[wohlmang01]

I have an 88' 5.0 that I have been thinking about dropping a bigger block in to it. My dad says put a 351 in it and stroke it to 383, but I thought if I'm going to do a motor swap I want to do something big. So, hypothetically, if I had a completely stock foxbody, what would I need to do to successfully put the bb460 in and stay running? Also, I think I would need a c6 tranny...do they have adaptors to make them manual? I don't like automatics...

 

[jmbaltz]

I think you're looking for something like this

 

[jmbaltz]

A multi-part build

 

[Wicked03GT]

You can put manual valve bodies in a auto trans to make it a manual shift without the clutch pedal.

As for the swap its actually pretty easy...Plenty of people make K members that have BBF freindly parts. Most people I see do them run a motor plate for mounting purposes and then an electric water pump and electric fan for clearance purposes.

 

[1barzx3]

my dad has a BBF 87 hatch and unless you are only looking to drag race the car, I would highly advise you NOT do a 460 swap. You will need the basics (headers, oil pan, mounts, etc), plus a few other things to make life easier. You pretty much need to run an aftermarket tubular k-member for the headers to clear, plan on manual brakes unless you want to pull the booster to remove the valve cover on the driver side. Unless you have coil overs in the front, your suspension will ride like crap from all the extra weight in the front.

If you are bent on doing it, it isn't hard but it isn't cheap either. BBF parts aren't cheap and there isn't a whole lot of aftermarket support compared to the 302/351 motors. As far as a manual trans, there are a couple ways you can go but it won't be cheap. You are looking at something like a TKO 600 with a lakewood bellhousing and a heavy duty clutch set up that will most likely be custom tailored to the combination.

Do yourself a favor and build a 351w based 408 stroker and never look back. My dad wishes he would have done that instead due to cost and ease of working on it.

 

[magician0227]

I second 1barzx3 comment.

I had an 85 with a 460, and while it was fast, it was impractical as hell. Unless you want to upgrade everything (suspension, brakes, ect), and do an insane amount of custom fabrication for little overall gain, build the crap out of a small block.

 

[408foureye]

For the sake of being different, I'd only consider a 351C stroker instead of a 351W build, but the with the amount of aftermarket support for the 351W, it's a no brainer. A 460 swap is way too much effort for the amount of gains you will see, not to mention the 351W oiling system is leaps and bounds better than on a 351C or 460.

 

[bbfTroy]

Wow, the misinformation on this thread amazes me. Clearly most of you have never done a 460 swap. It is just as easy as a 351w swap. There is no special modifications at all. It is a direct bolt in swap. Now, you can keep your booster with stock valve covers (they also clear roller rockes with no girdles). Power steering can also be kept with small modification. Ive seen them with full accessories. My self, I just have alternator and water pump since its a drag car. My c6 non ribbed trans fit like a glove. Also, im making alittle over 400hp and well over 500ft lbs with stock block, factory iron d0ve heads, stock crank, stock truck rods with probe forged pistons. Also have 200hp pill of juice on tap. My car weighs 3276 with me in it. NO small block can touch that power using stock parts. Dollar for dollar, you can NOT beat big block power. There is actually a big bbf aftermartket support. Not as big as sbf but close. And for the oiling, do a few simple mods or keep it under 6000rpms and youll be fine. Ill never own anything besides a big block for drag racing ever again. Also, what drag car handles that great anyways? They are meant for straight line, not autocross.

Also, I run 4cyl brakes for weight reduction and run 4cyl springs. They work great for 11's n/a and basement 10's. Plus my big block has great street manners. Can drive it all day without any issues and pump gas freindly.

 

[VTECKILR]

I have built both, well i used a 429 but still it and a 460 are virtualy the same. I used a stock K member and made the mounts out of box steal and station wagon mounts. I switched it to manual brakes (made the adaptor myself) just because i used a set of huge valve covers. It was a cool car but i would rather have a 408W honestly.

 

[VTECKILR]

Wasn't much to look at but it was a sleeper.

 

[bbfTroy]

The way I see it is, the 460 dollar for dollar cant be beat. Now everyone has there own opinion and engine preference. I just dont like when these people that have never done the swap spread misinformation that can detour peoples projects due too lies.

 

[bbfTroy]

Wasn't much to look at but it was a sleeper.

What valve covers are those?

 

[terryr]

Here's a forum just for this swap.

bigblockfox : For Ford enthusiasts with, or building, big block ford engines in Fox-bodied cars.

 

[88gtragtop]

460 swap

I have a 88 GT ragtop I put a 545 inch 460 into. I used a t10 trans, pickup bellhousing. Just use a good stock 11" clutch, let the tires do the slipping!
I put a 3/4" master cylinder and a speedway motors slave cylinder that fit over the input shaft housing after I had the input shaft housing machined to 1.35" so the chevy throwout will fit the T-10 input housing. 140 MPH is a few seconds away, pulls like no other. I used Procomp aluminum heads, a tunnel ram,the right headers, and the biggest radiator I could fit in it. Do it , you will never be sorry.

 

[VTECKILR]

What valve covers are those?

They were a limited run, i think blue thunder maybee??

 

[RBELL]

I put a 466 cubic in big block in a 79 hatch I had years ago. I made the oil pan, engine mounts and headers myself. Because the parts that existed at the time were just pick up parts. The engine mounts they sold you were from 80s to 90s model Ford F20/F350 trucks, same with the oil pan. I saw a couple of other cars that had big blocks swapped in back in the 80s, before I started my swap. Everyone of those, the engine set way far forward and fairly high. I did not like what I saw, so I made my own oil pan and then mounts, then I made the headers. I used a stock K member, since that was all that was available back then. It fit very nicely. I built a C6 transmission for it., then had a 9" rear cut and narrowed for the rear axle. It had 31 spline axles, nodular case and a Detroit locker.
As for putting a manual transmission, you could put a big block top loader, that will handle the power with ease. The other options are to use a TKO or TKO 600, if you do that, you will need a spacer for the scatter shield. The scatter shield for the big blocks, is made for a top loader transmission. The TKOs use the same transmission to bellhousing bolt pattern, but the TKOs use a longer input shaft. I think it is either 1/4" or 3/8" longer, I don't remember. I worked on a Cobra kit car years ago that had a 521 cubic inch Ford Motorsports 620 hp crate engine in it, they put a TKO transmission behind the engine with a common Lakewood scatter shield. I made a spacer to go between the scatter shield and transmission, that fixed the input shaft length problem.