ok i know im not at this point in my build yet, but i have a 351m and i have a decent cam, headers, intake, and carb for it and im debating on either building that or selling everything for it and buying a stock 460 rebuild it and just run that until i have the money tp really build one up or do i build the 351m run it for awhile and as im driving my truck for the first year build a wicked sweet 460 and then when its ready put it in my truck and sell the 351m for a couple hundred bucks. right now i have a motor budget for about $1500 if i wanna get my truck on the road someday soon. im just wondering what you guys think is more cost effiecent. thanks

 

Put a little bit of work in the boat anchor and run it for a while, or keep it completely stock. Either way it's going to eventually lose oil pressure and power and top out at 35mph down hill. But save the 460 until you actually need to repower the rig. Get everything else done and tuned/worked out first.

 

There is a huge difference between cost effectiveness and efficiency.

Right now, this build is niether one. You mentioned that you alread have a can and headers, intake and carb for the 335 series engine??????
DId you find all of this for free, or did you spend mooney on it?

Throughout this entire build this poor truck has seen many things thrown at it, but no goal, or real plan to achieve it.

What I mean is that you have a 460, you have a 351M and some parts, but have no plan to implement either one. You have asked about building a 351M with some parts, or using the 460 in stock form so that you can later build a more suitable 460????? Where is the efficiency in that?
You will spend twice the money, or more and probably take forever to actually get around to building what you want or need.
If you want big power, or at least ample power. Make this the baseline or the goal, and come up with a plan to get there.
Spending money on crutches only distracts from the plan to achieve any goal.
Dont waste money, when money can be better spent to achieve your goal.

This is where the term spinning the wheels come from. Pun intended.
Spinning wheels gets you nowhere fast.

 

if i spin my wheels i can dig to china pretty fast

 

sorry to confuse you but i didnt tell you clearly, i dont have a 460 just a 351m built that was freshly rebuilt in the truck when i got it with the cam, headers, intake, and carb, but someone thought it would be cool to come in my shop and put sugar in my gas tank and it locked up on me. I pulled it apart and it wasnt too bad. so that is what started my whole build i just kept pullin the truck part and kept wantin to make stuff better. my plan was to bore the 351m and put all those newer parts back into it and get it running pretty good and then drive it for a year or so and save my money and then dump alot of money into my motor because by then everything else will be the 100% way i want it. ill have everything to support the power gears, axles, and everything will be the way it needs to be. but ive been thinkin should i just skip rebuildin the 351m and just build a decent 460 with mild cam intake and carb and ive estimated that to be 2000 verses to 500 on my 351m but ill make my hp way way better and have a better platform to build off of.

 

I do believe that is the point. If you have limited funds, dont run around spending nickles and dimes if it does not get you closer to your goal.
Dont rebuild a 351M (i could probably just stop right there) if you have no intentions of using it. That is a waste of money. Instead, wait and save the money for your 460 build., or have the cash laying around for the one time you will need it.
Imagine if you start the 335 series build and you buy some stuff, tear it down, and you happen to find a truck for sale with a running 460 and he only wants a few hundred for the whole thing?
If you have the money tied up in the junk engine, you would miss the chnace to get closer tuo your goal.
Create a goal, make a plan, and stick to it.
Believe me things can get done at an incredible rate this way.

 

^^^I wholeheartedly agree!

 

yes but i will not have money for along time for the motor i want i would like to be somewhere around 700 hp but i wont have the money for that for a while, at the same time i want to get my truck on the road within a year so my thinking is just build a decent 351m to get my truck going and get out there and get other things perfect, then once i get out of high school and get a full time job, i cant start setting back cash for a really nice motor, but at this time its impossible for me to reach that goal. i defiantly see where your coming from 100% but i can reach that goal the first time just no way i can make that much money. i have a max of 2000 i cant spend but i would like to keep it around 1500 or less.

 

Id still slap in a stock 460 and upgrade parts as you have the cash or your parents are feeling generous.

A cam this month, an intake for Christmas and maybe a set of headers for your birthday....something like that.

A 460 with basic bolt on parts will make more horsepower and torque at lower rpms and less money than most max effort 351Ms and plus you'll have room to grow.

Regardless its working towards your end goal. However, at 700hp about the only factory part you'll have bolted on the engine will be the timing chain cover.

 

haha ya thats what i was thinkin, scrap the 351m idea since i have no money into as i sit right now. then i could do basic bolt ons. only problem i run into i dont trust junkyard motor just to slap them in, so do i rebuild a very cheap 460? also say i put a rebuilt stock 460 in my truck and run around for two years. and im ready to build a real nice motor. do i rebuild that one or do i buy another used one to use. if i run the **** out of the stock one will it be able to handle a 700 horse rebuild?

 

Rob ran a stock block 460 stroker making damn near 1000hp for 6-7yrs so there is no reason a stock block cant handle your goals. Im running a stock block, Karl is also and if Im not mistaken so is Ed. Unfortunately, the block is pretty much the only part that can. Everything else will need to be upgraded and trust me it gets expensive quick.

