New here. 385 fan for 20 years

octanehuffer October 25th 2012, 6:45 pm

Hi guys. My first vehicle was a bone stock 1988 F-250 XLT super cab long box. EFI 460, C-6, 4x4.
Got the truck in my junoir year of high school and beat the living piss out of it through mud holes and pulls. 9" of lift and tons of mods to it for off roading. Super clean body to this day. Somewhere around 2004 the engine started using 2 quarts of oil between oil changes. The rings stacked and the engine had 93k on it. There was a crosshatch issue I'm told. Any how, I have had the engine bare since then and have been thinking of putting it into my 97 Thunderbird backhalf project. I threw away the heads, rods, crank and front brackets. Picked up some TRW forged .030 pistons a long time ago. I have always wondered if the 88 block is worth using. I t has been sitting on the stand for almost 10 years. Hoping to get back into the BBF if there is hope for what I have.
Adam

bruno October 26th 2012, 7:10 am

welcome the best bbf site around !!!!! any questions just let us know cheers

octanehuffer October 26th 2012, 8:40 am

Hi. Is an 88 block safe to use for moderate power? 700-800 hp is all I need. I got tired of breaking 5.0 blocks with only 500 rwhp and do not want to over do it if an 88 460 block won't hold up.

69F100 November 2nd 2012, 7:36 am

octanehuffer wrote:Hi. Is an 88 block safe to use for moderate power? 700-800 hp is all I need. I got tired of breaking 5.0 blocks with only 500 rwhp and do not want to over do it if an 88 460 block won't hold up.

yes the block should be fine the 88 model will be a d9 block here is a good read on the blocks

https://www.429-460.com/t120-block-info-gathered-by-djohagin

octanehuffer November 2nd 2012, 10:22 am

Thank you. I had no idea that the early cranks will not fit the later blocks due to a deeper cylinder, nor that most aftermarket companies spec the cranks for the later crank weight circle so they will fit in all blocks. When I order a crank, I will be sure to check the circle dimensions though.

Mike R November 3rd 2012, 8:04 pm

Welcome to the site, great people and everything you would want to know about 429-460's, the best 385 series minds on the planet are here. Even better, this ain't TCS lol!