460 swap

[Ridgerunner]

Oxy-propane. It`s a set I picked up 5 or so years ago. I took the valves in the head apart and lubed the seals, and they worked for awhile, but they started acting up again. They`re fixed for the time being. I just need to pony up for a new set.

They`ll come out. I will win. I`m just really over broken bolts.

A good set of torches are not cheap. I went to HF and looked at their set and passed on them.

 

[Fellro]

Besides, a 6.9 and 4.10s without OD is done for at 55-60 mph.

I have an 86 with 6.9 , T-19 and 4.10's, my top speed is 75, and it is happiest around 60-65. However, it would be a bit of a challenge to get a 6.9 to sit on a 351W frame. The driver side wil the big hole in the frame makes more work getting the mounting to work out.

 

[flareside_thunder]

Whatever the bolts are made out of is stubborn as hell the GT40 heads I put on my flare had 2 intake bolts broken off. I sent them to the machine shop and they used drillbits, left HB Andes drillbits, oxy-ace torches and a plasma cutter and none of it could get em out....even trying to blow the bolt out. Ended up buying a new set of badass bits and gettin drilled.......poor guy went through 4 irritated employees and 6 drillbits before finally doin the whoopin and not gettin whooped. Good luck to ya.

 

[primetime]

I have an 86 with 6.9 , T-19 and 4.10's, my top speed is 75, and it is happiest around 60-65. However, it would be a bit of a challenge to get a 6.9 to sit on a 351W frame. The driver side wil the big hole in the frame makes more work getting the mounting to work out.

I had an 87 with a 6.9, c-6, and 3.55s. While it would do 85, I usually kept it at 65 on the interstate. With 4.10s, the math says 3300 rpm. If I remember correctly, they are governed to 3600. I guess I`m just not comfortable twisting them that tight. A friend of mine has an 86 with 4.10s and it just seems like 60 is all it wants.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Hi Justin, my truck has the T-18 and 4.10's, and the tach reads 2800rpm's at 60 mph. don't like to push it past that, but I have had it up to 85mph!! it was screaming...

 

[primetime]

Wooo! Finally got the bolts out. If it wasn`t pouring I woulda been doing a rooster strut around the yard. Now I just need to Heli-Coil them and its onward. I had to take a little time off because I was getting fairly frustrated.

And since this has gone from get it done to marathon build I guess I might as well paint some stuff.

And on another note, it looks like I`ve got some parts sold, so Hedmans will be part of the plan.

 

[primetime]

Alright, not completely out of the woods with manifold bolts, but one side is done, and heli-coiling is not the way to go. But here`s some stuff I did get done.

I degreased and wire-wheeled the frame, and then hit it with Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. I tell you what, that little 8 oz bottle goes along ways. It probably would have gone a little further if I would have been a little more discriminate about putting it on. Here it is when you first put it on.

Here it is after it dries. I`m going to do another coat and then put a gloss coat on it. I would have done more, but I ran out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Justin, that looks great.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Justin, that looks great.

I'm jealous, a lot of you are doing great work on frame painting, it's giving me ideas...

 

[primetime]

Thanks guys. I kinda regret not borrowing the bosses power washer (the pump on mine took a dump) and doing the frame before I jammed the tranny in. Oh well.

On the plus side I won the manifold bolt battle. So hopefully I should get it set in there this week.

 

[Austin]

I loved the rust reformer when I used it on my SuperDuty. Good stuff right there.

 

[primetime]

I loved the rust reformer when I used it on my SuperDuty. Good stuff right there.

It seems to work pretty good. We`ll see how it holds up to a salty Michigan winter, but so far I like it.

And actually Austin, it was your build thread where I first saw it. So thanks.

 

[primetime]

I must be living wrong. Either that or this engine really doesn`t want to go back into service.

I also called one of the local Ford dealers about a new dipstick tube. Keep in mind local is 30 miles away. Anyways, the parts guy says "press in or snap in?" I have no idea, I`m guessing snap in, but he had no clue. Anybody have an idea?

 

[primetime]

Well, I`ve been waiting on parts. They showed up this week. I ordered a new flexplate from Rock Auto. As much as I like to stay local, they were $104 while Rock Auto was $43. Kind of hard to ignore that kind of difference.

