps, etc. If you do some research in the 335 series forum, you will find that there are some guys getting very respectable power out of a 400. With the right mods, the fuel economy isn't all that bad either.

 

I was leaning towards the 400 to start with, when I was younger, my dad had a 79 4x4 supercab that had the 400, trouble was, he couldn't keep it together, kept trashing motors. I scoped out T Meyers site, looks like a good place to start. I blew some time in the 335 forum... again... and got some more good ideas. I don't want to break the bank, and it doesn't need to be a big powerhouse, but be respectable. Right now, it aggravates me with the number of problems it has, but I still like the body style, and the body is just too good to trash. Just would be nice to be a supercab... I'm not too worried about going 4x, I have my 86 for when I want to do that, but it isn't out of the question, the uncle has a 78 4x with a junk body, but many parts have already disappeared, not so many that I couldn't bring it back. It's even 4 speed as well...

 

Go with the 460. It will pull better, and go faster. I've never been impressed with the 351M/400. I had one, and the 460 would pass it all day long. 460's are easy to build and you can get lots of HP almost by accident. Those 400's weren't much better on gas, either. Overall, I think the 460 is a better choice. Just my 2 cents.

 

Couldn't have said it better.

 

I have a 390, 4BBL, with less than 5,000 miles on the rebuild, that I may need to get off my hands, to include the C6, new radiator, and exhaust. I have all thepaperwork for the items. If interested...delivery is possible, since I am heading out to Denver, Co., next month, from Cleveland, Oh.

 

78 F150 4X C6,

My first 400 was new factory fresh and a slug. (170K mi.)

My second 400 (same truck) was built reasonably hot and was OK. (250K)

My third engine (same truck) is a “somewhat stock” 460. (so far 80k)

Bottom line, in my case, I wasted a lot of time and money on the second 400.

 

Could somone give me a link to that stroker kit. I'm rebuilding a 400. I crunched the numbers and with the CHI heads and a dual plane @ 10.5 comp. according to the software I should get 550 lbs. torque and 490 hp @ 4800rpm. I would like the info on the stroker to run it through the software to see what the $/HP =