Well, I just swapped a guy my old 78 f-250 snowfighter for an 84 f-250. The body is in much better shape and the truck seems more sound, although it does need some dents pulled and a paint job. 78 had lots of rust and needed more attention than I could throw at it. I did keep the D60 front (3.55) and I have a good D70 rear from an old van to match/for parts. The 84 has a 44/70 with what I beleive are 4.10 gears.

ANYWAY, I didn't get an engine with the truck but the guy said it had a 302/auto in it (I'm thinking a 351W prolly wouldve been stock more likely, with the heavier rear end, etc). I have a 69 460/NP435 and all the mechanical (yuck) clutch linkage, pedals, etc. and even a 205 to throw in.

What all is involved in a 460 swap into one of these trucks aside from having the aforementioned essential parts? one guy says the ttb/engine xmember is different between SBF/BBF & will need changed, and another told me that my 460 is way different (for mounting purposes) than his stock one from a 93 f-250. Also he said something about having to make a "pilot bushing", as there were no pilot brgs for 460's (would a pilot brg for a later model engine work for mine?). I'm not saying these guys are neccessarily wrong, but I have never heard of these "snags" and this swap seems fairly straightforward. Am I missing something?

 

I don't know about any frame differences between a SBF/BBF truck of this year. You may need a different oilpan/pickup tube though.
Early 460 cranks weren't drilled deep enough for a pilot bearing/bushing, since they were only offered with a C6 behind them. If your 460/NP435 combo has already been used together, this may not be an issue. If not, it could be a problem. If there's not a deep enough recess for the pilot bushing/bearing, the input shaft also won't have the needed depth to clear the back of the crank.
There are different engine mount stands for various engines, so you would need the perches for a 460.
The 460 was available in this model truck, so the swap should be pretty straightforward, once the above mentioned items are addressed.

 

So are there any kind of problems with things like oil filter location or using a mechanical clutch (linkage) and getting that to work? Is an actual 460 bellhousing better/different enough that I could use my old style 460 and a 435 with little or no problem? A couple people I've asked today mentioned homemade "pilot bushings"...

 

The crossmember on the factory 460/diesel trucks is different for oil filter clearance, and even at that they use an angled adapter. You will need a remote filter setup, but that's no big deal. The stock 83-97 engine mounts and frame stands will work just fine.
As for your flywheel/bellhousing, the stock 83+ bell is deeper than the 351M/400 stuff that guys typically use with the early engines, as the flywheel ends up sitting about 1/2" further back on the external balanced engines than it does on the pre 79 internal balanced ones. I believe the flywheel solution for the early engines is a 390 FE piece.

As for your pilot bushing, I'm not sure what the cure is there, as I've always dealt with factory external balanced stuff.

No problems with using a mechanical clutch setup, as these trucks did come with them from 80-83/part of 84, so, you should be able to find all the stuff to make it work.
The factory 460/manual stuff is all hydraulic however.

 

I haven't tried it, but have heard good words about L&L products. Pretty pricey though.
L&L Products

 

So does anyone have any pointers on where to track down a remote filter kit? I can't seem to find one under the $2**+ range. That seems kinda steep to me. L&L was $359.** or are these kits just that expensive bc they're 460 related?

 

Remote Oil Filter

Bronco Graveyard is $245

Anything cheaper is probably a Universal kit and may or may not work.

 

My 82 has a dual remote filter mounted to the radiator support it looks alot like the $50 one from summit racing. But I'm not sure the PO done the swap, he also torched a chunk of the top right frame rail to clear the car exhaust manifold. You'll have to mount the pivot bracket on the left frame rail to support the equalizer bar for the mech clutch. If i can get my hood to open (newest issue) i'll look for a brand name on the filter re locater.

 

Does the pivot bracket for the mech clutch not mount the same as it would on an 80/81 style truck? Looks very similair to a 78/9 f-truck. Also, just by chance, would the pedals from a 78 work in my 84?

 

Yeah it just bolts on top of the frame rail. I imagine the pedals are different, ford likes to change things on a regular basis. I looked at my filter re locater and couldn't find a name on it but it looks like a cheap universal one.

 

Could it be a "trans-dapt"? These are all over summit.com but I cant seem to find one for a 460

 

Any of these will work just fine for you:
Summit Racing SUM-G4985 - Summit Racing® Oil Filter Relocation Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Trans-Dapt Performance Products 1113 - Trans-Dapt Performance Remote Oil Filter Relocation Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Perma-Cool 10695 - Perma-Cool Oil Filter Relocation Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Ford Racing M-6880-A50 - Ford Racing Oil Filter Adapters - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

most of the ford v8's the I6's 2.3 and the tempo engine use the same oil filter,so a remote filter shouldn't be had to find.

 

The 80 & later are set up differently to 79 & earlier.
The rod from the clutch pedal is at a different angle & goes through the firewall on the later trucks, not down through the floor.

The cross shafts are also different, with the arms in different positions & angles.
The Chiltons manual shows the two set-ups.

 

i don't know about the clutch/bellhousing stuff, but you can either make a small c-notch on the frame or go remote oil filter. if i remember right, i barely had to notch the frame at all, but it was an f150 4x4 so frames might be a little different. i used l&l mounts to go from a I6 to 460 with the factory perches. a rear sump oil pan is required