[Traveler]

Just killing some time looking at cars I remember from long ago, and came across this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-TORINO-ELITE-1975_W0QQitemZ290088380316QQihZ019QQcategoryZ31836QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is that a 460 wedged into that thing?

 

[NickM]

Yep

It is.

Nick

 

[coggonobrien]

its possible looks roughly the right size in the engine compartment. if it is the only thing worth saving would be the block

 

[Southpaw]

I don't know but the air cleaner seems to be from one anyway. I used to have a '76 Elite back in the 90's but it had the smogged out 351 windsor in it. Mine was sprayed primer gray with a petrified burgandy vinyl roof on it.

It was the best car ever for cutting through rush hour traffic on the way into work. Just fly up on peoples bumpers with the left side hanging about 1 foot to the left of their car, so that they see the bumper and headlight menacing them in their drivers side mirror, and the traffic in front of you parts like the Red Sea for Moses himself! :rofl:

It seems that nobody wants to risk tangling with these cars!

 

[Traveler]

Yea, my dad had a couple of them wayyy back when they were new. My brother and I took one to the Drive-in and sat in the sunroof watching the girls go by. When we left, we just dropped down into the car, and left. Forgetting all about the speaker in the window!! (yes, thats how old I am) We returned it and they laughed and said it happens all the time.

Anyway, I always liked the Elites. Never seen one with a 460 though. Bet it ran great (if it is truly a 460) back when it was "young".

 

[tbirdbrain]

460 ci, 215hp and horrible gas milage. What a combo! (although they did make about 360lb/ft of tq).

 

[Traveler]

LOL True, it isn't the powerhouse it could have been. But compared to the 302 or even the 351 of the day I imagine it ran real good.

 

[fastford351]

460

It's a 460, the 351C/M/400's had the thermostat housing in the front of the block.. You're correct though, by '75 the 460's had been totally castrated by emmissions crap..... It could even be a 2 barrel under that air cleaner (even though it says 4V). I like the oil filter sticking out the side of the air cleaner...

 

[Mark M. TCCoA VP]

could it be a 400M?

 

[fastford351]

400m

The 400 Modified used the same cooling system as the 351 Cleveland (dry intake, T-stat housing on the front of the engine block, sometimes referred to as the cast-in timing cover). The only think common between the 400M and the 460 was the rear face of block bolt pattern (351M/400's used a 460 bellhousing set-up versus the Cleveland that used the small block bellhousing). The engine pictured in the Elite for sale on e-bay is definitely not a 335 series engine (351C, 351M, 400M).

Here's an interchangeability guide for the 335 series engines.

http://www.fordcobraengines.com/Modified History.htm

400M's look like big Clevelands (essentially that's what they are).

The 385 series engines (429, 460) are the same engine eternals with different crank and piston set-ups (stroke and pin height). The one pictured in the elite is definitely a 385 series engine.

I've run Clevelands and 429's (actually 598 CI strokers) in my race car so this is one topic I'm pretty familiar with

 

[Josh_Keady]

I got the motor for my truck (400) out of a '75 Elite! It was actually a pretty cool car. Sort of a mutant cross between an LTD and a Torino.

EDIT: lol, liked this line from the description: "I have not driven this car far enough to know if it uses oil." Translation: "This car uses lots of oil."

 

[Traveler]

Actually, a cross between a T-bird and a Torino would be more accurate. A lot of folks called them the "mini-birds". You gotta realize that when the Elite came out, as big as it was (by todays standards) the T-bird of the day was much bigger. The Elite was dropped in 77 when the "downsized" birds came out.

 

[Southpaw]

^^^ my '76 elite was classified as a mid-sized car. I got a kick out of that when I read it.

 

[fastford351]

Elite

I thought it was based off a Torino, just a spruced up one. I recall them being referred to as "Torino Elites" in the day..... Block off the port window, paint it red, put ET mags on it with a white lightning stripe down each side and over the top and Starsky an Hutch will come running

 

[Traveler]

Go to the head of the Class! They are a Torino Chassis, and the first year for them (74) They were marketed as "Torino Elites". Even had the torino name plate on them. They lost the torino name in 75.

http://grantorinosport.org/fordelite.htm

 

[_95badbird]

looks like a 460...

his..

mine..

 

[_95badbird]

It's a 460, the 351C/M/400's had the thermostat housing in the front of the block.. You're correct though, by '75 the 460's had been totally castrated by emmissions crap..... It could even be a 2 barrel under that air cleaner (even though it says 4V). I like the oil filter sticking out the side of the air cleaner...

by 72 the government got their hands on emmisions....
my neighbors 71 Mark 3 has a stock HP rating of 360 hp.
My 73 t-bird has a whopping 208 hp.....yay.

 

[Josh_Keady]

The big things they did were decrease compression and retard the cam timing by moving the keyway on the crank sprocket. Just buying a new timing set which will set the cam back to 0 degrees will give quite a performance improvement in those motors, and a lot of them came from the factory with nylon teeth on the cam sprockets, so they are probably needing replacement by now anyway.

 

[yardbird]

460

Yep, it appears to be a 460. My brother had a 74 mercury "montego", (sister car to the torino) with a 460 that he ordered new.

The 4V carb is more than likely a "4350" series which is an offshoot of the 4300 C & D series. 351C motors came with the 4300C's which were ~ 600 cfm rating. The 4300D series (early 460's ?) were slightly more cfm ~ 625 cfm. Dont hold me to those figures, been a while! The 4300 series were a "square bore style, while the 4350 series on the late 460's were a "spread bore" style, but not same spreadbore as the quadrajet carbs.

Had a 4350 on my 76 E250 club wagon van w/460 and it was not nearly enough carb. Probably Fords attempt to get as much mileage from the 460 as possible during the smog era. I think the 4350's only flowed something like 450 cfm. Primaries were extremely small and was a biatch to try to tune for towing big trailers.

 

[Blindloser1080]

Yup, definately a 460. Looks a lil different from the one in dad's 86 F-250. Those things can definately put out some power. Hehe, I've watched dad burry his speedometer past 85 MPH and it keeps goin and going, but wont go past where the needle originally sits. Needless to say, when you do everything right with those engines they have all kinds of crazy power and torque.