It's been a while since you guys have had an Audio/Video experience.
Here's what the FlowMasters series 50 sound like.
Crank up the volume (5.8MB): http://www.tiresmoke.org/walt/flowmasterscut.avi
By the way, the new choke is working great. I just have to tweak the rod just a tiny bit to make it slightly richer.
Tim knapp's 460 swap into Walt's '69 F250
Moderators: MostMint, wxo, Fred32v, Basement Paul, ttamrettus
I'm gaining more and more confidence in the swap these days. Next is a big job replacing the bushings in the front I-beam suspension followed by the brakes. I'm gonna put her up on jackstands this morning and start ripping things apart again.
I've got the O2 sensors installed so I'm poised to start swapping jets in the ol' spreadbore soon.
The premium gas has tamed the cackles so things are coming togther nicely. I still have a list of things that need to be done, but I'm happy to say that it keeps getting shorter.
I've got the O2 sensors installed so I'm poised to start swapping jets in the ol' spreadbore soon.
The premium gas has tamed the cackles so things are coming togther nicely. I still have a list of things that need to be done, but I'm happy to say that it keeps getting shorter.
New Bushings
Ol' Blue now has new front shocks, radius arm bushings and front disk brake slider pins. I took her to Wheels4Hope yesterday for a test drive. I didn't notice any difference in the steering, but I felt a whole lot more secure knowing the front end wasn't moving around. Here's what I was concerned about...
On the way to the garage yesterday, the ol' gal got to show what cubic inches can do to a late model (maybe late-90's) F150. Interestingly enough, the other Ford was driven by an old guy like me. Very sporting of him. It was fun.
On the way to the garage yesterday, the ol' gal got to show what cubic inches can do to a late model (maybe late-90's) F150. Interestingly enough, the other Ford was driven by an old guy like me. Very sporting of him. It was fun.
Back to the Future
Here's where it all started sometime back in the year 2000:
460 Mouse Motor:
460 Mouse Motor:
Visit with Tim and Chris Knapp
We are back from Alaska. We had a very nice evening visit with Tim and Chris Knapp in Anchorage. Both have jobs with in Alaska state governement and are living their dream.
I learned that my 460 was not built by Tim but he bought it already setup race ready in a '73 Mustang. He said he didn't do much with the engine but spent his time and money with chassis improvements to the race car.
Here's a picture to prove that we actually met.
I learned that my 460 was not built by Tim but he bought it already setup race ready in a '73 Mustang. He said he didn't do much with the engine but spent his time and money with chassis improvements to the race car.
Here's a picture to prove that we actually met.
A good guide.
I just took a minute this morning to review all eight pages devoted to this
project. If someone else wanted to try this your blog would be a good
place to start. It would give a person some idea of how difficult and
tedious it can become and how great it feels when a plan comes together.
project. If someone else wanted to try this your blog would be a good
place to start. It would give a person some idea of how difficult and
tedious it can become and how great it feels when a plan comes together.
Long overdue update
Ol' Blue continues to run well and just gets better. It's getting me curious about how well she'll do on a trip down the 1320.
Since I've been driving her regularly now, I decided that it is time for some comfort. The AC system was left intact during the engine swap. Once all the pulleys and accessories were installed, I found that the groove on the AC compressor pulley didn't line up with it's matching drive pulley. After much conflicting information from various sources, I decided to take a chance on a pulley from a 73 F250 with a 460 motor. When the package from RockAuto arrived, I slapped it on and it was a home run. Nice cool air. Life is good.
Well there are still two a minor problems that I will address someday. I want to install a throttle stop solenoid to increase the rpms just a bit when I turn on the AC. Also there is a belt vibration at a certain rpm. This was a problem on the other motor and I'm thinking about engineering another idler pulley into the AC belt route.
Since I'm going faster now, I decided to improve the handling a bit. I bought an aftermarket front sway bar and got it installed. I don't know if my supply of drill bits are getting old and dull like me, but I wore myself out drilling all those holes in the frame and I-beams. I think it was worth the trouble, though. She just keeps gettin' better.
With the price of premium gas at the $3 mark, I was curious about the gas mileage on this combination of 466 cubes, spreadbore carb, and OD transmission. The problem was my speedometer was way off. I checked it on the local interstate and at 70 mph I was only actually going 57. With Fred providing the encouragement, I pulled out the old pencil and paper and figured out I had to install a driven gear in the tranny with 21 teeth. So I called the Ford dealer and found out that there is no gear with 21 teeth. The biggest they had was 20, so I said OK. They ordered it and when it came in, I drove down there and picked it up. Like Tiresmoker, I couldn't wait to see the results so I tried to install it in the dealer parking lot. Drat, it wouldn't go in. I took it back to the counterman and found that he had ordered me one for an automatic transmission. To make a long story short, the next one was correct, went right in and now the speedo is within 2.5 miles of perfect. It still reads high, but that's good enough for me.
