Thread: 454 or 460?

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I have a pulling truck with a 454 BBC and it has the best of everything in my opinion but I was told that 460 puts out a lot more torque than a 454. Is that true?

Originally Posted by tigers83

I have a pulling truck with a 454 BBC and it has the best of everything in my opinion but I was told that 460 puts out a lot more torque than a 454. Is that true?

i guess you looking to start trouble here well i would say you have a bigger bore with the 460 ford but the chevy is the ones i build and do have a customer with a 496 that i help out on that beats the $hit out of the fords in his pull class the bbc is the way i would go i have machine up some fords still like the bbc

I beleive that chevy is superior to any other engine you can buy.

Originally Posted by tigers83

I beleive that chevy is superior to any other engine you can buy.

over 25 years i have had bbc for low buck power a is tough as nails in stock form. are EZ to build from many stock parts and have many stock heads that work good better rods then the ford at this point i hear the hate mail comming

I am probobly picking a fight with one of these die hard ford fans

Both engines react well to a build.... To say one is better then the other is just a matter of preference... I like Fords, mainly cuz I'm just obstinate enought to always go with the exact opposite of what the majority of folks like!!! We run two BBF's on the drag strip....both do 500 horse at the rear wheels and stay together great doing 100 plus runs every summer....

If money were no object, would be fun to go hang out with Pat, build one of each with equal parts, and do a dyno session....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Both engines react well to a build.... To say one is better then the other is just a matter of preference... I like Fords, mainly cuz I'm just obstinate enought to always go with the exact opposite of what the majority of folks like!!! We run two BBF's on the drag strip....both do 500 horse at the rear wheels and stay together great doing 100 plus runs every summer....

If money were no object, would be fun to go hang out with Pat, build one of each with equal parts, and do a dyno session....

i am game but like anything money has to put a damper on the party

Also about BBF or SBF for that matter their parts are so much more expensive IMO compared to SBC or BBC. The only good part I beleive IMO is the Ford 9in rear end

Originally Posted by tigers83

Also about BBF or SBF for that matter their parts are so much more expensive IMO compared to SBC or BBC. The only good part I beleive IMO is the Ford 9in rear end

Well, we're all certainly entitled to our opinions.... But the cost factor is hardly a factor anymore... And if the 9" rear is the only good parts you think a Ford has, you obviously have never messed with any of the well built Fords!!!!!

I've raced Fords, Mopars, Chevy's, and even once an AMC... Preparation and the skill of the machinist and assembler is far more important then anything the valve cover may have written on it......

Loyalty to a brand is fine, but blind loyalty can lead to problems......

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Well, we're all certainly entitled to our opinions.... But the cost factor is hardly a factor anymore... And if the 9" rear is the only good parts you think a Ford has, you obviously have never messed with any of the well built Fords!!!!!

I've raced Fords, Mopars, Chevy's, and even once an AMC... Preparation and the skill of the machinist and assembler is far more important then anything the valve cover may have written on it......

Loyalty to a brand is fine, but blind loyalty can lead to problems......

i like my bbc and will build and machine any engine and want it to run the best it can. if i build and machine up a ford or others and out runs a chevy thats is just fine with me. but not looking for the weak link s in the chain so to speak of your engine you start with you are asking for problems when you start making big power

One other thing to take a look at is the rules. Which organization's rules to you pull with. Most of the lower classes are required to stay with an engine offered in a one ton or less truck of the same manufacturer.

I love a good fight.
I'll put $5 on the BBC.

What a great thread. It seems like this one is as old as cars and Hot Roding itself. I remember my father having this conversation in the fifties as he and his buddies would extol the virtues’ of various flathead configurations and oh my stars, have you seen that, “Overhead valve junk? It’ll never catch on – too many movin’ parts and whataya gonna do when one of them spindly little ‘puss-rods’ bends and ya get valves a floating all over the place. Naw, for my money, nothin’ will ever beat a good flatie with three twos!” My father was a bit different in that he was not one to consume vast quantities of beer before, during, and after these sessions at the local Shady Oaks Garage and I can still see him smiling and telling me, “The future is the pushrod or maybe an overhead cam engine.” (He also told me to never refer to them as ‘puss-rods’ as that had some horrible satanic meaning and my God fearing Baptist mother would have a stroke at the very mention of any such thing in her house….)

