Thread: 460 rebuild advice

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Having considered which BBF to put in my '41 Hudson pickup I just missed it!! a '68 429.... sorry sir , just sold it! but do have a mid '70s 460 so I went for that. now I know the 429 could rev better than the 460 but all in all I'm happy with my purchase. also I live in England so big V8s don't come around every day, not cheap anyways.I hope I've made an ok choice as I've never had a big block Ford before and every one said the 429 is the one to have. So suggestions for the rebuild (oh no not that 'ol question again) . I'm not looking to make a zillion HP like some guys here seem to need, I just want to make some noise and have some street fun. I would like to take advantage of the torque levels of this engine and just rebuild it with a few tried and tested upgrade parts to help performance without going mad. It's not necessarily to be on a budget but I don't want to radically alter the truck to cope with too much power so a middle of the road build would be good. i'm getting a toploader 4sd from David Kee and will get a 9'' built to fit. what ratio would anyone recommend, I will be on 29'' high tyres. The engine I have is stock original with std d3ve a2a heads .The truck weighs around 2500 lbs without a drivetrain.
Thanks in advance..Jerry.

It doesn't take much to make 460's perform well. In stock form they are ok, but with simple Hot Rod touches they wake up considerably. The downside is the physical size, weight, and cost to do a rebuild, and for any speed parts you buy.

Two bolt mains are more than sufficient for the rpms you will be turning. Earlier heads, like '70-'71's are available, and breath much better, and have smaller chambers for better compression.

Bump up the compression to something like 9 to 1, put in a mild hydraulic cam, a dual plane aluminum intake, and about 700-800 cfms worth of carb, plus some free flowing exhaust, and you are going to have a great street package. With the light rear end of that pickup, traction will be minimal anyways. Something around 3:50 to 3:70 would be right on the edge.

I've got a 460 that is pretty much built and sitting waiting for my T bucket project to get underway, and I can't wait. They are brutal engines, and should put the big Mickeys I plan to run to the test.

Good luck..............

I'd use Keith Black #KB137 flat-top pistons, ARP rod bolts on re-sized rods, Fel-Pro #1018 head gaskets (4.500" x 0.041"), zero deck, Weiand Stealth intake manifold, Edelbrock 750, Crane H266-2 hydraulic flat tappet split pattern cam, '68-'71 429 timing chain set, headers.
9.7 static c.r.

http://kb-silvolite.com/performance....tails&P_id=190
http://www.cranecams.com/?show=brows...tType=camshaft

Originally posted by techinspector1
I'd use Keith Black #KB137 flat-top pistons, ARP rod bolts on re-sized rods, Fel-Pro #1018 head gaskets (4.500" x 0.041"), zero deck, Weiand Stealth intake manifold, Edelbrock 750, Crane H266-2 hydraulic flat tappet split pattern cam, '68-'71 429 timing chain set, headers.
9.7 static c.r.

http://kb-silvolite.com/performance....tails&P_id=190
http://www.cranecams.com/?show=brows...tType=camshaft

Hey Hudsonguy, for a mild build, do more or less what Techinspector suggested. In regards to the 68-71 timing chain, what is meant there is that you need to get a good aftermarket chain that was menat fo the 68-71 motors. Yhe 1972-up chains retard the cam by about 4 degrees, so be sure to specify the 68-71 set.

Personally, I would opt for an 850 Holley on the intake, but fuel efficiency will indeed plummet when compared to the Edlebrock 750. A 750 carb will help you get that heay Hudson going from a stand still too, but I'd still prefer the Holley 750 for it's much greater fuel metering adjustability, which you might be grateful for when calibrating for your heavy car/custom motor.

Paul

Originally posted by donsrods
Earlier heads, like '70-'71's are available, and breath much better, and have smaller chambers for better compression.

Bump up the compression to something like 9 to 1, put in a mild hydraulic cam, a dual plane aluminum intake, and about 700-800 cfms worth of carb, plus some free flowing exhaust, and you are going to have a great street package. With the light rear end of that pickup, traction will be minimal anyways. Something around 3:50 to 3:70 would be right on the edge.

Good luck..............

The D3VE-A2A heads can be made to work with some valve bowl blending on the intake and exhaust valves, and also some exhaust port work. Also, with flat top pistons your D3VE heads will give you about 9:1 compressioon ratio, which would be fine for your intended build.

The downside to the D3Ve heads is the valve train, which is limited in a high performance build. Fortunately for you, this valve train can accomodate a mild cam up to, say .525" lift. So unless you intend to go really big and popwerful later, your heads can be made to wrk fine (even the early heads benfit from the same port work).

This advice comes from someone that sells the early style heads.

Paul