I'm restoring a 1960 F250 and am looking for an engine. I want at least 350-400hp. What I want to do is be able to 1- be rolling in first(NO brakes), floor it and get a respectable burnout and 2- be able to relatively EASILY cruise down the highway at 100+MPH(not that I plan to do this but I don't want to run out of steam at 80). I also want a manual tranny.

From what I've read the 427 seems like what I need as it.
What do these put out stock for HP/TQ and can they rev or are they mostly low end torque?

Any years to look for? What cars had these(besides the Shelby cobra), on ebay they go for $10K. I'm looking to spend like 1/4 of that, maybe I can find someone who has an old car with one and doesn't know the value.

I found a '74 thunderbird which is advertised to have a 427 but I don't think they came with those, he wants $2,500 which seems way to cheap if it is a real 427FE.

I'm new to old American vehicles and engines, any info you can give me would be great.

 

You are not going to find a good 427 for anywhere near what you want to pay. For a truck, it would be best to gain torque, so the 428 would be a better truck engine and would be cheaper. I built a 428 to run on regular gas (low compression) and pulled a 30 ft. 5th wheel at 85 mph one day just to see if I could do it.
You can get an easy 400 hp with the 428. With the right gearing and radiator, cruising at 100 mph would be no problem.
427 engines are high 7000-8000 rpm engines.
428 engines with oiling mods, and good parts are good for 6500-7000 rpm.
For your needs, you could build a 400 plus hp 428 which would make it's power below 6500 rpm.
I have one 428scj that puts out 660 hp. and run it to 7000 rpm. That is with a 100 hp nitrous kit. 560 hp on the engine.
I also have a 427 engine, that I would not think about selling below $10,000

 

Well to start with, the goal is doable with just about any FE if tuned right LOL.. Hell I can grab both those tasks with my F100 and it's a pepped 352. Only thing I can say is that at 100mph expect some suck *** mileage from the thing and quite possibly temp issues if done for extended periods due to it pushing air around. Mine does fine till about 90mph then it seems to start warming up a bit. Probably would be fine if pushed past 120 but then the ticket is like 2 days in jail and $1k not to mention the $4.59gal reg unleaded that it will take to get there at a generous 5mpg by that speed LMAO!!!

 

are there other ford 427s besides the 427FE?
On craigslist I've found a couple old cars below 10K that advertise having a 427. Are they just BSing or is there another 427?
Most recent example is a '74 thunderbird for $2500, says it has the 427.

What do the 428s come with stock HP wise?

 

The 427 as a factory passenger car motor was done in '68, maybe a year later.

A '74 Tbird would have had a sleepytime pillowbarge 460 methinks, But NOT a 427.

A 460 can be built into a genuine firebreather.

A 390 can be built into a 400+ hp unit pretty easily, spinning about 6500 tops to do the job.

A '60 3/4 wouldn't be an ideal platform for high speed running. In fact, I would venture to say only a damn fool would run one of those up to that speed with the stock brakes. Not to mention the tires for that aren't speed rated....

So, how much money are you going to throw at this?

 

My I have acess to a shop and over the summer my buddy and I are going to take the body, strip it down to the frame and go from there.
I'm upgrading to power disc brakes and will put street tires on it.

I'm planning on putting ALOT of work into it, but I don't have a whole lot to spend.
I'm still researching engines, I'm looking for something I can buy for not too much and put in there without doing engine work. It seems to be harder than I thought to find 400hp in a stock motor.

 

I believe the basic(not cobra-jet or super cobra-jet)428 started at about 335 HP,a 74 Tbird might have a 429 which is the same engine family as the 460,not related to FE engines such as 427 or 428......slightly off topic,but possibly another important consideration,i hope your planning on some upgrades on brakes,suspension etc. 4 wheel drum brakes,and a single circuit master cylinder might make stopping from 100 mph more exciting than you could hope for....................Bob

 

If you want to do rolling burnouts from a low RPM, a short-stroke motor like the 427 is not an ideal starting point.

Get a longer stroke - 410, 428, 428 preferably (for obvious reasons - displacement).

OR - a high stall torque converter (for an auto) or a darn steep rear gear, or both.

Longer stroke, better low-end torque.

