How do I make a 460 look traditional?

Three words........Price Motorsports Engineering...........these are cast aluminum "pentroof" style valve covers. This a traditional early `60's Ford style.


link: http://www.pricemotorsport.com/

BBF valvecovers



end view



pic of a SBF with them



460 Ford



side view

 

In my opinion if you paint that engine Ford blue (or any color for that matter) you'll have a big blue blob. Break that up by painting the front cover and w/pump silver or aluminum etc.

If you really want to be different get some "center dump" exhaust manifolds from a 370 or 429 powered F600- F800 Ford truck. Grind the excess iron off them to make them look good.

like these:

 

I've run alot of BB ford in my haulers, the late 60's early 70's valve covers have the same scrpit as the 390s'. I have heard of adapting a MEL tri power intake to a 385 series (429-460) but have never actually seen it done. They are not much for looking traditional but they sure have power, I have one in my 66 Mercury pickup, hauls ass, but the hood stays closed unless i'm checking the oil.

 

Use the pent roof v/c obove, but with this intake...... http://www.gerlecreek.com/images/hl4782-4783.jpg
http://www.gerlecreek.com/willys/index.htm

 

Amen! What the hell. If you've got a 460 there are tons of go fast shit for them and who gives a shit if it looks like a BBF? It is what it is, a bad assed motor that will "LOOK" just friggin' fine. What the hell's wrong with aluminum SVT valve covers, or stuff like that? Yates has a shit load of stuff for them. I'd be tickled shitless if I had a 460 in my '56 and if the Y-block ever gave up the ghost it just may have one and I won't be postin' shit on here about whether or not it looks "traditional" ...

 

#### Paint it orange !! >>>>.

 

throw away that big ugly alternator, and get yourself a 12v generator. Find an old aircleaner.

 

I am a "traditionalist".................. but just run the fucker and don't sweat the small stuff!

 

I saw that, too.

First, there is no 400M. That is a misnomer created and perpetuated by magazines. The 400 was introduced in 1971. It was always just "400", until it became 6.6l. The 351M has the M and it only has the M. Ford, in the Motorsports catalogs, described the M as standing for Modified. There is no other factory reference to the M.

The 400 is a Cleveland family engine, and is a tall deck Cleveland with a 460-style bell housing bolt pattern, except for the "400 FMX' block which had a Cleveland/302 pattern. The 400 has it's own engine mount pattern, just to fuck with us.

The 400 shares the same dizz with the 429/460. That's about it.

You Can NOT "bore the piss" out of any modern Ford engine without a sonic check. Reread that sentence and write it on your fridge. Only the 429/460 has any hope of being bored .080, but only after a sonic check. Cleveland family engines are thin wall castings and all castings have some core shift during the casting process. All Cleveland family blocks have a 4 inch bore and thin walls and some core shift. Don't gamble. Shooting for .06? Have it checked.

A 351M is a 400 with a different crank and different pistons. It's a simple job to upgrade to 400 cubes.

Some say the 351M has a 351W crank. Those people should be ignored or be given a micrometer and a book of Ford casting codes.

As for a 460 looking trad, that is a tall bill. it's a modern looking engine, which is made more obvious by how well it's 10.3 deck height can be seen above the suspension. Same for the 400 (10.3, too). Cal Custom did make finned VCs for the 460, and that is definately where I would start. I passed on a set at Long Beach years ago and I regret that. BTW, Ford did make a six pack for it.....

My 460 (not trad):

 

I was thinking about putting one in my shoebox ford and placing a cad 4bbl air cleaner on it, some call it a "bat wing" intake incorrectly, and mimicking the cadillac valve covers on the 460. Essentially making it a Fordallic at first sight. Then I stumbled into 3 Hemis and now I'm running the stock flathead while I mull this one over.

Making it look traditional is missing the point I guess but it will confuse the hell out of the 350 guys.

 

I briefly owned this monstrosity. Got it kinda cheap, Ugly as sin with a shit ton of power in a shitty frame that broke the second I hammered it. Anyway, that engine was so damn long that the only way to run a radiator was in the back. So now it looked like shit at BOTH ends. And it was akward and you take so many steps AWAY from the special traditional look we all love that it just seems not worth it to me. I parted the truck out.



Then again, screw me. I mean it's your car do what you want, you know?

 

I guess it depends on your definition of Traditional. If it means early pre/post war, you can't ever fool that 460 into looking correct. If you think 60'-70's style Hot Rod then just use era correct pieces and go for it. The reality is the Big Block 385 series came out in 1968 so it can't possibly look correct in a 50's or earlier style car.
ford has made them in 5 displacements 370/429/460/514/521, although the 514-521 never came in a car, just Ford Racing parts crate motors.

 

Good Lord and we all know the tradition died before '68. When did F#*$%$' 350/350 show up? And all those T5s. Period Correct is a museum term not a Hot Rod concept. I'm glad there are those who want something that is historically correct, but those you emulate would have not considered this for a New York second. Hell the guys on both coasts hated the looks of the other costs rods. Those East coast guys just didn't get it! Fenders on a roadster? That's not "TRADITIONAL"

 

Since when is putting a big engine in a small car and wanting to haul ass not traditional ?

