-not a MASSIVE brick with wheels!

 

yep definitely not aerodynamic, but very solid and reliable... like a brick

 

I got 16-17MPG with a full size van with a 300-6 and AOD. I figure I will be lucky to get 15 out of the 78 with a 400. More cubes = more air fuel mix needed. Guys with 460's have an even bigger problem.

 

well i just bought a 95 F-150 reg cab long box 4x4 thats has 35's with 4:10 gears, 6inch suspension lift and 3 inch body, with a 302 5L with electric fan, helix throttle body spacer, msd ignition, head man headers, and 3inch exhast and a B&M electric shift kit in the tranny and i seem to be getting about 16 or 17 mpg... is thats bad for that truck or what? now that is a wall on wheels

 

thats pretty good- most get around 14-15 mpg stock

 

so then thats pretty good... k since i don't really need fuel milage on that 78, what can i do to make it go faster then anything old ford dodge or chev around?

 

how much money are you willing to put into it? you could swap a 460 stroked to 521 or 545 into it, roller cam, aluminum heads, victor intake, and a 1050 cfm carb and pass everything but the gas station

 

Or you could follow Danlee's 434 fuelie pattern. I don't think many Chevy's or Dodges are passing him now and he says he is getting fair fuel mileage.

 

how much is that 434 thing that ur makin? cause the 460 stroked out and **** would be way to much... i just want be able to shut up those damn nip cars, mustangs, and the odd vett here and there... but yet beable to spank a desiel and srt10s at the track... i'm willin to spent around 6 grand

 

Call our sponsor Tim Meyers and talk to him. If you have a budget set he will tell you what you can do with it as good as anyone or build it for you. He has the stroker kit and you may get one together for that depending on which heads you use. I doubt you could put a stroker and fuel injection together for that amount but I don't know. It also depends on how much you want to do yourself. Good luck!

http://www.tmeyerinc.com/

 

if you have 6000 dollars to spend you could easily do a 545 stroker... and thats about the only way you could outdo a vette in that 1978 f150. the thing you have to remember is you outweigh a vette by a good thousand pounds or so, and the only way to make up that difference is by putting out way more power than the vette. it costs about 2600 dollars to do a forged 545 shortblock if you shop around... another about 2200 dollars on some good trick flow street heads, and you still have 1200 for a good carb, intake, and cam.

 

and how much hp would u get outta that 545? and where could u maybe find a block in canada, preferably alberta, or do u have to specail order them from the states?

 

the basic block is a 460- available in any junkyard. the horsepower output depends on the components you choose, but the stock 460 blocks are reliable up to about 800 horse. you need a 4.5" stroke crank, 6.7" rods, and special pistons. if you have a choice get a d9te block- theyre better for the 4.5" stroke, but any 460 block will do. trick flow street heads are the heads id recommend, but its up to you. if you exceed 500 horse (which isnt hard) youll start to lose streetability. if you want more specifics just ask out in the 385 series forum

 

lol ok so i should be pushin around 500 hp only? my friend buily a 390 that has that much in his fastback... to get that 800 hp, i would have to gte lots of porting done to teh ehads and intake or no? and also what would i ahve to do to the tranny sho it wouldn't explode if i punched it on the street?

 

the c-6 is a pretty bulletproof tranny... in stock form in good shape itll take about 800 horse, and the one you have behind that 400 will bolt up to the 460 block. theres a huge difference between a 500 horse 390 and a 500 horse 545. a 500 horse 545 would beat the 500 horse 390 easy in the 1/8th mile, but the 390 would come up after that, but the 545 would be a heck of a lot more reliable, and would be able to be driven on the street- the 500 horse 390 wouldnt. even with porting the trick flow streets are only good for about 750 horse, as would be any stock port head. to get a head good for over 750 youd have to get ones with chevy exhaust ports, and they dont work well with stock blocks- they require a bigger bore and special valve reliefs because of the big valves. if you had 10,000 dollars to blow on an engine you could go all out and get the ford motorsports block, forged rotating assembly, trick flow a-460 heads, intake, custom solid roller cam, and custom headers, and have a nice 572 pushing about a thousand horse on race gas and with a huge cam- but it wouldnt be even close to streetable... or with the 6000 dollar budget youd probably end up having to use nitrous for the last 150 horse to maintain streetability... it all depends on wether you want to be able to drive it or just race it. if you want to drive it then you cant do more than a 500-600 horse build, and add nitrous for the rest when racing... if youre just racing it then you can build it for whatever youve got the money for