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1966 F100

55K views 189 replies 15 participants last post by  superacerc 
#1 ·
Hey all. New here to the forum and 460's mostly as well. I've finally got my project truck on the road after buying it in 2006. I'll try to document what has been done.
Here's some pics of when i brought her home:





She was in pieces and had no engine. Paid 500 dollars for her and the real find was that someone had already put an 89 f150 front clip on it. This gave me my front disc brakes, power steering and independent front suspension.

Originally i planned on maybe a 351Cleveland or even a windsor to power her but a friend said his brother was trying to give him for free a rebuilt 460. He kindly picked it up for me and delivered.
It was planned for a tow vehicle (80s f250) but the guy sold it before he used the engine. So i decided a 460 was the way to go.

We changed some internals (cam and pistons mainly) and had a friend with a local shop build her up and dyno it out. I wanted a mildly upgraded 460 so i could daily drive the truck when it was finished if i wanted. It came out to 350HP and 440#TQ.

Here's a pic of the 460 on the Dyno:


Here's a nearly completed pic:


One of the engine bay:
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Some extra info:

The rear gear is a 2.50:1 from a 78 Lincoln. Yeah i know it's a bit tall but it was free. I'd like to move up to the 3.00 range (keeping in mind it's a daily driver).

The Tranny is a C6 with a B and M shiftkit.
B&M Shifter.

The Carb is a 4160 Street Performer (auto Choke) 750 CFM.
Intake: Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap

It has roller rocker lifters. The pistons were balanced. It has a mild cam (I'll have to find the paperwork cause it's been together for about 3 years and hasn't gone anywhere until recently).

The headers are sandersons (had to buy three pairs over all to get the right ones. The first set were drilled into for temp sensors while on the dyno. Our buddy only really did chevy's till me and my dad got him started on fords. The second set didn't fit.)
 
#7 ·
Thanks again. It's not bad as a daily driver. I've got the intake off right now trying to solve a vacuum leak as per another thread i started. I hope to be back on the road tomorrow night.

I suppose i always have the option of going up in HP but it defeats the daily driver purpose.

I think all i would need to do to bump up the horses to something still manageable would be to swap the heads for the edelbrock performer heads (nothing too crazy) and change the carb up to 850 cfm and advance the timing. Don't know if it'd make quite 500 but it would be in the 400s id think. Anyway stop tempting me.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Sorry I didn't get back to the question sooner. Won't help any though, I have no idea. It was a dupont custom mixture though. The truck has been painted since 2009.


It's been a while so here's the update:

Glad to report after a carb rebuild everything is running right. I swapped out the Distributor for an MSD Billet model. That one that was on there was crap. The timing advance gear/weights broke and the shaft would spin freely.

Also tightened all the belts up and cured my squeal. I feel like an idiot for wondering what it was. It had some other oddities about it that led me down the wrong road.

The tranny is kinda funny. It want's to shift well above 5k rpm at WOT which doesn't feel comfortable with this engine so to get it to manual shift I have to briefly let off the gas while upshifting and then it'll slam you back when it hits. Guess the shift kit is doing it's job but the modulator pin may be a bit too long keeping the tranny in the same gear too long. I can live with it since there's a method to shifting that seems to work 100% of the time.

On a comfort note,

I insulated underneath the cab to keep some heat out which helped. Some of it was too close to my header/exhaust connection and melted off. Whatever stayed on I just left on and what started falling off due to excess heat i pulled off. Still better than it was before. Then I sound and heat insulated the entire cab floor, inside the doors, and behind the seat. Keeps things a bit quieter inside and some heat out. Just got some custom molded carpet with heavy sound and heat insulation on the bottom that should keep out the rest of the heat and more noise.

I had the rear end swapped out for a 3.25:1 with an eaton limited slip. Does the job pretty well and gives me better city mileage than that 2.50:1. got about 7.3 mpg on the last tank with some playing around. I could probably manage 8.0 if I keep off the skinny pedal.

Power steering pump crapped the bed and drooled all my fluid on the garage floor. Changed it out.

Except for the mileage it's turning out to be a pretty reliable build that I can drive once or twice a week to work.

Here's a recent snapshot:
 
#10 ·
Beautiful and well detailed F100! I love the 61 thru 66's, they where styled great!

I had planned to take my 62 F100 and then place the body/short box on an 1993~95 lightning frame. However, I never got to it before selling the 62...:(
 
#11 ·
Beautiful truck, great job. Wrong intake manifold. An Edelbrock performer would make it a better driver. Better throttle response and milage. The runners in the air gap are to large, therefore the air/fuel mixture velocity is to slow for your mild combinatiion. imho
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thanks for the heads up Dan. The shop who dyno'd the engine chose a lot of the parts. Ive been less than satisfied on a lot of things they did. Throttle response does leave a lot to be desired especially coming from a built 302 with nearly the same hp.

If I switch it out for the performer what other tuning would you suggest for the carb? Another question, how far advanced should I Set the timing by turning the distributor? I'm not talking numbers, just by feel when idling? The shop it recently went to played with the timing some but I'm not sure if it should go farther than what they set it or not.
 