 

everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, looks good when it has 557 cubes!

 

Awright I am jumping in here so maybe someone else may have posted this. But here goes-
What about the big engine that was in the Edsel's in '58?

I beleive it is the same bolt pattern.

If not, maybe you could paint some plain stamped 460 covers to look like the Edsel covers.

 

This same thread pops up all the time. And a bunch of dudes jump in and try to redifine "traditional" as it pertains to this site. They say things like "Fast is traditional" or "Whaddya mean my LS2 isn't traditional? If it was available back then, they would have run it..." Sure they would have. But that's not the point. Let me be clear on how I feel, there in NOTHING wrong with the new motors, or the billet stuff, or IFS or anything. I'll ride in those cars and respect those builders and we are very much in the same family. It truly is your car and you can do what you want, and screw what anyone thinks about it, but there is a wide, grey, wavy line between modern and traditional and the 460 is definitely not on the traditional side. The only way it can be is if you paint a Norman Rockwell scene on the air cleaner...

 

The bog engine in the Edsel is indeed a MEL, but the 58, 59 and 60 MELs had the same bell housing bolt pattern as the FE. It was changed in 1961, who TF knows why. So, an earlier MEL will not bolt to a '62 MEL trans. But, the Cruisomatic MX trans did have a removable bell housing.

 

The bolt patterns aren't the same, exactly. Briefly:

'58-'60: MEL is the same as FE
'61: is the same as the FE, but it uses a unique bell to '61 as the transmission is different where it bolts to the bell. The case was redesigned & lengthened to add an extra clutch pack, IIRC.
'62-'65: uses a modified FE with the starter in a different location...not possible to use the FE bells as the block would have to have a rather large chunk removed...nor is it possible to use a FE engine with the '62-'65 Lincoln bell. These bells have the same trans case pattern as the '61.
'66-'67: uses weird "trapezoid" bell pattern with the new C6; the Lincoln C6 is unique & unlike any other Ford C6, for those two years.

I believe it MIGHT be possible to use a '58-'61 engine, with the '61-only bellhousing, to mate to the '62 trans. I can't swear to this, though...and from what I've heard the '61 bell is pricey & hard to find.

For unknown reasons, possibly warranty replacement, the passenger 429/460 blocks have the "trapezoid" pattern in addition to their own regular pattern, and kept it until the introduction of the D9TE truck blocks.

Tom Custom, just a minor correction...I don't know about all the Lincoln years, but so far as I know the '58-'60 used the LX Cruise-O-Matic (known in Lincoln-speak as the PBB, from the trans tag, or Twin-Turbo), and the '61-'65 used the HX Cruise-O-Matic (tagged PCA). There were actually four different case lengths...FX @ 9 7/8"; (also the later FMX had this size as well, I believe); MX @ 10 7/32"; the LX @ 10 3/4"; & the HX @ 11.6". I don't think the Lincolns ever used the FX or MX cases.

 

Ok guys, I should probably re-phrase my first post. I know a 385 series could never be a true traditional engine being that it came out in 68, nor am I trying to build an era correct hot rod museum peace. What I'm trying to do is build an engine that will look "right" IMO in a Tudor and blow the doors off just about anything in town, and IMHO most of the parts you can get for the 460 look to new to look right on this car.

To all those who offered suggestions and information I thank you, you definitely gave me some ideas on how to pull this off.

 

That's what I thought.

 

LMAO!! Love that. I had a 70 Boss 302. Great engine.

 

In our town there's a guy (D.W. on the hamb) that has a blown sbc in his model A. He definitely blows the doors off most anything in town. Look it up, it's crazy. I think he's in the 10's already. If you're anti SBC then if I may make a humble suggestion....HEMI!! You can build a fun early Hemi for about the cost of an SVO BBF. It won't be as much power but it'll scoot pretty good and scare little kids just fine

 

It's already an old engine family. I agree with the "just drive it" guys.

 

I would LOVE a Hemi, I just already have a machined 460 block and heads. I'm gonna do what I can to dress it up and drive the shit out of it. Thanks guys, I'm out tell monday.

 

Those East coast guys just didn't get it! Fenders on a roadster? That's not "TRADITIONAL"[/quote]

The more you say the more I believe YOU don't get it!!!

 

Build it the way you want it, with the parts you have on hand, the only person you have to please is yourself, I say "just build it", at least it's not the same old boring 350/350 combo.

 

If you want traditional then put a traditional engine in it .
Stop trying to make something look like something it's not , just because you want it to look traditional when it's not even close ! I can't stand all the damn different valve covers people buy to put on the damn Chevy run of the mill small blocks trying to make it look like an Olds or some other engine !
If you want it to look a certain way then do it the RIGHT WAY !
Just buy a Flathead ! Problem solved ! Now that's TRADITIONAL !

 

The HAMB must be going bad. Once guys would get flamed to hell for even posting a pic of a car with FAKE engines, valve covers etc., now we have suggestions to do it!

The world really is in recession.

 

The Cobra Jet Valve covers look pretty good, but cost an arm and a leg . . .