[nskeeter99]

I'm a Chevy man so i know nothing of the factory performance parts for the 460. Any way A person at work today asked me if i could build him a 500 hp 460. i told him off the top of my head your looking a 5k plus but i thought i would cheek on here for how some of you guys would build a 500hp 460. He asked me if we could do it with a cam and intake swap. told him at best that would probably get him 350 hp and in the 450 tq range. I open to any suggested builds to get there for him.

Skeeter

 

[swvalcon]

460

I use to run and engine rebuild shop. I built a 460 for a freinds drag car. early model block.70 I think.We bored it to .030 and decked the block square to as close to 0 as we could get.used trw forged flat top pistons a crane cam. Don't remember the specs. But it was not really streetable by any means.Ported a set of early steel heads installed big block chev valves.set of late model truck rods with arp rod bolts.msd distibutor.21/8 in headers. aluminum intake with 1050 holley carb. motor built 510hp at about 6250 and 530 tq.I think at about 5250.Ran 10.50s in a 86 cougar with a c-6 with trans brake.No high dollar parts in the whole block .I dont think we had $2000. in the whole thing. Car ran 2 seasons and was still running when he sold it.

 

[nskeeter99]

well he wonts it streetable, i think he wonts it for a dd. It is a 65 f100. I thought about stroking it. I think you can stroke a 460 to like 550 or so. I know you can build a 500hp sbc but it wont be very streatabel i figured with the cubes it should be easy. I figer it will be in finding the right heads.

skeeter

 

[techinspector1]

I'm not necessarily a big block Ford guru, but I will try to help. I've built a couple of them in the past and as you have surmised, the heads are the problem. The early heads ('68-'71) have small chambers and do not have hardened valve seats to run on today's fuels. The small chambers present a problem with getting pistons with enough dish to bring the static compression ratio in line for pump gas with an iron head. Even if you can, you're still faced with installing hard seats and upgrading the valve job. And you still have poor flow characteristics compared to other heads that are available today. So, even more money must be spent porting them if you are looking for some serious street horsepower.

Scott Johnston at Reincarnation is probably the primo Lima motor head porter, but a good-flowing set of his heads can get pricey in a hurry, so unless you just have to run iron heads for a class or something, I don't think this makes much sense. I may be wrong though, I've been wrong before. Decide for yourself....
http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/products_index.html

I always enjoy putting combinations together and flogging them on the DynoSim, so here would be perhaps a good street motor that I might assemble is I were so inclined. You won't need a stroker kit, just a 0.030" cleanup re-bore and stock 3.850" crank will do the job

The early blocks were, I think, 10.300" block deck height, with the later blocks ('72-up) being 10.322". Have your machinist to check the block to see what the stock block deck height is on your block. The stack of parts I'm going to use equals 10.302", so anywhere within a few thousandths of that will work. Use an Edelbrock #7314 head gasket that compresses to 0.048". You have to be careful with aluminum heads and use the gasket recommended by the head manufacturer. Gaskets made for use with iron heads could "Brinell" the heads. Look it up if you aren't familiar with this term.

I would use Edelbrock #60669 heads, 95cc chambers, 2.19" intakes, 1.76" exhausts with 292cc intake runners. There are bigger and better heads out there, but these will work great on a street motor. Use these pistons with them for a static compression ratio of 9.9:1.....
http://kb-silvolite.com/performance.php?action=comp

Routine stuff otherwise, RPM or Stealth intake, 850 carb, 1.875" long tube headers, ARP rod bolts in the stock, resized rods or aftermarket rods for a little more peace of mind. I'm going to use a hydraulic flat tappet cam on this build, so you want to observe all the precautions of using a flat tappet cam. Oil formulations have changed and extreme pressure lubricants that were originally in oils only a few years ago have been pretty much removed.

We'll use this cam, it delivers the goods at well over 500/500...Use Comp #924 or equivalent springs....coordinate with Edelbrock before you order the heads....If using a standard transmission, great. If using an automatic, bolt a 3000 stall converter to the flexplate.....
http://www.compcams.com/Cam_Specs/CamDetails.aspx?csid=990&sb=0

RPM HP TQ
2000 172 451
2500 218 458
3000 279 488
3500 356 535
4000 427 560
4500 492 574
5000 536 563
5500 555 530
6000 556 487
6500 505 408
I think I'd put a rev limiter of 5500-5800 on the motor and gear accordingly.

