I am planning on doing a 400M to a 429 swap in a 78 F250 4x4. I have an C6 automatic with a mated 205. The donor motor came out of a 70 torino and I have all the brackets and acessories. Here is the parts list on what I have so far:

*Oil Pan ($119 plus $18 S&H, item#7951888840)
*Pickup Tube ($45 item#7951888664)
*Main Bolt supports the Pickup tube ($8.50 item#7982822420)
*Oil Pump ($47 item#7937266505)
*Universal dipstick tube & dipstick ($29 item#7946135677), and the adapter plates ($69 item#7951888777). .
*Motor mounts($45 item#7951888744)
*Flex plate for a 429/460
*Converter for a 429/460

Now what I dont have is a set of headers, and I am having trouble locating them. L&L has them and they may be the best, I don't know but I can't spend that kind of money. If anyone knows of a good source of information to help me with the swap and other parts I have left out please let me know.

Thanks again,

wilbur

OK, i did this in my truck (78 F250 4x4 supercab, former 351m, now 460) becasue i refuse to use manifolds, they have no place in the world outside of granny's grocery getter, much like the 351m i took out. If you like acetylene, there is a cheap solution. 83-86 460 4x4 headers from hedman, you have to cut off the protrusion, on the passenger side motormount tower, thats runs back along the frame and box it back up inside the frame, now i do have a NP435 in the truck not an auto, so im not sure how that will work out. other than that they bolt right up and clear the clutch linkage. I have 3" pipes and having a hell of a time with the drivers side clearing the driveshaft, but with 2.5" pipe, it would be an easy fix. cant remember the part# of the headers off the top of my head. if i did it again, i would go fenderwells, clears everything nicer, except tires. I used a moroso 8qt rear sump pan and had to notch the crossmember on the front to clear it, but it is really square and didnt hit by much.

go to the boneyard, find a 460 in a van, use the pan and pick up, flex and vertor.........depending on the year maybe the mounts and perches.

Now that you saved all that cash, get the L&L Headers :D

Take some time to look through the Headman section on Summit Racing's site. You'll find what you're looking for if you dig deep enough. There's A TON of headers to wade through though.

I strongly recommend L&Ls though. They are worth every penny. Fitment is top notch, they have beefy 1/2" primary flanges, the gaskets they come with work great, good hardware, and the plating is damn near bulletproof. They'd be the last set of headers you ever buy.
I just wish they made a set for my truck with EFI flanges. I really don't wanna hack up the set I have.

Cool, good information guys, thanks. I have read where some guys went through the fenderwells which I don't mind at all. Sure would make getting to everything a lot eaiser, but I wonder if putting them there would make the steel rot faster. The truck rides on 315's now, and I am sure from what I ahve read I will have rubbing issues.

I have looked at L&L and wuld love to get their headers, and would espcially love to ge tthe hp and mileage claims. Unfortunately my wife would crap, I paid 3k for this truck and the motor is locked up, it wouldn't be pretty.

I am pulling the 400 out tommorow, I will be able to better visualize it then.

Thanks for the help.

wilbur

I am planning on doing a 400M to a 429 swap in a 78 F250 4x4. I have an C6 automatic with a mated 205. The donor motor came out of a 70 torino and I have all the brackets and acessories. Here is the parts list on what I have so far:

*Oil Pan ($119 plus $18 S&H, item#7951888840)
*Pickup Tube ($45 item#7951888664)
*Main Bolt supports the Pickup tube ($8.50 item#7982822420)
*Oil Pump ($47 item#7937266505)
*Universal dipstick tube & dipstick ($29 item#7946135677), and the adapter plates ($69 item#7951888777). .
*Motor mounts($45 item#7951888744)
*Flex plate for a 429/460
*Converter for a 429/460

Now what I dont have is a set of headers, and I am having trouble locating them. L&L has them and they may be the best, I don't know but I can't spend that kind of money. If anyone knows of a good source of information to help me with the swap and other parts I have left out please let me know.

Thanks again,

wilbur

OK, as previoiusly stated before, the pan, pickup, dipstick, and main stud are found in the '83 and up vans, but are also availible in '86-ish and up trucks too. (or availble from a certain postee *hint hint* with a melling HV oil pump) If your 460 came with a flex plate, you should be able to re-use it. If not, the parts house ones work just fine. The torque converter I have been "told" you can have a machine shop turn the snout down to fit. (I have not verified this). The L&L headers are nice, but you will have tire clearance issues if you go with the fender exits. (somebody has a set they are trying to get rid of as well *hint hint*) I don't think these trucks will get much better mileage with any header. My truck got 10MPG on a lucky day, and got just about the same when I went back to cast iron manifolds. (it did have alot less mid/high range oomph)

Here is the motor mounts I used when I did my swap. http://performanceunlimited.com/customproducts/enginemount.html They are more expensive than using the 2wd 360/390 motor mounts, and also require you to make new holes in your motor perches about 1.5" forward of the old ones. These guys make em sound better than the L&L mounts as well.

I discoverd that doing my 460 swap was alot easier without the front clip on. It made getting everything to fit alot easier without hunching over fenders and what not. It made it easier to clean and paint the front half of the frame and firewall as well.

Anyways

Good luck with the swap.

here is some pix of my junk http://community.webshots.com/album/35276426LrVQvW

Thanks for the info, and for the pics. At this point I am only worried about fitment, but I am cuirous as to you power loss with the headers, that seems unusal. Speaking of fitment I have now been told that I will have have to change/modify my frame towers, can anyone confirm this.

In regaurds to the converter fitting or not, I was told that the converter from a 460/429 will fit without modification. I haven't heard of any problems with the snout on the converter.


BTW MasterB you have a PM.


Thanks again.

wilbur

If the crank/rods/dampner are good I'll buy them for the 400 if you want to get rid of them...

Clarification on my last post. I was refering to the 351M/400 converter being able to be mod'ed, passenger car and truck 460 converters will work no problem. As far as the power loss was concerned, maybe you read my post wrong, but I started with headers, then went to manifolds. That is where the power loss occured, taking that step backwards. Ever notice how when you install headers, the motor has more power? when you take the same motor with that power and choke it by putig manifolds back on, thats what I did.

Hey ROCKRAWLER.............You have PM's

Shock towers ????? :laughing: :laughing: Someones on crack, it's not a mustang/ranger........lol

Oh Ok, thanks for clearing that up on the power loss, I r a little slow. That make a little more sense to me.

Rockcrawler if you are refering to my 400 parts, man you can have the entire motor from the aircleaner to the drainplug, I won't be using a thing off it. Let me know what you want off of it and I will send it to for shipping cost.

will

Thanks for the info, and for the pics. At this point I am only worried about fitment, but I am cuirous as to you power loss with the headers, that seems unusal. Speaking of fitment I have now been told that I will have have to change/modify my frame towers, can anyone confirm this.



wilbur

I done the exact same swap in my highboy, I used L&L motor mounts, they use the stock frame towers and take advantage of all the mounting holes. They fit like a glove and are very solid.

You know, I wish now I had went ahead and got all swap kit from L&L, it would have cost a lot more, but it would have eliminated the guessing game. Maybe it will work out, I will know more this week.

wilbur