Hey everyone out there, I am completely new the forum so any helpful info would be greatly appreciated.

I recently bought a 71' f100 that has a decent '73 460ci engine in it. It has a surprising amount of horsepower along with recently installed locking differential and new holley carb. I was a little confused at why it had so much horsepower considering the fact that the post '71 engines had a lower distribution ratio thus bringing its horsepower to a puny 206. Upon investigating the casting model numbers I found that the engine infact had an intake from a 78 460 (probrably a truck) and a crank from a '70 torino'. This odd combination made me gain a substantial amount of hp coupled with the discovery the my alternator pulley's grooves are a little smaller than the other pulley's grooves which made the belt ride a little high off of the alternator. This inturn made the electrical components of the truck (i.e. headlights, brakelights, radio ect.) a little dim on occasion but mostly they tend to fade in and out.The less power to the elecrical components, the lesser amount of horsepower they can rob. My truck runs noticably faster then it should although not to my dismay.
My recent and ultimate conclusion to this whole situation was that even though the engine ran decently with only a few small quirks including a small oil leak, a loose u-joint, and a possible problem with the intake in the near future, I decided that once I had enough money I would buy a new 460 or complimentable big block. Preferably a complete engine that is ready to be dropped in.
I now have the money to do so, roughly 6000-8000 dollars once I am done saving.

I was hoping someone had any advice on how to go about doing this, including anything I might have to possibly do outside of just purchasing a complete engine to drop. I'm am relatively new to the mechanics of automobiles and I need to figure everything out before purchasing an expensive new high performance engine for my investment. A few questions I have are:

What other parts will I have to replace along with the engine?
What are the boundries on the size of engine that I can literally fit under the hood?
Should I consider having a professional mechanic drop the engine in and do the work or should I find the necessary equipment to do so myself? My friends dad has an engine lift so i have access to that.

any response would be greatly appreciated! Thanks,

Jamison Morrison

 

Why not keep the engine you got and have it rebuilt?
You can get an Edelbrock aluminum performance intake manifold, 750 CFM Edelbrock carburetor, and some headers, maybe even do aluminum heads.

Normal wear parts.
I not sure there is a limit?
Have fun, do it yourself (you'll be happy to show her off)
You can always rent any tools or better buy them they may come it handy.

 

I think you need to run what you brung, Yes I would rebuild that ole girl . ( I gives you acertain amout of pride that a store bought engine cant ),, As for the alt. dont really make sense, Iam guessing someone bought a alt an installed it as they got it . I've bought lots of alt over the yrs with lots of pulley configrations , AND the ole Fords had suckie charging systems, They would not charge at idle - so if you sat at a red lite yes your lites would dim . I've allways run a undersize pully on the alt so it would keep the Alt charging at full voltage. Did this give me a great amount of extra horsepower ??? NO !!!!!it just made the alt charge better -- I think your confusing it with the undersize pulley kit's that you can get for the 5.0 motors an such, remind you these are pulley kits -- as more then one ., An if your saying the lites are fading in an out ??? thats your voltage reg. kicking in an out , usually a sign of up coming failure, on some I have found it to be just a matter of dirty connections at the batt. an voltage reg the alt an also. faulty ground's