Peak HP (and even peak torque) can be misleading...

 

The 428cj and scj were rated from the factory at 335 hp the same as the 390gt, but they did that for insurance reasons. The stock 428scj and cj were more like 410 hp. from the factory. The stock low riser 427 was rated at 425 hp with two 4bl. carbs. Don't let the factory rated horsepower fool you, they routinely put out 500 hp and more. A 427 is a race engine not a truck engine. The 428 is a much better truck engine because of the 3.98 stroke. Most 390 blocks can be bored to the stock 4.13 bore of the 428. Install the 428 crank, or after market stroker kit, and you have a great truck engine. If you want to destroy your tires with burnouts, the 428 will be happy to do it.

 

Look into a supercharged 5.4 mod engine, or F150 Lightning engine.
If you don't want to rebuild the engine yourself or have it done, then unless you find & trust the seller of an FE or 460, you may have better luck with later model engines. Just as much work to adapt a 5.4 as an FE as neither came in the truck originally. OEM 400 hp engines from the 60s are almost impossible to find, and worth a lot more than their boat anchor bretheren.

NOTHING was 400 hp from the factory after about '71, and of late, only the Corvette and specialty Mustangs venture into that territory. The Mustang via supercharged 4.6s and 5.4s, hence my suggestion.

As for "truck engine" comments, what is being said is true, but you're not building a "truck" here, are you? A truck based hot rod, right? You're not going to pull a 5th wheel or gooseneck trailer or load 4000lbs of sand in the back, are you?

 

In 1960, some F250 trucks came with 332 engines. The 332 is the first FE style engine. Ford started putting 352 FE engines in their vehicles back in 1958. I don't know if any of them got put into a truck in 1960, but I do know they did have some 332's in the F250 back then.

 

Good point/info, perhaps we go back to square one and find out what was/is in the truck now?

If there is an FE, he still has the mountain to climb as far as finding a built motor that won't grenade, as OP says he does not want to delve into engine building....

Gosh, I could think of so many ways to spend his money for him if he'd let me.

 

He could go down to his local Ford Dealership and buy a 521 off the show room floor. 580 hp should do the job.
A 460 or 428 is going to be his best hp per dollar. Turbos and blowers get expensive real quick.
Or,,, buy a junkyard engine, throw on a 200 hp nitrous kit, and his goal is reached for cheap. A friend of mine wanted his fairlane to get into the 11's so instead of buying a expensive 351, or 428, he bought a junkyard 302 and he healthy nitrous setup, and he was in the 11's for cheap. I think he is on his second or third 302, but it did not cost him much.

Ford Racing Performance Parts [M-6007-521FT*]

 

F250, your goals can easily be achieved with a lot less than a 427, and for alot less than 10K. I have a 427, but the whole thing will cost more than 10K to duplicate. If you really want one, 427 blocks and heads are available new, but they cost plenty. But your goal of roasting tires and going 100mph is easily reached with a 390. I have a slightly warmed over 390 in a 1971 longbed F100, and it can easily roast the tires, that is largely a function of your torque convertor, and it can go 120, maybe more, I haven't tried any faster. I spent 80$ on mine, but I was working at the machine shop, did all of my own labour and already had lots of parts. You could duplicate my engine for less than 3 thousand. You would be wise to spend the rest of your cash on some good disk brakes, and a front end alignment with lots of caster, weld on shims if you need to to get it, and good tires, S or T rated is good enough for 100 mph stuff. Replacing the cab's mounts and their bolts would be a wise precaution as well. Weird things happen at speed if they are not as tight as they should be. Don't worry too much about factory power ratings, they are usually BS. Some were intentionally less to fool insurance companies, some are too high, for advertizing. But a warm 390 can do what you want with ease. I already have one, and others here on the board do as well. If you want, I'll tell you what pices are on mine. DinosaurFan,on his kids computer today

 

it more a truck based hotrod than a truck, but I will drive it regularly and use it to tow a jetski and put quads in the back.

Someone mentioned a 460 and that's what I was looking at originally but a lot of people told me it would be terrible for what I was doing because it runs out of power at 3500 RPM and that it's a terrible engine.

Whatever engine I use I am going to run a manual tranny and I want to be able to rev it out if I want.