429/460

[RyansFord]

If you order parts before you turn bolt #1, you're leaving yourself vulnerable to regret. Exactly what do you mean by, "rebuild the bottom end"? If you're gonna do that, you may as well rebuild the whole thing. I recently replaced an oil pan gasket in my 69' F250 with a 428. It didn't require "pulling the whole motor". It required lifting it about 4 inches so the pan would clear the crank/oilpump/sump. Wouldn't ya know, about a week later I blow a head gasket. Guess who just pulled the big block FE from his 69' F250. This guy... It required far more than lifting the engine a few inches. The hood and front end had to come all the way out.

The point is, you can't always predict what parts you'll need before you get dirty. You aren't even sure what engine you have yet. Until you pull the pan and see a stamp on a counterweight or pull a head to measure a bore-accurately, you can't be sure exactly what parts you need.

A stamp oin the counterweight?
Thats the kind of nugget I'm looking for. I know that I can't know everything that I will need until I get in there, but some things I do know I need. Obvious things, like an oil pan gasket. like the front and main seals. timing chain. are these things different between the 429 and 460? how about an oil pump? Is there a difference between the two engines as far as main and rod bearings? I need to move the truck 350 miles to work on it. Thats not the best situation, but it is what I have to work with. I don't want to get into it before buying at least some of the parts. I know the bearings I will have to wait on, need to measure for them.

Check the counterweight on the crankshaft when you pull it. That will at least confirm whether it's a 429 or 460. You may need to turn the crankshaft by turning the balancer with a breaker bar. http://www.fordification.com/tech/casti ... Ecrank.htm The oil pump and timing set should be the same. Pan gasket too. I wouldn't get bearings though. If the engine was ever rebuilt, the bearings may not be stock sizes. Rotating assemblies are balanced with a ton of precision machining. Throwing the weight off by just a couple of grams or changing a bearing by .001" can have a really negative impact. Just stick with replacing main seals if it's the leak that bothers you.