1973 LTD

Hello,

I recently acquired a '73 LTD Sedan. I plan on converting it into a restomod setup. The car hasn't been shipped yet, so I can look at any serial numbers, etc. yet, but I'm curious about the engine. According to the owner (and the filter pan), it's a 460 4V.

What might this be? What kind of power would it make stock? What's possible with heads and an intake? Before I put money in the bottom end, I'd probably replace it with a crate motor anyway.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Jim

I found out that the car most likely d3ve heads. Are we talking about 200-225 HP stock? What about torque?

Little horsepower, big torque. I'll look around on the net for exact #s.

208hp, and I couldn't find out how much torque. However for '72 I found it advertised as 335ft.lbs.

Since "Net" depended on single or dual exhaust etc ("Gross" hp does not, it's wide open) Ford lists for 1972:
Torq 326 at 2800, Power 200 at 4400
Torq 342 at 2800, Power 212 at 4400
Torq 357 at 2800, Power 224 at 4400

I'm guessing the latter is dual exhaust....73 specs similar I suspect

For GROSS power, I used my computer program and got:
Torq 438 at 3000
Power 298 at 4600

That's not so bad, even the 1968-71 "460" only made about 335hp or so my guess.

Can you weigh that big dog when you get it home and post? Good info to have. My guess is 4500-4550 lb full of gas, no driver.

Next after a good tune I'd head for the strip, post your times.
My computer guess if you're lucky and the 460 came with duals is:
16.45 at 84.0
A good open air cleaner, tires, and a 3.25 posi got that down to:
15.89 at 84.7
Now I started computing on the motor, with say an 800 Holley and alum SCJ intake:
15.66 at 86.1
Set the factory cam at about 110/118 lobe centers:
15.47 at 86.9
Add the factory CJ cam or the PAW/SSI 10332 clone:
15.61 at 87.2
Oops! SLOWER! Overcamming a big dog can be bad....the exhaust is killing it now. :cry:
Add headers [good luck finding any......] and 2.5" Magnaflows etc:
14.73 at 93.2
Wow see if you really improve that much.
Would the stock cam still be "faster"? Nope:
14.85 at 91.1

Try this stuff and post back some time slips!
I stopped there because the next step is cylinder heads, shortblock, big $$$ and as you said, better off with a whole different engine. But just doing the above would give you a real "sleeper", fun but not too much money.... :)

Thanks for the information!

Anyway, I had one of these beasts in high school, and it was the ultimate cruiser. With the 351C 2V, it wasn't too quick, but it got the job done. I'm going to clean this one up, paint it black, and have a little fun with it. I'm actually thinking about using it as a tow vehicle to pull my E46 M3 around.

Should be a fun ride!

Thanks again,

Jim