Tim knapp's 460 swap into Walt's '69 F250

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:16 pm

Today I got a power steering hose. I tried NAPA, but they couldn't make me one, so I went to a local place that makes industrial hydraulic hoses.
And, boy, did I get an industrial quality PS hose. It's rated at 4000 psi.
I can hardly bend the flexible part. It should work OK, though. This old feller in the shop sawed off and saved the ends off the old hose and used hydraulic hose ends that had compression fittings that hooked to my old steel tubing ends (if you can understand that). I tried to talk to this guy to make sure he got the orientation of the ends right, but he would not have any young whipper snapper like me reminding him how to do it. He, in no uncertain terms, informed me about how many of these he has made in his lifetime and he knew how to do it correctly. So be it.
Check off another hurdle in this project.
The next biggie is sealing the gas tank. I have drained the tank and removed it from the cab. I have all the materials I need. I just have to find someone to help me manhandle the tank in the process.

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:58 pm

My new neighbors, fascinated by my project, bought me this sign:

Fred32v · Post by **Fred32v** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:39 pm

Some kits just take longer to put together.

Post by **TireSmoker** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:45 pm

That's funny! (and fitting)

-Dave

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:04 am

I tried to do a status update last night, but I think the Tiresmoke server bit the dust while I was composing it.

Anyway, I have accomplished some things. Bruno and I cleaned and sealed my gas tank on Wednesday. It should be ready for installation today.

I worked on the power steering high pressure hose, too. Since it is so stiff, I decided to modify the original hose support to accomodate this custom hose. It seems to be securely in position and tight now.
I was reading about the industry wide removal of zinc from modern motor oils and the need to use a supplement high in zinc when first starting a fresh motor. I decide to order a bottle of Craine Cams additive just to be safe when I fire this thing. Yesterday, it was added and the oil was topped off and I fired up my drill and drove the oil pump. I saw 60 lbs on the oil pressure gauge!

Finally, I connected the old exhaust system to the stubs on the exhaust manifolds with flexible pipe and clamped it all together. It should do fine until I can get to a shop and have the whole shebang replaced.
Now here's some room for discussion. I was thinking of stainless steel pipes and WHICH MUFFLERS?

I think there are also different alloys of stainless steel. What should I ask for?

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:15 pm

I had another productive afternoon. I worked in the cab today.
I reshaped the opening for the top of the transmission to give it clearance for movement, then bolted on the cover and the original boot.

With that done, I could put the carpet back in place. Things are looking much more finished now. As you can see, there is some finish work to be done on the bottom of the shifter handle and around the boot.

Fred32v · Post by **Fred32v** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:38 pm

60 lbs. of oil pressure with a drill is sweet. Really reassuring. If you know the drill's rpms you could calculate the engine rpms. One revolution of the drill would be two revs of the motor if it were running.
The shifter looks great with the carpeting around it. There must be a different boot for that shifter somewhere. You'll probably find one at Carlisle.
Now we need pictures of that gas tank.

Basement Paul · Post by **Basement Paul** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:49 pm

It would be a shame to not put Flowmasters on that truck. A strong big block and at least 2.5" pipes, with Flowmasters would just sound phenomenal. Pure stainless steel seems ridiculous in your climate, I would just ask for aluminized stainless and you'll never have to replace it.

I bet you can't wait to hear her fire!

-BP

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:19 pm

Not much of a progress update, but I sold the old 360 yesterday. Got $220 for it. I'd still like to find a buyer for the T18 trans. Asking $200.

Fred32v · Post by **Fred32v** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:25 pm

Now that the old 360 is gone, there's no going back. You're pretty much committed to making that shiny new 460 work. I heard something about your being committed. Hmmm!

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:35 pm

Things are coming together. Fuel tank is in and the fuel line is finished all the way to the carb.
Now the seat is installed.
It won't be long now.

MostMint · Post by **MostMint** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:54 am

Was that 360 numbers matching - the original engine for the truck?

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:00 pm

Yep. It sure was.

Fred32v · Post by **Fred32v** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:26 am

This project has been in the works a long long time. Can't remember how long it has been since Mostmint and I picked up the replacement 460. Your trip to Ohio to retrieve Tim's 460. Mouse in the valve cover. Machining the fly wheel. Sure hope that was an internally balanced crank. All the parts we were able to purchase with BasePaul's employee discount. Putin' the motor together. The 5 speed transmission swap adventure. That 1.25 inches we moved the motor back for the drive shaft. Hydralic clutch with the $250 special bracket. Jim's clutch spring tool. Linkage, fuel line, etc. etc.. I'm confident all the correct decisions were made along the way. But I can't help but be extremely excited and maybe a little bite nervous until we can hear that thing run and the 69 F250 is back on the road.

wxo · Post by **wxo** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:48 am

You bring up a good point. We need to figger out when this whole thing started. I looked through all my saved pictures on the PC, but it was before I was cataloging them. I'll probably have to go through the shoe boxes of pictures to see if I can find the ones for our trip up to get the motor. Maybe MostMint can help out. His memory isn't all that old. I'll get Randi on it too. She's real good at figgering dates.