 

if your already geared and have lockers, a stock 460 will make you very happy in your truck. thats what i had in highschool and i could go places and do things that none of my buddies could

 

Yep. Last year with the stockish motor, it was $100 here, $100 there for parts. Now that I've stepped up to forged parts and roller cam, even for a 466, it's up to $300 here and $300 there for parts. A rebuilt stock block bored .030, stock crank and re-conditioned rods, forged flat top pistions and a set of aluminum SCJ head's matched to the right cam (hydraulic to keep you streetable with no maintenance worries, Stealth intake and 850dp carb will make good power for you and if you assemble it yourself, cost will be around $3500-4000. Get it tuned on a dyno and you can get to that 600hp range with the right cam, that is

 

i guess what i meant was find a stock one to get you going and start saving and buying parts when money allows. a stripped down stocker,no smog junk, with a decent carb intake and headers with the timing set right will give you good power till you can afford a hopped up high hp rebuild

 

I am running a stock block in all of the engines. 460, 521, 521, and 557. The block is generally not the limiting factor here. Some machine work and quality parts are where you will obtain reliability. Heads and cam will unleash the power, but use quality parts.

In any event, 700 HP is a nice goal, and I probably should have been a little more specific earlier. When I suggested that you set a goal and stick to it, I meant that you should create a reasonable goal, and do what you can to achieve it.
Not too many fellas are in the 700 hp club, and when I hear this I truly expect 500 real hp's, but lets talk about that.
500 hp is huge compared to the whopping 120 something you are making now.
Im not rippin on the 351M,,,,,,,errrr, ok, maybe a little. But regardless, this thing made around 150 to 170 Hp's when it was new. A tired old "M" might make the same 30 years later. Add a big honkin cam that makes power far higher than the engine is actually capable of reaching, or heads that cant flow enough air to maximise that aftermarket carb, and you might actually make less than the factory spec. Consider that the engine is tired so it might be making 100 hp, and my original estimate was not accurate.
Being an optimist, I as shooting for a high number.

You can make 1 HP per cubic inch, or at least make slightly less. Either way, you wil have a mill that is still over three times the power house that the 351M ever was.
Start with the 460 and never look back. Each time you upgrade you cant count on the fact that you are one step closer to your goal. The reasonable one.

Guess this all boils down to priority. I it a priority to complete what you have? I mean, it runs right? You decided that the priority was to build enough of a lift to clear tires large enough that your stock engine just wont be able to turn?
Sounds kind of strange when it is put like that right?

How about building a bullet proof drivetrain, that can handle anything that you throw at it, and use a reasonable tire? 37's can be a ton of fun in a stock truck with some gears and a locker. Ever drive a 1 ton equiped truck with 1 ton gear, 35 spline axles or even Chro mo, locker, steep gears and smaller tires like 37's? Its a blast! Hit it with sme power and one may not ever change from this.
Once the drivetrain is bullet proof, and you have installed all of the gear that will make it suitable for upgrades,,,,,,,,now comes the bullet.
See since your drivetrain is bullet proof, you wont ever worry about breaking it, and all of the money you save will go towards the next goal. No distractions, like broken axles or downtime. Whats next? The engine and trans.
Meanwhile you are still wheeling the thing, and you are tearing all sorts of stuff up, but not the drivetrain.
So you have some fun wheeling the truck, and you are building a nice engine for it. Upgrades do not have to come right away, just a nice running 460 that will smash that lil 351M.
All of this is while you are still pimpin 37's.
So a little time goes by, and you have a nice bullet for the gun. A fresh 460 with early iron heads, flat tops, timing set, and a nice reasonable cam. Small carb, but thats all you need right now. Its reliable, starts every time, runs like a champ and makin over 350 Hp's easy.
Thats about a 300% increase over the old engine. Thought you were tearing it up before, now you are just getting crazy.
Time for tires. Since you already have nice 1 ton gear, and a bullet proof set of axles, you have the gears to turn a larger tire, you now set a goal for some lift and some tires that put you in a different category.
Lift it and make some mods, but the axles are still working great, engine is as nice as can be, and you are still having a blast.
This truck has seen minimal downtime, and you have been rolling it around all over the place.
What do we upgrade next? Who knows, because weve built a decent drivetrain, and it runs well, but we need some more puppy power, so we head to the speed shop, and up the cam, port some heads, step up the carb and maybe intake. You have alredy found a used intake on Cragslist, and got it for a song, and look at that, the National Dragster has a guy selling a Demon carb that looks like it has been unmolested, and it is cheap.

Kind of see where I am going here?

None of us have the pockets to build a fire breather on the first go around, and none of us have hit it out of the park on the first swing, but I am sure that every oneof us would have done things a little bit differently, and some wish that we had.

Everyone can build a truck in any order they wish, but it seems to me that most build them backwards.
They lift it, put some big honkin meats under it then struggle with broken parts, and have to limp a sorry engine around to try to turn th things.
Backwards I say.

Gimme a nice 460, and some 1 tons that wont break, ill throw in a Detroit out back, and Ill wheel it with white wall tires. probably do as well or better than soooo many of those other trucks that I see on the trail. Whimpy little engine, no traction devices, we can see this because it is stuck on wet grass. Busted axle or u-joints,,,,,,,Oh,,,,,,,,,but it has some big ol meats and it looks nice, Cant get out of its own way, but it looks nice.

Cracks me up............



For the OP, not baggin on you, just throwing out some examples and some ideas. Its your rig, and in all honesty, I applaud our efforts. You do have the desire and ability. Keep that up. Dont lose that. Only one way to gain experience my friend. Only one way.