Snow is coming - time for new tires

[andy30thz]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Man small world! Right after Canton, the little town of Troy (where you turned right onto RT6) is where I went to highschool. They are crushed by gas workers and traffic, but at least something is happening there. Little towns like that are starting to disappear. It used to have three major car dealers, now there is only one. And its kind of iffy if it will survive.

Wow.... That must have been a long ride home with it being original....
Our local reserves depot has them but they all have some kind of turbo'd diesels in them. They seem to have quite a bit of snot!
It looks in great shape! Lawn ornament? Or will it get used?
Those tires look like rough riding bastards!

When did you lift the F250? Leveling kit? Just bigger blocks the rear? Or are you sporting the cali lean?

Your Dad better get cracking on his truck! Don't want to get caught in the snow like last year! Then again, with snow like that, you'd probably be better off staying in the house!
Should look really sharp with wheels and a set of 285's under it! I assume it has 4.10 gears in it. It should work real good for him.

[ford141]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Andy, it was a long, LOUD ride home in the duece and a half. It is a turbocharged six cylinder, the military upgraded them with turbos in the later years, but it was only done to reduce smoke. The turbo models only made 5hp more than the nonturbo models, a whopping 134hp total. And yes, it will get used. It is being retrofitting with a very high-dollar camera system for a project at work. Funny, it's a $5000 truck with $500,000 worth of cameras on it...

I lifted the Super Duty 2" all around. Simple leveling kit in the front with a mini spring pak. In the rear I got a little creative. I was tired of the tail squatting when I put Ugly on the trailer, so I had a custom leave made and added it to the rear packs which raised it 1.5". The stock packs also have a 1/2" thick "overload" leaf in the bottom of the pack that I flipped over so that the rear drops less before it hits it, and I added an additional 1/2" leaf to add a little more lift and a little more overload capacity. Now it hauls Ugly with no squatting and clears the wide 35s with no problem as well.

My dad got working on his truck lately since the weather has been getting worse. We finally fired it up the 460 last week and dad drove it for the first time. I got video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGk9fmoo5P4

Sorry about the crappy video quality, I accidently set the camera to low-res mode. Not sure why it had such a hard time starting at the beginning of the video, but it ran good after that. We didn't want to run it any longer since it doesn't have any exhaust system yet and we were afraid of cooking the fuel lines with the open manifolds. Still a long way to go, but we are making progress.

[andy30thz]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Man.... I didn't realize the turbo'd trucks were still that wimpy.....
Good think you got familiar with it, you gonna get the nod to use it?

I figured ifting the SD would be pretty easy. Live axle and a ton of guys doing it.
How rough is it with no load? The SD's I've been in actually rode pretty nice!

You Dad's truck looks like its coming along! 460? I thought it was a 351? 5sp 460 trucks kick ass!
Will look really good painted and the new wheels on it! Will be even better when he can get around in 12-15" of snow with ease! Although if he gets it too straight and nice he won't want to use it in the winter.....

[ford141]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

I'm still uncertain how much involvement I'll have in the project. My coworker is in charge of the project, and I'm just adding support where needed. I'm hoping I'll be involved in the field testing when the time comes, but we'll see.

Yes, lifting the SD was pretty simple, the ride on the front axle is pretty much unchanged, but the rear is much stiffer. It was a little too soft for my taste before, so I'm happy with the stiffer ride. The rear shocks were also toast, so a new set of shocks really calmed the ride down. It may be a little stiff for some people's taste, but I'm very happy with it. It tows awesome.

You are right, in that dad's truck WAS a 351, but it had a knock when he got it which turned out to be spun rod bearings. He was planning to rebuild it, but my neighbor ended up giving him the 460 out of his 95 Crew when he did the Cummins swap on it. The only thing we had to buy was a ZF5 for a 460, which I found over the summer on Craigslist. He's got chump change in this truck so far. It will look good when it's done, but make no mistake it will get used. He is doing the body work nice enough, but he is no professional so it definitely won't be perfect.

On a side note, I ran across a set of D0VE-C heads for $500. Fresh from the machine shop, ported exhaust, new stainless valves, upgraded springs, set up for .630 lift, studs and guide plates included. Was considering picking them up for the new motor going into Ugly. They would be capable of much more cam than I currently have, but I can upgrade that later. What do you think? I don't think the price is bad considering the machine work is already done. Will give me a little more compression without touching the bottom end and allow a lot more cam than my current setup.

[andy30thz]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Good deal on all points!!!
I've said it before....I wish you lived closer! You seem to score a ton of good deals!
I think I told you before that a friend of mine had the exact same setup as your dad has now! It truely kicked ass! He commuted in it and got around 15mpg and it had a fair amount of snot to it! If I could find the same thing in a regular cab for my dad, I'd buy it in a heart beat to replace his beater. They are just solid cool trucks!
I can't wait to see it finished!

