Hi all, hoping for some opinions based on experience regarding camshaft selection for a 460 Ford. After trashing our alky 302 SBF in our altered, my dad and brother do not want to continue using methanol. So, in my view our only option to keep the ET's down fairly cheap is more cubes! We have aquired an early 80s 460 Ford which we intend to use as a running project. So, first build up will be budget using the stock bottom end (only with re-sized, ARP bolted con rods bushed for floating pins) and the stock heads. The way i see it, for the first build we need to consider purchasing pistons, cam and matching valvetrain, inlet manifold, carbs. I know stock heads are lacking on the exhaust side but on our 302 i did quite a good job of porting and used a dual pattern cam which seemed to work well. Anyone have experience of using a dual pattern cam in a 460 for the same purpose or even have dyno results of a single pattern against a dual pattern?? Thanks,
Hello. Take at look at this: http://www.429-460.com/t121-big-block-ford-horsepower-chart-info-gathered-by-djohagin Being a BBF guy, I spend a lot of time on this site and you'll likely find it worth your time. These guys are the jedi masters of the 385 series and folks like John Kaase post often there as well. Post your cam recommendation question under the engine tech section. They will steer you right. Even a budget 460 Ford build can be a serious a$$ kicker. Best of luck to you sir.
Thanks, very interesting. It seems all the builds in the list even as far as running Kaase p51 heads are using dual pattern cams.
I can't offer much help for a race car, but I have been running dual pattern cams in a number of healthy street driven FE's, and I am really fond of the results. Excellent low rpm torque curves. Can you tell us a bit about what your plans are for gearing? The 460 will have a completely different torque curve then the 302. Just curious as I have high hopes of building a drag car around a 430 Lincoln some day, but with the 4500 rpm redline and 500 ft-lbs from the factory, it has more in common with a diesel then a high strung short stroke small block.
I expect gearing is something we will have to play with. We run a c4 completely rebuilt with PA internals but of course the 302 doesn't get is off the line quick. It does its work screaming through the gears. Even with the 3 speed I suspect the rpm limit of a stock bottom ended 460 might have us hitting the Rev limiter before the quarter.