Thread: Has anyone put a 4.6 Ford in a rod yet?

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Hello all, new guy here.
As it is customary to give a little bio and background, here it goes...
I have been into cars since I was around 1.5 years old, (I have pics to prove it), so that makes it about 44.5 years.
I went thru muscle cars (Fairlanes, Chevelles and ElCaminos), on to Cadillacs, ('68 drop top, 70 CDV), trucks ('65 C10) and now I am finally getting around to getting serious with a 1939 Chevy I have drug all over the states.
At the moment (and for the past 10 years) I am an Aircraft Design Engineer.
At last I finally have the 3 big things needed for a good car build: Time, Place AND money.
So, on to my question, has anyone put a 4.6 in a 1939 Chevy?
I just about have the exhaust problem solved, the mounting is almost solved, the steering is maybe solved, and the oil filter relocation is far from solved.
If anyone has dealt with these rather large engines, you will know what I am dealing with.
As much as I hate to give up, the idea of sticking a later I6 in the car is looking more and more like a viable option.
Thanks,
Mike

Howdy Mike,

Although I've not seen it done in your specific vehicle I have seen it done in a early (1962) 60's ford ranch wagon & it looked fantanstic - right at home. Looked like it was a wiring nightmare to me.....

Good luck & post some pix.

Welcome aboard.

Ratty 46 aka/ regs

Those things are HUGE...Hard to believe they have less cubic inches than a 302 that's half the size, they do run well though..I haven't seen one in a rod yet..

They're getting to be more available locally.

Saw my first one sitting in the dirt at the local wrecking yard a few days back....

Three years ago I helped a cohort put one in a '68 Bronco (converted to 2 wheel drive with a set of late model mustang struts)...Had a local Ford mod motor whiz do all the wiring.... We used a Milodon pan and a remote oil filter mount with -10 lines. For the exhaust, we had a local laser cut company cut out some flanges and built a set of long tube headers, 1 5/8" with a 3" collector. Been awhile, but if my (feeble) memory serves me correctly we used the stock steering box, relocated the column slightly, and a double universal joint (from Speedway).

Anyway, it worked out very well, other then burning up a couple of AOD trannies till he had one built. Last year he had the same shop that did the wiring add a Procharger to it, and is now doing some research on converting to the DOHC heads, or maybe the 3 valve. It's a bullet now, but I guess there's really no such thing as too much horsepower.

Should be a bit easier now, there's a lot more parts available for the engine and the swap has been done by enough folks that there's some good information out on the "how to" part of it... Sometime this winter I'll be getting back on a guy's '67 Mustang that is getting a full chassis and a supercharged 5.3 with a Tremec 5 speed....

Sounds like you're getting close on yours! Sure would be a shame to give up on it now and do some feeble I6.... No comparison in performance, operating efficiency, and good old eye candy appeal.......

lincoln mark 8.. they have the same engine as the 95-02 cobra engine. just different heads. another bonous is that they are ALL aluminum!

Yeah, I really want that Buck Rogers looking mill in the engine bay.
Another problem is the cam bumps will have to extend out of the engine bay and UNDER the front fenders.
Just another factor in figuring out the "just right" locational dimensions.
As has been seconded, these are large engines for the cubes within.
I have a 289 on the engine stand a few feet away, and it gets glances when I think about installing that 4.6.
I will give it another shot this weekend to see if it will really NOT work.
Anyone know who makes the THINNEST remote oil filter relocation fitting?
That is one part of the major hurdle of this install, the steering.
As of yet, the steering shaft and the oil filter are trying to share real estate.
If I continue down this self abuse path, I may wind up tapping the oil filter fitting on the block, foregoing the adapter used to relocate the filter.
Oh, and the steering column hits the center of the left head.
The joy we all live for.
More later.
Mike

I've been toying with the idea of buying a complete '93 to '97 Mark VIII and using everything out of it to transplant into a Miata. I've found several low mileage examples locally for under $2K.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

I've been toying with the idea of buying a complete '93 to '97 Mark VIII and using everything out of it to transplant into a Miata. I've found several low mileage examples locally for under $2K.

That would be a really fun little cruizer Richard!!! The Miata, especially with the hardtop, is really a neat looking platform for some real performance!!!!!

A guy had one on pass time show a few weeks back in a 30's body, dont know what it was. It looked very cool with zoomies alos, but only ran a 14.550 or 15.550 pass.

Originally Posted by mooneye777

A guy had one on pass time show a few weeks back in a 30's body, dont know what it was. It looked very cool with zoomies alos, but only ran a 14.550 or 15.550 pass.

The guy who owns the chassis dyno we rent is a mod motor whiz!!!! He's got the 4.6 and 5.3's putting out some very respectable numbers with the Cobra style supercharger on them.... Some upwards of 500 at the wheels and still very streetable!!!!!! Then there's fools like me who still want to run a mod motor V-10 with 5 downdraft two barrells!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

The guy who owns the chassis dyno we rent is a mod motor whiz!!!! He's got the 4.6 and 5.3's putting out some very respectable numbers with the Cobra style supercharger on them.... Some upwards of 500 at the wheels and still very streetable!!!!!! Then there's fools like me who still want to run a mod motor V-10 with 5 downdraft two barrells!!!!!!!!

why not 10 Stromberg 97's?

Originally Posted by Matt167

why not 10 Stromberg 97's?

Cuz they leak and don't work worth a poop... Thinking more like downdraft Webbers.....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Sounds like you're getting close on yours! Sure would be a shame to give up on it now and do some feeble I6.... No comparison in performance, operating efficiency, and good old eye candy appeal.......

Yep, I agree on these points, although...
I am well past my high horsepower days, I just want an engine to get me around, and not eat me out of house and home.
I have a .030 over 454 block, heads, crank and rods just gathering dust in the corner of the shop.
It was for my former Chevelle, just never got around to it.
The 4.6 was going to be just that, a good "small" efficient engine.
The P.O. told me it got 26 on the highway, and that was good enough for me.

the one in our lincoln gets 28 with the ac blowin! drivin 65 mph!!!

we plan to do a swap of the engine, trans and all wiring into a 51 ford f1 pickup. we paid 4 grand for ours, but its got 70000 miles, 96, spotless, loaded options. so all in all, its a very nice car to get around till we need to tear it apart!!