#13 ·
Very nice truck, my first vehicle was a 65 f100 and my current one is a 1964 but it is on a 1975 F150 frame. Love the wheels, these trucks are cool I get tons of thumbs ups everywhere I go.

Keep the updates coming.

D


Sent from my Autoguide iPad app
 
#14 · (Edited)
Thanks dman. I'll try to visit the forum more regularly and keep everyone updated.

Figured I'd comment on the idle since throttle response was brought up. It seems to have a slight stutter when coming off idle. I've switched the accelerator pump nozzle up one and it was too much so I went back down. I'm currently using a 31. I've switched out the colored cam and the one that's on it (bright orange) still seems best. Floats are great. Everything else was just rebult. I've got the idle set at about 750-800 with the air conditioner running since its running full time these days(about 1krpm when it's off).

It's not terrible but not responsive in any impressive manner. Could this be a product of that air gap intake?

Been toying with the idea of putting an air/fuel mixture gauge kit in that Holley makes to help keep an eye on the carb tuning through the different rpm range. I have no doubt that I'm not tuned as well as it could be.
 
#15 ·
It would be nice to know the cam specs and the compression ratio. And the first thing I would do is to baseline the timing. I would guess that the engine has the stock heads and is of low compression. Therefore I would shoot for total timing of about 38*, all in about 2400 rpm. (22* in the distributor and 16* on the crank) That will do its part to crisp up the throttle response. As for the carb, your thought of obtaining a wideband O2 sensor is spot on. Again, for a baeline, I would shoot for 13.5 air/fuel ratio at idle, about 14.5-15 air/fuel ratio at cruise, and 12.5-13 air/fuel ratio at wide open throttle. I forgot to mention that on the distrubitor, I would like to see about 10* in the vacuum advance for increased efficiency at cruise. What do you have for an exhaust system behind the headers? On any engine that I have run since the 1960's, I have had the carb built by a specialist for my particular combination. Money well spent. your 750 cfm carb is about right for your combination, guessing as I am what it may be. By the way, a mild 460 ,tuned right, can be a torgue rip snorter. Best to you. Dan
 
#16 · (Edited)
I don't have the cam specs. The motor was built in 2007 so it's been a while. What I can say is that it's bigger than stock but nothing extreme. Compression ratio is low not much more than stock. The heads are the stock cast iron units(they are heavy! Wish I had some aluminum ones) they have been port and polished. The engine is balanced and has roller rocker lifters so it's pretty smooth. I don't have vacuum advance. Only mechanical in the msd distributor. It's just on the configuration it came with(pretty conservative). Behind the headers are dual flow master 3 chambers that turn out behind the cab but in front of the rear wheels. You can see it under the bed step in some of the pics. It is a 750 street performer.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.

I'd really like this thing to run like it should.
 
#17 ·
As far as I am concerned, when you talk timing, you have to talk numbers. And timing depends on many variables,such as combustion chamber design, compression ratio, camshaft design, and area of rpm operation. It is the consensus that those flow masters make more noise than horsepower. Use straight through mufflers that have the pipe that goes straight through the same size as the pipe of your exhaust system. In your case I would use 2 1/2". 3" is too big and you would lose torque. I hope not, but as things are going, I would suspect that the roller rockers are 1.7 to 1 ratio chevy rockers, and not 1.73 to 1 ratio Ford rockers. That would cost you a little valve lift, but more than that, the geometery is wrong. It's not a deal breaker, but every little bit adds up. On the street you should be using a vacuum advance canister on you distributor. On the street with a 3.00 gear, you should be hunting for ever bit of torque you can find. No way should you be getting the poor milage you stated. I think you should take that beautiful truck to a chassis dyno and get it properly tuned. Only deal with people that arre skilled with the area you are dealing in. With all due respect, Dan





that would
 
#18 · (Edited)
Definitely understand. Im a complete novice at building and tuning these beasts. I know how to repair and put back parts that are existing but as far as understanding the little details in the build im usually lost.

Well the distriburor is what it is I suppose and ill have to deal with it. The one that was on it had the vacuum cannister but it was capped off so I figured I didnt need it on the msd when I ordered it. Guess I should have came here first.

The exhaust is 2.5". I dont like the excess noise particularly(hence the sound deadening effort) and I didnt pick it out so it want my first choice, but ill just leave it alone.

I have no idea about the rockers. Ill probably switch out that intake like you said(the regular performer right? Not the rpm) and have the truck dyno'd and the carb and timing tuned. the shop near me here in tx only build fords and have a shop dyno theyve been trying to convince me to have them tune it.

Ill probably stop there though. I cant sink much more into it changing everything back out.

The rear is a 3.25:1, so I would like the best low range response and torque possible.
 
#19 ·
I've got the go ahead on swapping out that intake and having everything dyno tuned this week. I have no real response in the low end and hopefully that will take care of it. This truck has been plagued with litte hiccups that have kept me from enjoying it and they're almost all worked out now. Thoughts Dan or anyone else? I'll have them order the intake and when it comes in I'll take it up to them and let em do their business.

