Ford 460 running hot, lean, and not so mean

TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
edited October 2010 in Man Cave
A buddy of mine just picked up a 1979 F-250 with a 460 in it. It runs ok but runs very lean according to the plugs and has no power (0 - 50 in 10 seconds), along with running very hot. So far we have flushed the cooling system, replaced the thermostat (180*), changed from a 7 lb to a 13 lb radiator cap, adjusted the timing a bit, and replaced a heater hose that was kinked due to being routed incorrectly as far as we could tell. It now runs a bit smoother and the temp gauge reads about 3/4 of the way up the gauge on top of the "l" in normal.
We're gong to jet the carb up several sizes hopefully this week and see if that changes anything, but does anyone have any other thoughts or ideas on other things to check? Supposedly the motor has been rebuilt not too long ago and lots of stuff looks new (like the exhaust, which doesn't have a speck of rust on it), although the job seems to be only part done as nothing seems to have been tuned, and the coolant we drained out was brownish green and the dirtiest coolant Ive ever seen. Oh yeah, heres a picture
truck001.jpg

Comments

  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited October 2010
    I think he paid around a grand for it.
    No, the motor sounds good. it just takes forever to wind up under load. Once we found out it was lean, we stopped running it.
    I know the basics about carburetors, and I have a Holley 4160 on my Mustang II so the carb on this truck is pretty much the same in design other then being a higher cfm rating. I can make basic adjustments and jetting changes, along with adjusting the floats but I've never fully rebuilt a carburetor yet. If a motor has a carburetor and is in decent condition (such as no rods sticking out the side and it turns over freely), I feel I have enough knowledge to get it running and to get a halfway decent tune on it. My friend seems to think I'm the best person he knows to go to for older engines and vehicles so I guess I know the basics well enough.

    I haven't checked the float levels yet. I'll do that when I change the jets.

    The specs (that I know) are
    460 motor with a holley 4160 600 cfm carb (list 1850) with an Edelbrock RPM performer intake, Headers, Dual 2.5 exhaust with cherry bomb mufflers and it supposedly has some sort of race cam or something, but the idle seems a bit too smooth, and the power is so bad a stock Honda Civic could spank the hell out of it.
    It also has upgraded suspension along with a 9" rear end and an 8.8" front diff. I think the transmission supposedly has had work done to it as well.
  • muffinsmuffins Regular
    edited October 2010
    but a vac gauge on the intake and check your vac at idle. also does it have an elctronic duraspark ignition or points?
  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited October 2010
    It has electronic ignition. I was planning on checking the vacuum because I'm curious as well.
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