I think the D0VEs are a GREAT idea, if they are truely done correctly. Do you know the seller? How does the port job look? You know how much work the short turn radius is. Are the guides redone? I thought they had to have bronze liners with stainless valves? I imagine the spring package is pretty stiff to support that kind of lift. I'd probably drop back to springs rated for your cam to lessen the stress.
You'll also have to come up with rockers, which can cost a couple bucks if you go roller. But if things look correct, I think its worth it! There are plenty of guys claiming good power from that set up.
Heck, I spent $160 just to mill 0.045 off a set of D3VE's and $150 to take a big chance on 0.016 copper gaskets.... $500 for a completely finished small chamber heads is pretty good. The only way it can bite you is if they have issues you need to correct and total costs come close to known good heads.
With the small cam, it might be right on the edge of detonation with around 9.3-9.5:1? It would definitely be a pump premium motor, which is no big deal. You might need some octane booster when you load it pulling? But the motor you've using now has 9:1 right? But the cam is bigger?

I will mention I didn't know how cheap it is to do a 30* back cut on the intake valves. I would do it to yours, if the aftermarket valves don't come with it. For 3 bucks a valve, why not?

In reality......probably the green truck needs these heads with nasty cam and converter and Ugly should get the green's ported D3's and the mild cam..... But man that's a lot of work!

[ford141]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Ya, I'm with you on putting these heads on the green truck, but it is so fun the way it is, and it runs great, and I'm REALLY resisting the temptation to tear it apart. I'm trying to focus on adding grunt to Ugly.

I just ran across these today:

Freshly Rebuilt 1968 Lincoln 460 Heads (C8VE)

-C8VE Non-emission heads ported on exhaust side.
-Isky 8005 Dual springs with 400 lb in spring rate
-Intake Valves: Manley S.S. 2.190" Head diameter
-Exhaust Valves: Manley S.S. 1.880" Head diameter
-1.73 Roller Rockers, Guide Plates, and Studs
-Heads CC out at 72.2 CC's

Many pictures available upon request. EVERYTHING is brand new with no run time whatsoever. Looking to get $600 OBO or trade for something interesting.

This seems like a much better deal, especially considering the roller rockers are included and they already have larger valves. I may go take a look at these.

The motor in Ugly right now is basically a stock 86 motor with mild exhaust porting, Performer intake, straight up timing chain, 750 carb, and mild cam with too much duration for low compression. It is really sluggish compared to the green truck. I run 87 in it all the time with no problem. I think the higher compression with the Summit cam that I already have might work well. If I have to run 94 in it I don't care because I don't drive it regularly.

[andy30thz]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

I don't know why I thought the Knocker was a rebuild with flat tops.......

I'd love to know what makes the green truck work so well! Sounds like it just works!

In some ways I'm the wrong guy to talk to..... My combo in the father in-laws Lincoln is lame! 8.75:1, flat tops, 0.071 quench distance, D3's/ported very little, comp XE262H (218/224), performer intake/performer 750 carb. I'm hoping with better ported heads, back cut valves and 9.5:1 compression it will wake up.
An interesting thing is most everyone I've talked to that degree'd their cams (I didn't) said they are way off in the "straight up" position. I'm going to advance the cam 4* from where it is now to try and get more low end grunt.
Another interesting thing is quench distance...... People make it out to be something super important, then turn around and suggest using early heads on later short blocks. Its hard to judge if its that important.

So all that to say, I think your motor can be a very stout combo with 214/224 summit cam & D0VEs on a later shortblock! But the details can really screw stuff up. I'd like to see you get it together and it runs super strong from day one.

Then again.....I may just be expecting too much from our motor that is lugging around 5000+ pounds. How much does Ugly weigh? Got to be at least the same if not more.

*edit* We've got an inch of snow here....you might get to try out the new tires sooner than later this year!

[ford141]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Ugly scales at about 5200 unloaded. I know that this still isn't the ideal setup, but I'm on a really tight budget this winter because of the shop and don't have a ton of time, also because of the shop. If I can add some power by mixing and matching top end parts for now, maybe I'll tear it down and do it right next winter. Just trying to add a boost in power for this season. I'm also considering a small converter while the trans is out, similar to the green truck (+500rpm). I think that part alone made more difference than I originally expected it would.

We got 2.5 inches of rain, which changed over to snow this morning. There is a dusting on the grass, but it wasn't cold enough to lay on the road. I sure wish all of that was snow!

[andy30thz]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Whoops, I think you misunderstood me!
I think the those heads and cam you have would work well for Ugly! (but you better put on the headers as well if you're going to bother)
But you better degree the cam and do all the little things to get the most out of it. I just threw parts together and am going to have to pull it apart to make it better.
The summit cam you have should work well with 9:1. Just make sure your headgaskets are the thinnest you can buy. (I think .041 compressed, unless you buy the .039 felpro's, but I don't think they are worth 65 bucks) Some rebuilder gaskets are thicker than .045.

I think it should work great! But I'm learning you may have to play with the cam timing to get the powerband where you want it.

My combo for the father in-law should work great!! I just have to dial it in.....

[ford141]

Re: Snow is coming - time for new tires

Gotcha, I see what your saying. Makes sense. Good call on the headers, too, don't think the manifolds will allow it to breathe enough. We'll see what happens, I haven't been able to get ahold of the guy yet.