Honest opinion on 460 Fords

Damn those FE'S ARE UGLY!

 

Yep right on the looks Dept . Been saying that all along . If what you have is the dish piston truck motor , be careful not to over do the carbs. They will take a lot , but you can hurt it by going too far . The flat top pistons will perform well or at least better because instead of an 8.5 motor ( if memory serves right ) it's going to be about a 11 to 1 or so , maybe a wee bit more , but your will have hardened valve seats for our trash gas

 

Fantastic Block that can make Serious HP for Under $5k.

Balanced Scat Crank and rotating assembly is an excellent upgrade (pick your stroke)...
The old pre 73 heads make lots of hp/tq even without a lot of work. I have two sets of 1970 Thunderbird or TJ heads, The ports are huge and they breath very well.. Even in the heavy '70 T-birds these things effin Flew.

Newer Ford Motorsport (or other) race heads and the scat rotating assembly can make 600+/- hp and way beyond...

How much real reliable HP do you need ??
Can't beat the reasonable build price and fun factor that can be obtained..

JMHO.

moe

 

BTW, you obviously heard plenty about your 'fauxpaux' regarding "460CJ"...

Irregardless, use the original 460 you have and if it doesn't already have one, throw a 1970 Timing chain and gears in it for a fast and cheap 30+/- HP gain. The later 460 (in the early 70's) were detuned by changing the timing at the cam via setting the cam gear 4 degrees back (if I recall).

....I'm not sure what year of 460/429 (basic same block for the most part) you are talking about... most all are 2 very solid 2 bolt mains and will handle tremendous HP and TQ... It's pretty hard to find a (rare) 429 4 bolt main block but they do exist...





.

.

 

I am an equal opportunity engine lover, and can't understand why it matters what kind of engine you have in the rod as long as it is really big and really fast. You are almost hurting my feelings saying that an FE engine is ugly. I am still running a 428, and a couple of 390 powered cars, and they look beautiful to me until I have to change the plugs on the left side. The biggest problem about using them in a rod was finding a rear sump pan. Fitting one in a solid axle rod with the front sump is not an easy task.
Bob

 

I'm running a 460 in my model a. Sure its not traditional looking. But honestly, a 305 chevy from a 1980's truck isnt tradtional either. What is traditonal is putting a big motor in a little car. This is what defines a hot rod. Sure you can dress any motor up to look nostalgic, but what it really comes down to for me is whether its really a "hot" rod. My 460 pushes close to 600 horse with over 600 lb.ft. of torque. Just a blib of the throttle sends the 13x30 dirt trackers up in smoke. Thats a hot rod in my book.

 

I don't want to hijack this post,but I have a question.I have a 460 marine engine that came out of a jetboat and I am going to put it in a 65 Ford truck.Can anyone tell me what if anything is special about the marine version? I know it is not reverse rotation and it has a SCJ intake on it.Other than that,is it a good version of this engine?

 

Never had an FE that was a leaker if put together right in 40 yrs.
I've seen 427 Cammers in high dollar dueces that were beautiful.
FE's can look real good with the Tall Ford valve covers and the
right intake. I have a 429 now that looks good. Put early heads on it
(71 or older) not CJ. Good cam,headers and intake and you'll be happy

 

SCJ intake, slightly different cam specs (nothing special, usually, depends on the version), marine carburetor & distributor (again, boat safety requirements, not anything earthshaking), timing cover may be different. The basic longblock is the same as a pass 460 (excepting cam ).

They are good starting points as long as you watch for corrosion in the intake, heads, & block.

 

"mid-late 70's" being the critical quote here...

 

I know a guy with a 700 hp, 750ft. lb. stump puller. Next time I see him, I'll tell him to "toss" it, because it's junk, it's a boat anchor, and above all, it's ugly. This thread is hilarious! Thanks for the laughs guys!

 

Love the mighty limas, here's a few pics of my old coupe for the haters.

 

.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


And You'ld be the guy that would complain about how under powered a model A 4 banger was compared to your 75+ year newer dodge diesel.

It takes all kinds of people of which You are one.

By the way, they miss you over on the Diesel Forum.

 

I admit to being a life long Ford nut. I like the looks of FE's and 385's much better than the ever popular SBF. Best looking Ford, dressed out Flathead with Y-block right behind. Almost anything with the distributor up front (where god intended it to be, sorry Y-block) looks better than rear mounted distributor IMHO.

 

meaning that these motors were NOT nasty, evil, mofo's in their stock form, and, of course, like everything else, took an ABYSMAL nose dive in cam profiles/compression ratios the further along we got into the 70's...it was not until much later on, that the true performance potential of these engines was realized. That potential...is very good.