I also ordered a set of headers. I went with some Hedmans from Summit. They came with a y-pipe, and they have ball style connections at the flanges. I don`t think they`re bad units for the price. I would have liked to have gotten the Hedman Elites, but they`re twice the price.

The oil pan has been rust proofed, and the new rear main is in. So tomorrow I`m going to clean the engine, paint it, and this week end I`m going to drop it in.

 

[primetime]

Details tomorrow.

 

[Beach66Bum]

I see you got shorty headers too, they bolt right up to the factory exhaust,

I got BBK shorty's from an ad in the local paper.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Looks like you are moving along, I'm not.

 

[primetime]

Keep the faith Cliff. It`ll come together. It only took me three months to get this engine in. Impressive huh?

They aren`t actually shorties Roy. The driver side is more a mid length, and the passenger side is a full length.

On to some details. The OE oil cooler cleared the frame, but barely. I`m going to loosen the mounts and rotate the engine to get a little more clearance.

The 351 throttle cable and kick down cable swapped over, but I had to use a 460 cruise cable. Of course, when I tried to hook up the shift cable, it was an inch to low. It would appear that at some point in time Ford thought they should change the position of the shift bracket mounting point on the C-6. Probably when they went to cable shift. So I cut my bracket and moved it up an inch. I love my air cut off tool.

The 351 power steering line worked fine for me, even though it`s different than a 460 line. 460 line in hand.

And of course the y-pipe that came with the headers and is supposed to hook into the factory exhaust didn`t clear the brace on the trans crossmember to make it fit.

Like my ghetto dipstick tube?

Kick the tires and light the fires big daddy! It backed into the yard under it`s own power.

 

[primetime]

Some other things that needed addressed, I had to have the appropriate big block nose swapped onto my small block starter. They are offset different and it was not happy when I hit the key. The top bolt hole is also threaded on the big block starter.

The 351 A/C line that bolts to the back of the compressor had to be swapped because it`s bent differently and wouldn`t clear.

My Windstar fans still fit, but there isn`t an over abundance of room. But there is enough.

I actually fired this thing up a week and a half ago. It ran like poo. It had a bad miss/shake that it didn`t have before. I was like wtf? It didn`t do it before. I triple checked my firing order and looked over a bunch of stuff and was about to bust out with some hard core diagnostics when I noticed that the paint wasn`t burning off the center four header tubes. So I swapped the ECM. Problem solved.

Initially I was going to use a 460/C-6 brain from an 89. But at the last minute I decided to use the 94 brain that came with the engine. Here`s the problem, up to 93 the trucks were bank to bank fuel injection. 94 went to sefi. I`d read this in a book once a long time ago, but read on a web site that everyone puts a lot of faith in that 88-95 big block computers all function the same. Not the case here.

I had a trans line that was leaking, so I replaced that today, in the process I fubared the union, so it still leaks, but I topped off the trans, fired it up and moved it out of it`s spot. I still need to get an alternator, belts, and some heater hoses, and hook up the exhaust, but it`s alive. I also have a stumble when it`s in gear and I step on it. It`s not there in park or neutral.

And yeah, I was going to paint the engine, but I got impatient. It happens.

I was also going to give it a much needed bath, but apparently there is a wasp nest somewhere near where it was parked, which also happens to be the carwash spot.

 

[primetime]

Well, I got everything buttoned up. I`ve taken it work a couple of times to. It seems like it just runs better and better. No exhaust leaks or anything stupid going on either.

It`s to bad the tranny slips when it shifts into 3rd. So much for paying a pro to save myself some time.

Anyways, here`s some pics of some of the stuff I did along with some poser shots.

Here is the reman 130 amp alternator I put on. I think it`s for a Windstar, but I`m not sure. I told my guy what mounting I needed, the amps, and he just pulled one off the shelf. He swapped a different regulator on it and sent me on my way. I bypassed the smog pump with a 47" belt.

Here`s a couple of pics of the Windstar fans.

Overall engine shot.

I put together an exhaust using stuff I had laying around. It`s the stuff Hedman sent to hook into the stock cat, which is 3". I split that into dual 2 1/2" with Flowmaster 10 series mufflers and 3" tailpipes that exit behind the tires. I like how it sounds.

And the poser pics.