49 Ford F3 with Ford 400

I'm about to take possession of a 49 Ford F3 1 1/2 ton dump truck that someone has stuffed a Ford 400 V8 in. The truck is in pretty bad shape looks wise, but looks to be OK physically. I'm looking to turn it into a work truck for around the farm and town hauling gravel and stuff.

It looks like a stock crate motor to me that has very few miles on it. The labels on teh valve cover describing the engine setup are hardly discolored at all. I know nothing about the 400, but I'd like to get as much torque out of it as possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Since this is going to be a work truck that will haul quiet a load once in a while I love to hear any suggestions about power brakes and disk brakes or other "improvements" as well.

Peter Young