I decided that it was time for a longer trip to shake things out a bit. I took a ride to visit a buddy in Thomasville, NC about a hundred miles away. It's all interstate driving. Ol' Blue ran smoothly at 2200 rpm at 70 mph on the trip. Things were going so well that I stuck my foot in it. It wasn't long before a vibration started and got worse the faster I went. My first thought was an unbalanced drive shaft. This truck has a two piece driveshaft with a center bearing. I talked with a guy at a local shop who balances drivelines and he told me he didn't think the vibration was caused by an imbalance. He said a driveline imbalace would set up a vibration at about 40 mph and then go away and come back at about 80. Besides a balance job would cost about $75.
So I decided to do the easy stuff first and get the rear wheels balanced. The first place couldn't balance them because they were so out of balance that it would require a lot of stick-on weights that he didn't have. So I took them to my buddy John at J&A tire and he took care of it. He had to send out for more stick-on weights, but he got it done. You should see the inside of the these rims. Weights plastered all over them. I can't imagine how I was running these tires all these years. I had even taken trips to Pennsylvania and Ohio on these tires. I guess with the old transmission and 4.10 gears I never went over 70 miles an hour. But I can roll now. I took her over 80 on a test ride last night and it felt real good.
She just keeps gettin' better...
One more thing. I measured the gas mileage on the way back from Thomasville and got 14 mpg (without using the AC). This is exactly the mileage I got with the old 360. When I get the O2 sensor hooked up and measure the air/fuel mixture I might be able to coax a little more out of her with some tuning on the carb.
She just keeps gettin' better...
Since I've been driving her regularly now, I decided that it is time for some comfort. The AC system was left intact during the engine swap. Once all the pulleys and accessories were installed, I found that the groove on the AC compressor pulley didn't line up with it's matching drive pulley. After much conflicting information from various sources, I decided to take a chance on a pulley from a 73 F250 with a 460 motor. When the package from RockAuto arrived, I slapped it on and it was a home run. Nice cool air. Life is good.
Well there are still two a minor problems that I will address someday. I want to install a throttle stop solenoid to increase the rpms just a bit when I turn on the AC. Also there is a belt vibration at a certain rpm. This was a problem on the other motor and I'm thinking about engineering another idler pulley into the AC belt route.
Since I'm going faster now, I decided to improve the handling a bit. I bought an aftermarket front sway bar and got it installed. I don't know if my supply of drill bits are getting old and dull like me, but I wore myself out drilling all those holes in the frame and I-beams. I think it was worth the trouble, though. She just keeps gettin' better.
With the price of premium gas at the $3 mark, I was curious about the gas mileage on this combination of 466 cubes, spreadbore carb, and OD transmission. The problem was my speedometer was way off. I checked it on the local interstate and at 70 mph I was only actually going 57. With Fred providing the encouragement, I pulled out the old pencil and paper and figured out I had to install a driven gear in the tranny with 21 teeth. So I called the Ford dealer and found out that there is no gear with 21 teeth. The biggest they had was 20, so I said OK. They ordered it and when it came in, I drove down there and picked it up. Like Tiresmoker, I couldn't wait to see the results so I tried to install it in the dealer parking lot. Drat, it wouldn't go in. I took it back to the counterman and found that he had ordered me one for an automatic transmission. To make a long story short, the next one was correct, went right in and now the speedo is within 2.5 miles of perfect. It still reads high, but that's good enough for me.
I decided that it was time for a longer trip to shake things out a bit. I took a ride to visit a buddy in Thomasville, NC about a hundred miles away. It's all interstate driving. Ol' Blue ran smoothly at 2200 rpm at 70 mph on the trip. Things were going so well that I stuck my foot in it. It wasn't long before a vibration started and got worse the faster I went. My first thought was an unbalanced drive shaft. This truck has a two piece driveshaft with a center bearing. I talked with a guy at a local shop who balances drivelines and he told me he didn't think the vibration was caused by an imbalance. He said a driveline imbalace would set up a vibration at about 40 mph and then go away and come back at about 80. Besides a balance job would cost about $75.
So I decided to do the easy stuff first and get the rear wheels balanced. The first place couldn't balance them because they were so out of balance that it would require a lot of stick-on weights that he didn't have. So I took them to my buddy John at J&A tire and he took care of it. He had to send out for more stick-on weights, but he got it done. You should see the inside of the these rims. Weights plastered all over them. I can't imagine how I was running these tires all these years. I had even taken trips to Pennsylvania and Ohio on these tires. I guess with the old transmission and 4.10 gears I never went over 70 miles an hour. But I can roll now. I took her over 80 on a test ride last night and it felt real good.
She just keeps gettin' better...