This place about a mile and a half from me specializes in fords. The first place I had build the motor was in GA and they were big on chevy's and race cars didn't do much in the regular daily driver dept or work on fords much. These guys have been around since the early 80s doing fords so I trust them a lot more.

I'm open to suggestions before I go in there to do buisness.
 
#20 ·
You are on the right track now. When you have that Ford shop install the "perfomer" intake and dyno tune the engine, take in all the knowledge you can. What is the name of that Ford shop. "Cherry Bomb" sells a nice 2 1/2" straight through muffler at a nice price. Has a good mellow sound if it has some pipe behind it. Please let us know how things turn out. Dan PS-See if the Ford shop is interested in swaping your distributor for one with a vacuum canister.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Great. To get that distributor it'll cost me an extra 400 total. Is it really worth it? That's quite a bit extra. Will it really make that much difference? Where does the vacuum line on it come from? just the standard tree in the rear of the intake?

I've only got about 2 feet of pipe behind the muffler. I dont have any good room to run them under and out the back due to my fuel tank back there. I'll just leave them alone I think. I'm not looking for any crazyness I just want it to run correctly and have the low end pep I know is lurking in there somewhere.

The shop's name is Slater's Autoworks on 1960 in Humble Tx.
http://www.slatersautoworks.com/

Thanks a bunch Dan, any thing else you can think of let me know. I want this thing to be right for the next 10 or more years as a daily driver.

Edit: I just looked up more info on Vacuum advance and see the definite advantages to having it on there. I'll have them do both at the same time. Money is leaving my pockets too fast!!!
 
#22 ·
Nice truck! I have a 79 F100 with a mild 460. I think changing the intake will help. I went from a Stealth to a Performer with a 1" 4 hole spacer. I can usually whack the gas pedal while rolling 10-15 MPH to get a passengers head to bounce off the back glass now.

As for the exhaust.. Big doesn't mean loud.



3" pipes with an H to 2.5" long case Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers, 2.5" tail pipes, and 2.5" Dynomax bullets... which are pretending to be resonators.

This truck idles so quiet it has annoyed friends who think it needs to 'be louder'. I was on a quest for silent. Most of the power gains/loss are right behind the header anyway.. I think an X would have been quieter, but I didn't have the fabrication skills for it.

http://www.pontiacstreetperformance.com/psp/exhaust.html

Just some food for thought.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the info psquare. I would have loved a quiet setup like that. In fact my subaru is setup similarly. It sounds like a stock forester mostly and is extremely quiet on the inside. In the motor however is 310 hp at tbe crank roughly and in another month ill have a different turbo setup and it'll be pushing 380-395 at the crank 335-350 at the wheels. All while sounding stock. Thats what I drive when im not in the 66.

For the moment though and my wallet's sake its going to have to stay the same. I just want the engine to run well first.

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#24 ·
Talk to "The Mad Porter" who is a member of this site. He is a specialist in very affordable ignition systems. Your distributor has good value and $400 is too much money to go from your distributor to one that will do the job for you. "The Mad Porter" is a great man to deal with and very knowledgeable about what you need. There are many people on this site who make their living dealing with 460 ford and related areas and are great to deal with. On your exhaust, do you have a "H" pipe? If not, it is easy to achive and on your combination I would guess the "H" to be worth about 20 lb/ft of torque and it will tone down your exhaust a little toward a more mellow sound. It was a pleasure dealing with you as your attitude was very good. Not always the case. Dan
 
#25 · (Edited)
Thanks dan. the msd distributor is 300 something plus the labor charge. I guess I could do it myself in their parking lot. Its a pretty easy task and I did the last one. I know there are cheaper ones but I want reliable bullet proof parts I wont have to mess with down the road.

As for the H in the exhaust, I didn't know that would help that much. Ill try to get it done at a local shop this week. Before the mufflers right?

I understand that I dont really know much about these engines. I grew up fixing our 351w when needed but we never modded it other than putting it in the truck cause we had no money growing up. I only fixed basic stuff. Nothing internal. I'll never learn anything if I dont take advice.

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#26 · (Edited)
Well today's F100 adventure included popping out the distributor to send it to mr scharfenberger and then installing some carpet that arrived on friday. The vacuum advance distributor should be here wednesday along with the Performer intake. Then on thursday or friday it will be dyno'd at the local shop and the carb will get tuned to smooth out the power nicely and make sure the air fuel mixtures are correct. Thanks for the suggestions Dan. I would have probably just left it that way and been mildly dissapointed with it's performance had I not been prompted to change it.

The carpet came from www.stockinteriors.com. It was premolded and fit great! It took me about 2 hours to pull out the seat(with the help of my beautiful wife) and custom trim it to fit inside around the gear shifter, seatbelts, accelerator and highbeam switch. It's not absolutely perfect but pretty dang good I think.

Have a look: Just realized these cell pics are yucky, I'll run take some nicer shots and upload them in about 5 minutes.

Better pics:




Grainy ones without the seat in:




 
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