 

Run along now Dub, they need you back at the Diesel Forum.

 

This isn't a diesel forum...run along and put your Granddad on.

 

Hahahahaha!!!! I can't believe this subject is controversial. Let's see we've used the excuse that Ford's suck because, hhhmmmm, they're expensive, then it was they're hard to build???, and now what?, we're out'a stuff to think of so we'll just say they're ugly. HA! Now I know you anti- Ford mavens are scared.

I honestly don't know where to start here. It is so futile, the effort to change someones mind with a typewriter. I noticed the believers in this thread are the ones who've actually had a 429- 460. You other guys hang onto your sbc religion. That will keep the big block Ford stuff available for those that know.

So much mis- information on this thread makes me wonder. Like the comment about the "poor" exhaust port. I ask you, If you had the choice would you rather have a weak exhaust port or a weak intake port which would you choose? Which is easier to modify? Do you guys realize how easy it is to straighten out a BBF ext port? I have done many. I KNOW that is alot easier to correct than it would be to try and correct the unequal BBC intake ports. Of course you "traditionalists" could just buy an aftermarket this or that to keep your BBX competitive. Thank God for the aftermarket.

Another good one is the 440 Mopar choice. Now I'm not knocking the engine design Joe. I know little about them except they came in some decent musclecars and a few trucks and motorhomes. The problem is....find me one! Do I have to get a special one to get the "good" heads? I am scrathing my head as to why you think a 440 Mopar is a better choice for a `57 Ford than a 429- 460 especially when you consider the extra work it must have taken to to get that engine in there, and in the end you've probably killed the resale value of that car.

Let's see what else? Oh yeah they're ugly. A Cadillac 500 ain't ugly? Define ugly. I think cast connecting rods are ugly. Ya'll are ugly too, but hey that's just my opinion!

 

Hello... I don't comment much but, this is funny. I am a true Ford fan. The 460 is a great motor. As for traditional well, in my hot rod family the bigger the motor the better! Why build a go-cart motor for a car???

 

Dub...we don't care for diesels.
Its a traditional (pre 65) Hot Rod board.
I'm sure your 8 second dualy, quadcab truck or whatever you have is fun, but it's not really for here ya know...
Just because you like it doesn't mean we MUST learn to like it too.

Try Diesel-dorks.com...heres a link thru Myspace...won't work direct for some reason.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=7259110

Comedy goes over big there and that LAWN DART to the head barb...MAN...that was just precious. I'm still laughing...seriously.

 

Do tell? Was that the King Cobra that ended up with a stock nose and a wedge head engine on a used car lot in the Carolina's? (O-rings came in the little box)

If the FE came out in 1958 why can't it be traditional?

The street Boss 429's had such large ports they were considered dogs on the street. Not so for the wedge headed engines.

Mid 70's 460 powered Lincolns had 2.75 rear gears, BTW. Someone asked about putting a high gear behind a 460.

Tracy

 

If you would have bought a 32 buick in it's day and I would have bought a 32 Ford, I would still be driving the Ford and the Buick would have long been scrapped.
I've seen thousands and thousands of 32 Fords (which were less expensive than Buicks) but I don't Ever recal seeing a 32 Buick. I do know that there are probably some out there but the fact is that the less expensive Ford was made to last.

You have been educated.

By the way, There will still be 1,000,000 Flatheads ready to run in 100 years...
Where will you get the complicated engine management computers to run your diesel in 30 years? (maybe you can Use your ever expansive self proclaimed deep pockets, you'll surely need them)



-31 Rumbleseat coupe, original running Flathead 4 banger in paradable condition
-41 Ford Business Coupe with it's original, never pulled or rebuilt engine.
-35 Ford with it's original Flathead V8
-31 Roadster with 50 Merc Flathead V8
- half dozen Trucks with original Flathead V8s in various states of running condition, Most are original running Farm trucks
- a dozen Flathead V8s, BBF's, SBF's, Bangers ...more..
- no planned obsolescence Dodge Diesels with $4500 injectors that won't be produced 30 years from now.

 

Yes,
The EPA all but put an end to the hp and torque of North American Manufactures thru Penalties of HP and Gas Guzzler Laws.

The exact same thing happened over at GM. I remember my pappy's new 1974 GMC Truck with a 454 in it.
It was a dog. And even after break in, it still would not make more than 100+/- mph, nor could it actually spin the tires (I tried).

And That's what All Manufacturers were forced to do with the Big Torque monsters that they had designed in the 60's..