Static compression ratio 9.90:1
Dynamic compression ratio 8.00:1
Volumetric efficiency 100.1% @5000
BMEP 185.6 @4500
Squish with 10.302" block deck height (zero deck) 0.048"

 

[nskeeter99]

I'm not necessarily a big block Ford guru, but I will try to help. I've built a couple of them in the past and as you have surmised, the heads are the problem. The early heads ('68-'71) have small chambers and do not have hardened valve seats to run on today's fuels. The small chambers present a problem with getting pistons with enough dish to bring the static compression ratio in line for pump gas with an iron head. Even if you can, you're still faced with installing hard seats and upgrading the valve job. And you still have poor flow characteristics compared to other heads that are available today. So, even more money must be spent porting them if you are looking for some serious street horsepower.

Scott Johnston at Reincarnation is probably the primo Lima motor head porter, but a good-flowing set of his heads can get pricey in a hurry, so unless you just have to run iron heads for a class or something, I don't think this makes much sense. I may be wrong though, I've been wrong before. Decide for yourself....
http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/products_index.html

I always enjoy putting combinations together and flogging them on the DynoSim, so here would be perhaps a good street motor that I might assemble is I were so inclined. You won't need a stroker kit, just a 0.030" cleanup re-bore and stock 3.850" crank will do the job

The early blocks were, I think, 10.300" block deck height, with the later blocks ('72-up) being 10.322". Have your machinist to check the block to see what the stock block deck height is on your block. The stack of parts I'm going to use equals 10.302", so anywhere within a few thousandths of that will work. Use an Edelbrock #7314 head gasket that compresses to 0.048". You have to be careful with aluminum heads and use the gasket recommended by the head manufacturer. Gaskets made for use with iron heads could "Brinell" the heads. Look it up if you aren't familiar with this term.

I would use Edelbrock #60669 heads, 95cc chambers, 2.19" intakes, 1.76" exhausts with 292cc intake runners. There are bigger and better heads out there, but these will work great on a street motor. Use these pistons with them for a static compression ratio of 9.9:1.....
http://kb-silvolite.com/performance.php?action=comp

Routine stuff otherwise, RPM or Stealth intake, 850 carb, 1.875" long tube headers, ARP rod bolts in the stock, resized rods or aftermarket rods for a little more peace of mind. I'm going to use a hydraulic flat tappet cam on this build, so you want to observe all the precautions of using a flat tappet cam. Oil formulations have changed and extreme pressure lubricants that were originally in oils only a few years ago have been pretty much removed.

We'll use this cam, it delivers the goods at well over 500/500...Use Comp #924 or equivalent springs....coordinate with Edelbrock before you order the heads....If using a standard transmission, great. If using an automatic, bolt a 3000 stall converter to the flexplate.....
http://www.compcams.com/Cam_Specs/CamDetails.aspx?csid=990&sb=0

RPM HP TQ
2000 172 451
2500 218 458
3000 279 488
3500 356 535
4000 427 560
4500 492 574
5000 536 563
5500 555 530
6000 556 487
6500 505 408
I think I'd put a rev limiter of 5500-5800 on the motor and gear accordingly.

Static compression ratio 9.90:1
Dynamic compression ratio 8.00:1
Volumetric efficiency 100.1% @5000
BMEP 185.6 @4500
Squish with 10.302" block deck height (zero deck) 0.048"

That sounds like a great plan of attack, however a 3k stall that is kinda high for a dd uh?

 

[Argess]

Wow !!! with all those specific answers you dont' need my help, but I'll give it anyway. I'm an FE guy, so don't know much about the 385 series like the 460, but a good inexpensive start would be to get a copy of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Ford-Performance-Pat-Ganahl/dp/1884089275

It covers modifying a 460 to some extent.

 

[nskeeter99]

thanks if he wonts me to do this i my have to get this book. I really like the edelbrock heads looked them up today. figured those heads and the air gap intake. probley with the cam mentioned earlier. I'm not sure if it is auto or slandered.

 

[Argess]

To get a 460 to make close to 500 hp shouldn't be a big deal. Cam, intake, exhaust should do it, plus pistons to get around 9.5:1 for iron heads. And decent low end torque should be there too. Now the old rule of thumb of 1 hp for every c.i. really seems pretty close to me for engines with easy mods like I mentioned. New heads and valves, etc. may give you more Hp, but you may lose low end torque as you increase the cam too far to match that new "flow".

Your original estimate of 5K should be more than enough to grab that 500 hp mark, or darned close, even though a lot of the $$$ will be used for basic machining rebuild work.

 

[nskeeter99]

yea i was thinking most of the money would go in heads and the machine shop.

skeeter

 

[techinspector1]

That sounds like a great plan of attack, however a 3k stall that is kinda high for a dd uh?

Nah, it'll only see 3K stall with the loud pedal wooded and slicks hooking up from a standstill. 3K stall is streetable. With the torque generated, you could probably substitute a 2500 stall unit and be fine. Install an auxiliary trans cooler in front of the radiator. With 3.50-3.70 gears, this thing should be a bear.

If you want less stall, use less compression and less cam. Result- less hp and torque.