It wasn’t too long after that he and I built a 312 Ford for a “dune buggy” that I somehow wangled from a neighbor. It was very loosely based on a ’49 Ford chassis with a three speed overdrive transmission. The frame had been cut down and we ended up with a drive shaft that was about two feet long. Wide rims (home-made, I might add) and balloon tires were also included. The reason I was able to horse trade for this was the “blown engine”. It seems that in one of its maiden outings, something had punched the oil pan and the 272 T-Bird’s engine didn’t fair too well without the required oil and it roasted the bearings. I drug it home and my father just smiled – it reminded him of a project he had growing up in Northern Florida that he had affectionately nicknamed “Skeeter”. We went junk yardin’ (I was in heaven) and pulled a 312 (who remembers mushroom tappets?) out of a pickup . Next was a complete “junior rebuild kit” (rings, bearings, cam, timing chain, etc) from Warshawsky’s (now J.C Whitney). I learned a lot with this one – about measuring with a micrometer and using a ring compressor and inside/outside calipers, the importance of keeping things clean, why we use the torque wrench and how important lubrication is. Mostly I learned that my father was the greatest man on earth and he knew so much about everything. I learned to drink coffee and listen to him tell me about a lot of other things as we built his engine. One especially vivid memory was that my father made a cardboard template of the exhaust flanges and then cut out new one from ¼” steel and then cobbled up a set of “zoomies” that were akin to what the top fuelers were running. The first time we started this engine was at night and let me tell you about the sound and light show we had. For the next few years we went to local drags and highlighted our year with the Winternationals at Pomona. We’d see all the big three jockey for top fuel and funny car honors as well as all the Mustangs, Camaros, and ‘Cudas that made the 60’s a great time to be fan of drag racing. Don’t even remember when I got rid of the buggy, but my first “real car” was a ’57 Vette and I think my father enjoyed that one nearly as much as I did…

From that time to now I’ve built dozens of motors – mostly Chevy SB with a few Fords and the occasional Mopar for a friend. While I prefer the Chevy from the convenience of readily available parts and deep inventory at local parts stores where ever I’ve lived, I certainly have naught but great memories of the first motor I built being a Ford. It really comes down to a personal preference. God only knows how much I miss my father but I’m sure that there’s a great local car shop in heaven where he drinks his coffee and we’ll take up where we left off some day. They’re probably still debating Ford versus Chevy, but maybe have decided that the pushrod engines weren’t so bad after all..

Thanks for letting me ramble on….
Glenn

I have raced Ford, GM,and Mopar-----I have said for a long time--the crankshaft doesn't know what it says on the valvecover--these days about any of the more budget builds will have an Eagle, Scat or Callies crankshaft, same deal on rods but they will be Chevy size, forged after market pistons, Edelbrock, Air Flow, Dart,etc heads, Edelbrock manifold, holley carb ----probably only one or two pieces from a dealership---the only thing different is the gaskets because of the bolt patterns

Now if your budget is bigger, you can run a smaller rod (Honda)

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

I have raced Ford, GM,and Mopar-----I have said for a long time--the crankshaft doesn't know what it says on the valvecover--these days about any of the more budget builds will have an Eagle, Scat or Callies crankshaft, same deal on rods but they will be Chevy size, forged after market pistons, Edelbrock, Air Flow, Dart,etc heads, Edelbrock manifold, holley carb ----probably only one or two pieces from a dealership---the only thing different is the gaskets because of the bolt patterns

Now if your budget is bigger, you can run a smaller rod (Honda)

i like the chevy head bolt pattern and rod and main size ..i still build bbc with stock rods and gm cranks stock 781 049 heads around here scat H beams and 4.250 + china cranks are not really budgets builds.i not getting picky with you but the last two callies cranks were not the same price as the scat s oh and just find a gm crank and turn the rods to 2.100