EFI 460

[Bronco79]

If anyone has any questions about doing an EFI swap into their Bronco, I am one of the few that have already done it, so if you have any questions, post here.

Thanks

[secondechomatt]

have you ever done a write up on this? Its definitely something I've considered for my truck in the future.

[buffs 78 ford]

I wish I could find a pic of a 1979 F 150 extra cab that a local owns. It has a EFI 460 With a Powerdyne Supercharger 5 speed done right. It looks factory and it took best of show last year.

[Bronco79]

http://nelson.macd.ca/bronco.htm

there is kinda a writeup there about it.

I used the Advance Adapters motor mounts

[dhughes]

Is there any certain year that is a better donor engine? Did you just take the wiring harness out of the donor and splice it in to the bronco harness? Does anybody make a harness for the 78/79?
Thanks, DH

[buffs 78 ford]

The best thing I have seen is to go out and buy a Uhaul van or truck everything is there and there dirt cheap plus you can make some money back on parts.

[BroncoBabe]

i might lean on you next winter for some hints on the efi swap tom. i'm gonna see how the carb works this year and if i'm running the bowls dry too many times on the hills it'll fuel injection time :)

[Bronco79]

My engine and transmission came out of an 88 E-350, now it's better to get them out of the older vehicles as the transmissions were not electronically controlled.

In some ways, an engine harness out of an F series would be better than the engine harness out of an E series. I had to lenghten a few wires from the drivers side to the passengers side to work with the harness that I had. If I were to re-do the wiring harness, I would get one out of an F series and do it that way.

There was no harness made for the 78-9 Bronco/F series. it is all cut and paste to figure out what went where. Remember that you also need a high pressure fuel pump and lines. Again, when I am re-doing my Bronco, I will be running proper steel pressure and return lines along the frame. the plastic lines that I have from the Econoline work fine, and have for the past 8 years.

[dhughes]

Thanks for the info. I found a 90 e250 van that has a 460/aod and 55,000 miles on it, he wants 1,000 for it. What do you think? Too high? Also can I swap the tailshaft on the aod and use it in my 78 with the 205 behind it?
Thanks, DH

[redmt79]

You sure about that AOD? To my knowledge, the AOD was never put behind a 460. I would guess it is an E4OD.

To me, the price doesn't seem bad though.

[dhughes]

I'm not sure, thats just what the guy told me. Which auto tranny would be better to go behind the efi 460 in my 78 bronco?

[UTfball68]

I'm not sure, thats just what the guy told me. Which auto tranny would be better to go behind the efi 460 in my 78 bronco?


If it were me...I'd go C6 and when you get the money, go with a Gear Vendors OD unit. If you don't have that kind of cash for the GV unit and adapters (roughly 3k), go with an E4OD. It's based off the C6 with an OD unit, but I don't feel it's as strong. I believe 460's had C6's mated to them still in the early 90's. But if you do go with an E4OD, go with a '95+ unit, that's when all the mechanical bugs were finally worked out.

[dhughes]

Isn't that computer controlled? What would I have to deal with on that? I don't think I can swing the 3k on the OD unit. Would an AOD not hold up if it was built right?
Thanks, Daniel

[UTfball68]

Is what computer controlled? The E4OD? Yes...just get a stand alone computer. But if you have an EFI 460, I don't see what the problem is. As for the AOD...they're complete junk IMO...and I don't think they were ever offered behind the 460...and for good reason. You'd be money ahead just going with the E4OD...figure an AOD built to handle 500hp will set you back an easy $2k.

[redmt79]

Yes, if it is an E40D you can run it off the computer with the EFI 460, but I am not sure how easy it is to convert a 2wd version to 4wd.

The C6 was still offered up to the early 90's, so it could be a C6. Not sure when E4OD production started behind the 460's, but if it is an auto w/overdrive it would have to be an E4OD.

[UTfball68]

I believe the E4OD started going behind 460's in '91 and the C6's were stopped in '94-'95...but the E4OD's have a ton of mechanical and electronic bugs until '95.

[dhughes]

So it would be better to find a 4 wheel drive pickup thats atleast a 95 for the swap?

[UTfball68]

That would be the easiest and least problematic.

[dhughes]

Sounds good.
Thanks, DH

[Bronco79]

Remember tho, if you plan on using the E4OD/BW 1356, that your rear driveshaft is going to be shorter. and also the floor pan will need to be raised for the extra bulk of the transmission.

[dhughes]

I'm planning on running a 203/205 doubler. Will that still bolt up to the E4OD? I'm going to be running a 3 inch body lift so I should be able to clear it.

[CipClity]

I had told him this was the answer I expected; but, if anything could: it would be through EFI Live....
Thanks Rob and I will pass it along to him.... We need to find him a 12V or something else he would go for and get him on here as a member

[mr_zima]

I have a 460 that's about to blow, and am looking to replace it with a EFI460. I'm running a NP435 and would like to keep it. I have found some donor vehicles with E4OD trans and 460 EFI, and need to know if the engine computer will run the engine correctly if the trans is not there or if there will be any issues (loss of power and/or check engine light).

[Johnny]

In a word... No.... without the trans for the computer to get readings from, the computer will run in "limp" mode....

[mr_zima]

In a word... No.... without the trans for the computer to get readings from, the computer will run in "limp" mode....

I kinda figured that, but the hilljack at the junkyard told me it would...thanx for the reply

[Johnny]

Hold on a minute.... I do remember a thread over on NLOC, where a guy put a five speed in his first generation Lightning... which have automatic transmissions... and I seem to remember him getting around it by fooling the computer to think the auto trans was in neutral... Might go over there in the gen 1 section and do a search....

[Johnny]

Matter of fact I went over and dug up the thread.... and it appears you can leaving the E4OD harness in the system.....with the MLPS plugged in, and put it in nuetral....

worked for this guy... http://www.nloc.net/vbforum/gen-1-lightnings/152570-2nd-5-sp-test-drive-tonight.html

[1bad79xlt]

I have a lead on an 89 f series 4x4 with a 5 speed and fuel injected 460. Do these physically fit in our frames with the accessory brackets? Any pros or cons about this swap into my f150 versus a 70s carbureted 460?
The guy says it runs but rough. Wants 300 bucks for the engine, trans and t-case then he wants to scrap the rest. I am wondering how valuable this would be or if I should hold out for a better donor when i have the room to do the project. I am not ready to do the swap at this time.

[redmt79]

If I had it to do over again, I would swap in a FI 460. There is already a fair amount of work involved to do the carb'd swap and IMO you might as well put the additional work into it and upgrade to the EFI version. Plus you get the 5-speed. Another advantage is you have the opportunity to get the entire donor truck which makes things much easier since you wouldn't have to chase down individual parts.

Accessory brackets...don't know for sure but when Trent did his swap to the crew cab I believe everything fit w/o modification. I remember the power steering being close, but it did clear.

This isn't necessarily a diamond in the rough though. Those trucks are somewhat common in our neck of the woods and you could probably find one when you are ready. But if you do end up with it, and then later decide not to, I may consider taking that one off your hands too. :D

[1bad79xlt]

I may consider taking that one off your hands too. :D

I'm a little further away now.

I will go look at it but I think I am gonna pass. I need a shop before I do too much. Wife doesn't like it when the house smells like gas from doing stuff in the garage.

I have been researching a bit and read that some later model 460s were available with MAF. Which I assume is better.

[redmt79]

Can't blame you there, I need a bigger shop before I take on anymore projects.

One style or the other is more tunable, I can't remember which. I think Jopes went through the details of that when he built his custom EFI setup for his 400.