One more thing. I measured the gas mileage on the way back from Thomasville and got 14 mpg (without using the AC). This is exactly the mileage I got with the old 360. When I get the O2 sensor hooked up and measure the air/fuel mixture I might be able to coax a little more out of her with some tuning on the carb.
She just keeps gettin' better...
It's good to hear things are getting better. Nice story.
Massive cubes, 14mpg, cold A/C, life is good!!!! You didn't mention anything about tunes? Or, is it that you're satisfied with the duel 'speakers' at the rear bumper !!!!
You've shed some light on a vibration problem I've had since I had my axle done, (1991). Although, I still suspect the drive shaft, but I'm willing to look at the tires. Mine intensifies with rpm. I just always assumed it was the shaft. It's one of the few things that I haven't changed out - yet. It's rather small OD, leads me to believe it's gona be a week link behind the new 406.
Massive cubes, 14mpg, cold A/C, life is good!!!! You didn't mention anything about tunes? Or, is it that you're satisfied with the duel 'speakers' at the rear bumper !!!!
You've shed some light on a vibration problem I've had since I had my axle done, (1991). Although, I still suspect the drive shaft, but I'm willing to look at the tires. Mine intensifies with rpm. I just always assumed it was the shaft. It's one of the few things that I haven't changed out - yet. It's rather small OD, leads me to believe it's gona be a week link behind the new 406.
-Mark
2012 Impala LT 3.6 VVTDI
300hp - a bit much for FWD!
2012 Impala LT 3.6 VVTDI
300hp - a bit much for FWD!
Test Drive
While I was in Raleigh, one of the joys of that visit was to test drive this beauty.
I took this picture as I was getting ready to take it for a spin.
A truely remarkable ride. It shifts like my little blue Ranger, but when asked to do more it does.
It can be normal or it can be wild. This truck is VERY fast and just an all-around fun to drive.
I believe it could do a 14 second quarter, maybe we'll see sometime.
I took this picture as I was getting ready to take it for a spin.
A truely remarkable ride. It shifts like my little blue Ranger, but when asked to do more it does.
It can be normal or it can be wild. This truck is VERY fast and just an all-around fun to drive.
I believe it could do a 14 second quarter, maybe we'll see sometime.
Ol' Blue status
She's a good runner alright. Unfortunately, with the price of premium gas these days, I always think about that when my foot goes to the floor, the back two big barrels kick in and she takes off. It doesn't take too long to go through a tank of gas. If I drove her like I did with the old engine, the gas mileage would probably be equal. But I don't. It's too much fun to get in it.
I haven't put many miles on her at all. Between the Vette, Nellie Belle and the truck, I have to make a conscious effort to put miles on the Vette and the truck. I usually jump into the Jeep when I go anywhere. Now that I think about it, I don't have that many miles to spread around. My longest drive is about a 50 mile round trip to Wheels4Hope each week. When Randi's home, we usually use her car for going anywhere. I've changed the oil in the truck only once since the motor was changed and I haven't noticed any oil usage at all.
Would I do it again? Who knows? If I had not done it, I wouldn't have this unique combination of engine and transmission then, either. If the 460 hadn't come along, I probably would have upgraded the 360 to a 428.
Well, enough 20/20 hindsight. I'm happy with the results, I'm glad I went through the entire process of planning, searching for parts, and had a barrel of fun with Fred the week of the installation.
I still have a lot of things I want to finish on this project. I want to get an adjustable vacuum advance and see if I can set it so that I won't need premium gas. I'm not too optimistic that that will happen, but there's a chance. I also want to hook up those O2 sensors and tune the carb for better mileage. I have yet to hook up the cruise control for the highway.
I need to go back and adjust the lifters cuz I hear some clicking that needs attention. And on and on... I need to dedicate a work week on the truck alone.
I haven't put many miles on her at all. Between the Vette, Nellie Belle and the truck, I have to make a conscious effort to put miles on the Vette and the truck. I usually jump into the Jeep when I go anywhere. Now that I think about it, I don't have that many miles to spread around. My longest drive is about a 50 mile round trip to Wheels4Hope each week. When Randi's home, we usually use her car for going anywhere. I've changed the oil in the truck only once since the motor was changed and I haven't noticed any oil usage at all.
Would I do it again? Who knows? If I had not done it, I wouldn't have this unique combination of engine and transmission then, either. If the 460 hadn't come along, I probably would have upgraded the 360 to a 428.
Well, enough 20/20 hindsight. I'm happy with the results, I'm glad I went through the entire process of planning, searching for parts, and had a barrel of fun with Fred the week of the installation.
I still have a lot of things I want to finish on this project. I want to get an adjustable vacuum advance and see if I can set it so that I won't need premium gas. I'm not too optimistic that that will happen, but there's a chance. I also want to hook up those O2 sensors and tune the carb for better mileage. I have yet to hook up the cruise control for the highway.
