My "New" Truck needs a rebuild

I have picked up a 1978 F-250 Camper Special w/ 460, it has almost a million miles on the odometer. My dad and I want to rebuild it but I want to stroke it out to around 510-520 I want it to be an absolute stump puller and I'm completely new in terms of building engines. So I was curious on how to make the maximum amount of low end torque. I was planning on getting an Eagle crank assembly with a 4.3 stroke. It needs to be pump gas friendly due to the weekend cruising+occasional road trip plans of the future. Carb, intake manifold, header, heads suggestions? I want to know as much as possible before tearing into this project. Any knowledge would help and would be much appreciated. Thank you

Personally I think I would go with a 4.150 stroke and tame 9.5:1 compression with a Pro-Comp head for pump gas tolerance. The difference between that and a 4.300 stroke will be neglageable and less hungry cubes to feed. JMHO!

That sounds good, maybe a 502 stroker but what are the keys to low end torque? I already have an 2.5" X-Pipe exhaust on the truck. Cam suggestions?

Decent compression without going overboard is a big key! I would try to get as close to 9.5:1 as possible without going over but pay special attention to keep the piston within .045" of the head, the average gasket is .041 so no more than .004" in the hole on the pistons. Tight quench and deburring any sharp edges in the cumbustion chamber will all help along with the aluminum heads. As for cam I would think something with ~ 224i/234e@.050" ~.550i/.560e" with a 108-110 lsa using a performer intake and either a Holley 870 street avenger or the Edelbrock 800 with some tuning will make stump pulling torque.

This is a Comp Cams catalog cam with very similar specs to what I was suggesting.

http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=998&sb=2

521, with factory d3 heads ( good valve job and blend), 9:1-9.5 compression, small custom hydraulic roller cam, Edelbrock performer and a 750 carb.

Some headers and a good ignition system

I think Lem still has a kit or two left for sale.