There was no immunity amongst the Big 3. Ford was no different, they conformed to the Government/EPA and 'detuned' a huge engine that had much more potential than it had been allowed to make.

35 years later, Ford (and others) are making huge HP with small displacement engines while actually cleaning up the air they breath.

The EPA may have put the brakes on things by forcing the big 3 to detune there engines, but that only forced them to adapt under adverse conditions.

Detuning the large V8s was a short term fix to a problem that was handed down by the Government of the day. And The technology was not yet developed to do anything other than conform....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




It seems so easy for everybody to just say 460s were shit when 454's were just as shit but lets not bash anything GM.







And As for the Dub and his diesels, ....

Why yes Junior it is a Hot Rod Forum...

By the way, My Grand daddy worked on the Saturn 5 Rockets that placed the Apollo into orbit at 17,000 miles per hour.
Those Saturn 5 Rockets had 7,500,000 lb of thrust and would out pull 10,000 Dodge Diesels Straight up 200 miles while burning all the plastic bumpers off.

Ya Know,
My Grand daddy always said that if you can't afford a Saturn 5 Rocket, you can always buy 10,000 dodge Diesels.....



Dub,
I realize we aren't all the smartest test pilots in the world but Apples are apples and Saturn 5 Rockets aren't Dodge Diesels and this is a hotrod forum.


jmho

lmao



.

 

I just have to say, i didn't know this thread was gonna get this crazy when i started it, but it's great.

And for DUB my dad's 460 out lasted his cummins he had the cummins 3 years and it took a shit, he's had the 460 for 15 it's still goin' with 350,000 and some change miles. Still pull stumps, and stranded dodge diesels...Oh and since every body is saying what there grandpa did, my grandpa rebuilt engines for D8 catepillar dozers, and rock quarry dump trucks, that could pull 10,000 dodge diesels, and saturn rocket.

And for those who say 460's and FE's are ugly, cool, i think they're kick ass and honestly how do you judge an engines uglyness, or prettyness? I love 460's and other BBF, not a fan of chevy's unless it's a straight six, love ford sixes, opel engines, Ford 4 bangers, flat head fords and caddies, olds rockets, and many others like the slant 4 cyl that's in my grandpa's scout, that'd be an interesting rod engine.

 

Good point, Moefuzz. The 429-460 was de-tuned like everything else once the EPA stepped in. Anyone buying a big block anything from 72-74 and on got a boat anchor with a whole lot of performance missing. With all those low powered 460's out there with little value, a new set of aftermarket heads and some performance parts are turning a reasonable investment into a respectable powerplant for the dough. If I tried to buy a 427 Ford, I'd have more in the engine just getting a rebuildable one than a new set of SCJ heads for a 460. Rebuildable or good running 460's are cheaper than a set of pistons or a stock intake for a 427. The budget alone makes these a steal. By the way Silent Orchestra, thanks, this post is a riot!

 

I call shenanigans!


Come on, really? 10,000 trucks and a Rocket? A Satern Rocket? Really?
I was born in the morning, not yesterday morning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenanigan

P.S. I hope we all are having fun, smile ​

 

the last thing I really have to say on this delightful thread is really the end of the story. plain and simple. we are all biased, a bit, as we have our allegiances, and convictions....however:
To find out and honest opinion on how well a "385" series BBF runs...go to your local dragstrip. Not for a nostalgia event, 'cuz you most likely won't find 'em there, but on a normal night....the countless number of guy's running them there, will gladly tell you why. this is like arguing Cleveland vs. Windsor...sure, maybe in 1976 the Cleveland motor was where its at, but...that is a dated argument. The Windsor LONG ago surpassed the Clevelands performance/reliability potential, mostly as a result of the Mustang aftermarket...and when folks started squishing these into Fox-bodies...as well as Pulling trucks, Jet boats, and other bracket cars...this motor came into its own.

 

There's still alot of speculation about the King Cobra's. Here's a pretty good info source: http://www.dearbornflashback.com/xfiles_kingcobra.asp

 

Quick question for you 460 fans to educate me a little bit - am I remembering right that 460 had a problem in race-appplications with weak rod caps? I seem to remember reading that a long time ago, but that it was an easily solved problem. Set me straight, will ya?

 

Nope, never heard that. And, even if the stock rods caps were weak, there were plenty of factory heavy-duty rods. As I recall off the top of my head:

429CJ/SCJ/truck rods - same as stock, but with bigger bolts

429 Boss rods (two lengths)

429 NASCAR rods (four varieties)

and even back in the day, there were aftermarket aluminum rods for this application. I had a set of Childs and Alberts made circa 1970 that were HUGE. They made the NASCAR rods look like baby rods!