Big Block Ford Gurus?

[Pullstart 62,912]

@cschannuth I know you’re a Ford guy... @The Tuul Crib you too, right?  @HandyProfessor?
 

I am searching for a 460 engine for an ‘87 or so carbureted motor home with a knock in it.  I found an ‘89 fuel injected 460 in a motor home with severe water damage to the body.  My plan would be to keep the carburetor and distributor so I don’t have to wire up the computer, etc.  

1. Can I swap intakes?  Is the valley shape the same between carbureted and injected intakes?  Could I just swap the throttle body and carb?

 

2. Does the ‘89 have provisions for a mechanical fuel pump?  

Am I missing anything?  I assume exhaust manifolds or ports are the same, but that might be an issue.  I could swap the front drive assembly if needed.

 

thanks!

[cschannuth 3,816]

My son has a 90 and I have a 94 so neither are carbureted so I’m afraid I’m not much help on what can be swapped between the newer and older 460s.  I would assume the intakes could be swapped but again that would just be an assumption. In my V-8 swap ranger I had a 302 out of a 97 explorer that was fuel injected and I ended up going with carburetion and there was no special modifications necessary except I did had to use an electric fuel pump mounted in the frame rail. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by cschannuth

[Pullstart 62,912]

460Ford.com.  Who’da thunk?

 

It appears the heads are a different angle.  It’s not as easy as swapping intakes, unfortunately.

 

https://www.460ford.com/threads/1989-460-efi-to-carb-conversion.115486/

[cschannuth 3,816]

Nothings ever easy with a Ford engine. I don’t know if the idiots at Ford we’re trying to be smarter than everybody else by always changing everything just enough to make it difficult to interchange engine and components but that’s what it seems like.  If the motorhome is a C class then it’s going to have a Ford van chassis and I know those things are really tight when it comes to engine and exhaust fitment so you would probably need to keep the manifolds that came with the camper and hope they fit on the newer engine.

[Pullstart 62,912]

I’m going to keep looking.  I know this job will not be easy.  I have a search on CL for an F350 as well.  If I were to find a cheap enough truck, I’d grab it all just for the engine.  I have an 84 F350 dump with a small block that I wouldn’t mind some spare parts for...

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

I do remember the older ford big would interchange the intakes.Not sure on the new stuff. I was more into what l called the mid blocks like the 351 C and the 428 CJ

l dont remember if the 428 was in the same family as the 460.

[squonk 41,155]

If this is a class A MH, stock up on bandaids, rags, creepers and cusswords! 

[Pullstart 62,912]

3 minutes ago, squonk said:

If this is a class A MH, stock up on bandaids, rags, creepers and cusswords! 

True story!  Just a tuneup was enough to loose a couple quarts of blood it seemed!  Too big to get into my shop, so it’ll be on a rough surface of concrete outside.

[slim67 2,735]

16 minutes ago, The Tuul Crib said:

I do remember the older ford big would interchange the intakes.Not sure on the new stuff. I was more into what l called the mid blocks like the 351 C and the 428 CJ

l dont remember if the 428 was in the same family as the 460.

It’s not. The 428 was an FE series and the 460 is a 385 series, along with the 429

[squonk 41,155]

9 minutes ago, pullstart said:

True story!  Just a tuneup was enough to loose a couple quarts of blood it seemed!  Too big to get into my shop, so it’ll be on a rough surface of concrete outside.

Yup. Take the front wheels off to change the plugs or alternator on a BB Chevy Class A

[pfrederi 17,741]

34 year old Motor Home...Engine isn't the only thing worn out.  Is it worth the effort...Motor Home interior fixtures do not age well.

[Pullstart 62,912]

12 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

34 year old Motor Home...Engine isn't the only thing worn out.  Is it worth the effort...Motor Home interior fixtures do not age well.

unfortunately the rest of the motor home is immaculate.  It has been garage kept and leak free inside, outside and underneath since new.

[WHX?? 48,828]

Why not just go through the motor and fix the knock? 

[Pullstart 62,912]

4 minutes ago, WHX24 said:

Why not just go through the motor and fix the knock? 

Thought about that too...   I might go that route.  Time is one factor.

[953 nut 55,320]

2 hours ago, pullstart said:

Thought about that too...   I might go that route.  Time is one factor.

Several years ago I looked into rebuilding a Ford engine and found that a Ford authorized Fred Jones long block was less than the cost of parts and machining and it was warranted. There was no shipping charge, it was shipped to the Ford dealer and I took the old core back to the Ford dealer in the same shipping crate.

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

@pullstart Haven’t logged on here in a couple days ago so sorry for not seeing this sooner. I’m afraid I can’t help you much, all I’ve got now is my 94 F350 5.8 and my 91 Tioga RV with the EFI 460. I’ve owned a couple carbed 460s over the years most all of my experience was with the 351s and the old 300 straight 6. 
 

That being said knowing how Ford is, IF it could be done it would probably turn out being more trouble than it’s worth. Trying to figure out their puzzle of what fits and what doesn’t can be mind boggling at times. I’ve been tossing the idea in my mind of pulling the 64k mile 460 out of my RV that suffered some severe damage in a wind storm last month and putting it in place of the tired old 191k mile 351 in my service truck, but then I look at the headaches and think I’ll just keep the 351

 

Richard brought up a very good point, looking into a long block with a warranty might be an option worth looking into, especially considering the trouble one goes through pulling and installing an engine in an RV.