I need to go back and adjust the lifters cuz I hear some clicking that needs attention. And on and on... I need to dedicate a work week on the truck alone.
It ain't much, but...
Since traffic (other than spam) has been a bit light these days, I thought I'd let you know that I had a buyer come today for some of the leftovers from this swap. I sold the old cast iron intake, the dual point distributor, a pair of exhaust headers, one of the Accel Super coils from Carlisle, a chrome water neck and the old chrome valve covers. The guy is a Viet Nam Vet who is building a 429 for a '68 Torino. I never thought I'd find someone who wanted that back breaking intake, but this was a win-win situation. He had been looking for a long time and Craigslist came to the rescue. While he was here, I loaded him up with all the other stuff. Now I need to find a good home for that C6, and the T18 and bellhousing from the 360 motor...
Beatin' the heat.
The current heat wave in Raleigh has caused a cooling system problem on Ol' Blue to bubble up. 
On a hot day with the AC on idling for a long time, she got so hot that the pressure cap released a geyser of steam and water. After checking things out, I decided that the problem is fan related.
The 17 in flex fan I installed in the stock shroud was too small for the 20 inch opening. So Summit Racing was kind enough to send me a 19 inch Flex-A-Lite fan. One day when I had a few minutes I decided to change the fan. No problem. Right? Thirty minutes at most. Wrong! When I bolted up the fan, I saw that it was tightly wedged against the AC compressor. I need a longer spacer to move it further forward. I need to be careful, because it can't go too far or the blades will hit the radiator.
This time NAPA supplied me with the two inch spacer I needed. When I got it home I found that the spacer had the wrong sized pilot hole to fit over the water pump snout. Back to NAPA and wait another day for a different spacer to be reordered. This time I got the right one. It looks good. It clears the AC compressor and the fan ends up about 1.5 inches from the radiator. I'm good to go. Since I'm now past the simple changing of fans project, I now need to remove the radiator and shroud to get the fan installed. But I have all I need and it should only be a two hour job at most.
When you are working alone, sometimes you need more hands than you have, so you have to innovate.
About 6 hours later, I finally got everything back together and all that's left is to verify that the fan clears everything before starting the engine.
BUT, a careful investigation with a flashlight revealed that the new fan does not fit the profile of the shroud at the top. The blades now hit the top of the shroud big time. I've gone too far to retreat at this point, so the only thing I can come up with is to remodel the shroud. So I cut the offending section out of the top.
Now I've got to come up with a way to re-manufacture the upper shroud. Hey guys, save your old computer cases. They come in handy. About 6 hours later I had this:
Here's the test fit:
Some semi-flat paint to disguise the computer parts:
Now the installation
And the icing on the cake. (The label):
The best part is that it seems to work. I took it to Wheels4Hope yesterday and it was hot and the AC was nice and cold. The temp gauge stayed put just where it should when idling in traffic.
On a hot day with the AC on idling for a long time, she got so hot that the pressure cap released a geyser of steam and water. After checking things out, I decided that the problem is fan related.The 17 in flex fan I installed in the stock shroud was too small for the 20 inch opening. So Summit Racing was kind enough to send me a 19 inch Flex-A-Lite fan. One day when I had a few minutes I decided to change the fan. No problem. Right? Thirty minutes at most. Wrong! When I bolted up the fan, I saw that it was tightly wedged against the AC compressor. I need a longer spacer to move it further forward. I need to be careful, because it can't go too far or the blades will hit the radiator.
This time NAPA supplied me with the two inch spacer I needed. When I got it home I found that the spacer had the wrong sized pilot hole to fit over the water pump snout. Back to NAPA and wait another day for a different spacer to be reordered. This time I got the right one. It looks good. It clears the AC compressor and the fan ends up about 1.5 inches from the radiator. I'm good to go. Since I'm now past the simple changing of fans project, I now need to remove the radiator and shroud to get the fan installed. But I have all I need and it should only be a two hour job at most.
When you are working alone, sometimes you need more hands than you have, so you have to innovate.
About 6 hours later, I finally got everything back together and all that's left is to verify that the fan clears everything before starting the engine.
BUT, a careful investigation with a flashlight revealed that the new fan does not fit the profile of the shroud at the top. The blades now hit the top of the shroud big time. I've gone too far to retreat at this point, so the only thing I can come up with is to remodel the shroud. So I cut the offending section out of the top.
Now I've got to come up with a way to re-manufacture the upper shroud. Hey guys, save your old computer cases. They come in handy. About 6 hours later I had this:
Here's the test fit:
Some semi-flat paint to disguise the computer parts:
Now the installation
And the icing on the cake. (The label):
The best part is that it seems to work. I took it to Wheels4Hope yesterday and it was hot and the AC was nice and cold. The temp gauge stayed put just where it should when idling in traffic.
Last edited by wxo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.