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460; My e350 RV, and my f250 work truck


alwaysFlOoReD

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Prelude;
My wife wants a divorce so I'm going to live in an RV ala; Jim.

Lude; [<<< I don't know if this is a thing but if there is a prelude then there must be a lude. :D ]
I bought an 88 e350 about a month ago. see related thread;
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173710
The motor is toast so I'm taking the good running but slightly tired carbed 460 from my 77 f250 work truck and swapping it in for the not running EFI 460 in the RV. Hopefully I can get this done this weekend. I paid $500 for the RV, spent about $300 trying to get it to run, and finally towed it home for $200. $1,000 total so far. It has a couple leaks that should be fairly easy for me to fix. I have no idea on what shape the appliances are in.

Then the work truck gets a 68 460 that I bought as a core several years ago. I paid $250 for the engine and tranny. I know no history. It has some low compression on some cylinders so I'm going to do a refresh; new rings and gaskets. I do have a valve grinding machine that I've never used if it gets that far but will probably just hand lap the valves. Rings and gaskets so far are $450. I bought 2 aluminum intakes for $200, a Weiand stealth [1500-6000 rpm] and an Edelbrock streetmaster [idle to 4000]. I'm leaning towards the Weiand. A carb kit will be $50. Misc. will be $200. I hope to stay under $1,000.

Interlude;
The efi is different than the earlier 460's. Intake doesn't mount the same and the valve covers use four center bolts. It doesn't look like I can use the EFI on the older motors. :sad:

Pics to come.
 
Last edited:


alwaysFlOoReD

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No pics yet. I got everything unbolted. For the first time I think ever I had no problems undoing the exhaust. It actually looks like it could be new. I took the throttle body and upper intake off. I tried using a ratchet strap from one lift bracket to the other, that didn't work as it stretched to much. Then I tried using two straps, one across the front and one across the back. That got the motor up enough to get the motor mounts out of the frame but I'm still having problems getting the sump over the crossmember. I gave up and will try again tomorrow when there is more light.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Got the sucker out. I changed my mind and will put the 68 engine in the RV after giving it a refresh.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Qualude; I think I need one or two....

A major windstorm swept thru yesterday. I battened down the hatches but I still spent all morning fixing the tarp structure. Another hour and I should be able to start the refresh.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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There is 3 exhaust valves that are letting gasoline get past the seats. This is good as all the rest of the valves are sealing. I'll do a quick hand lap on those exhaust valves and call the heads good.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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My computer won't recognize my phone to download pics. I'll have to figure out another way, perhaps uploading to the cloud and then down to my pc.
Yesterday I finished the heads. Fixed three broken exhaust bolts with helicoil. Some rocker studs' threads were damaged and I was lucky enough the machine shop gave me 3 rocker studs from one of there D0VE heads. I don't think they are available in a stock form anymore. And lapped 5 exhaust valves. Truly these heads should be rebuilt, there is slop in the guides, but I don't have the money.
 

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My credo
It is what it is

alwaysFlOoReD

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^^^ Thanks.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Pulled the pistons and found 3 bad. The top ring has lost tension and the ring land has taken a beating, opening up to almost double the thickness of the ring. This engine is FUBAR unless I can find three 30 over pistons somewhere. It looks as if someone has put in one diffent piston as it looks shiny new.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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To add to the previous post; one cylinder has been worn from the ring not turning on the piston and has worn a groove perpendicular to the crank. Rough guess is it would need at least 7 thou overbore so that sucks....
I decided to take apart the EFI motor to see what was wrong with it and maybe I could use the short block. I took all the wiring off....boy, I'd like to get the engineers that designed the wiring sockets into a locked room! Anyway, after getting the valve covers off I found 3 bent intake pushrods. These correspond to the low compression cylinders. I wish I had kept the readings.... I'm going to buy 3 new rods and put them in and test the compression again. If the reading look good then this motor is going back into the RV. I'm not looking forward to that, I really wanted a carbed engine because of how little room the EFI gives to R+R the motor. Oh well....
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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I had a fun day. I got 3 new push rods and started to install them. On the last one I found that the lifter had jumped out of it's bore. I spent all day working on getting it back in. I even ordered a lower intake gasket thinking I would have to take the intake off to get the lifter in. But I got it! A small magnet on extendable handle and a long thin screwdriver, and a small light that I lowered down a different pushrod hole so I could see what I was doing. I don't think the parts place was too happy when I canceled but I buy lots from them so I don't feel too bad.
 

Will

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A '68 460 will have like 10.5-1 compression. It was only in Lincolns until maybe '72. Anyway, running it in an RV is dicey. I built one 20 somethings years ago for my '64 Galaxie and used 9.8-1 TRW pistons in it, plus mirror-polished the combustion chambers to keep it from detonating. If you get it in there and running, just try to keep it from making torque or it's going to rattle a lot. Easy on acceleration and use the gears a lot.

I was in wrestling and football as a kid. My wrestling coach was a smaller guy who was built like a mini Hulk and my football coach was a huge guy without any muscle definition. They could benchpress the same amount. The 460 reminds me of that. It's really not a good selection for an RV. It's a hotrod engine (the early ones) and was built to make a 5,200# Continental beat a 2,500# Plymouth Duster with a slant-6. As a truck engine, it sucks. It's big and big things are strong, like my football coach, but it's not the right thing for an RV. Ford made a truck engine out of that 385-series called the 370, and that is a better choice. Smaller valves and ports for higher flow velocities at lower speeds, better quality pistons and crank materials for durability and better coolant flow through the heads. Same power in a real sense because you could run it at full power for days without hurting it. I don't know why, except maybe cost, that those engines weren't sold in RVs instead of the 460 car engine. Unlike other consumer vehicles, RVs are big fat-asses 100% of the time.

The '72 and on 460 is a low compression engine, but still has the same big port and valve problem that makes it more a car engine than a real truck engine. You don't need a head that can flow air at 5,500 rpm on a truck.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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I agree with everything you wrote. But I don't have any money and am doing what I can with what I have. I'm hoping that the original RV 460 is in decent shape now that I've replaced the 3 bent pushrods. I haven't had time to do a compression and leakdown test and won't until Monday or Tuesday. And these fukin windstorms keep tearing apart my tarp shed, it takes me 1/2 a day to fix.
 

Will

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I just read through all this and it took me this long to realize you were going to try and fix the efi motor. If you try to crank it, you may bend all of those pushrods again. The pistons and valves must have contacted to bend the pushrods, and I really can't think of how that could have happened without a timing chain issue. I would blow compressed air into the cylinders one by one with the rockers removed and check the engine that way. You can tell if a valve is bent by listening at the tailpipe and intake manifold. Your compression gauge should allow an air chuck to be attached. I would not risk cranking the motor.

It's possible, maybe, that the lifters are stuck from it being an RV and sitting. Same deal--don't crank it again.
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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The bent pushrod issue is odd. This is the second 460 I own that has done this to me. The first is in my 77 f250 work truck. I replaced the 2 intake pushrods and crossed my fingers and it is running fine, and has been for the 3 months since I did the repair. I scoped the two cylinders and didn't find any signs of valve/piston contact. I dunno.
On this efi I'm going to do the same...cross my fingers.
 

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