Ford 460 Big Block Engine Build - Car Craft Magazine (2023)

What's so massive about American iron? Chrysler's original Street Hemi had valve covers that could be rented as a dance floor. Pontiac's V-8 is a big hunk of iron, as is the Olds 455. But if you want to talk about cast-iron excesses, maybe we should talk about the Ford 429/460. Massive 3-inch main bearings and powerful iron heads once combined to 206 hp in the smog age. Thank God those times are over.

But in the tradition of classic automakers, we don't look past those times of ineptitude and instead look to the tremendous amount of power we could generate with all that iron. Here lies perhaps one of the most overlooked gold mines in the home world. Yes, it's heavy, and yes, it costs more to build than a small-block Chevy, but you already knew that. Think of it as a line drawn in the sand. are you man enough

We decided to do more than just talk about Ford's Big Block and build one ourselves. Well actually Jim Grubbs Motorsports built it for us because we're clumsy with time management. The JGM team are true Ford 460 fans, so we found an enthusiastic partner who set us on the right path to Blue Oval power. View the world of horsepower through Ford's blue-tinted glasses. Very heavy glasses.

what's out there

The Lima-series engine is one of Ford's most enduring engines. This 385-series engine, first appearing in 1968 as the 460 in Lincolns and as the 429 in other large Fords, survived until 1997, a 30-year run, which is amazing given Ford's propensity for change. The 460 was used in Lincoln haulers through 1978 and later in full-size Fords and Mercurys, and was also introduced in 31/44-ton trucks and E-350 trucks from the 1970s through the early 1990s. This veteran engine is also in Found in RVs, marine and even industrial stationary applications and has been electronically injected since 1987.

Complete engines vary in price by condition, but we've heard them go as low as $200. We bought ours from Memory Lane for a bit more, mostly as a complete engine with all the accessories because we were in a hurry and got it couldn't take the time to look for a cheaper version. Adopt one and take it home with you. The Ford gods will smile at you.

drills and strokes

The 460 and its cousin 429 are large bore, short stroke punches. The 460 uses a 3.85 inch stroke while the 429 uses a 3.59 inch reach. This makes it easy to increase the offset on the 429. Rod length is 6.605 inches, giving a rod length to stroke ratio of 1.71:1 with the stock 460 stroke. Most production blocks can tolerate overbores of .060 inches, making a 472-wall casting, it's possible up to to go to .080 or higher (4.440 inch bore) and 477 ci with stem. Stroke.

If you plan on big inch lengths, there are several stroker crank options. It can grind staggered rod stubs from 2,500 inches up to 2,200 Chevy or Chrysler big block pins. Or connect one of the three Scat Cast Stroker cranks. At over .030, the 4,150-inch stroke makes 502 cu, the 4,300-inch turns 521 inches, while the 4,500-inch big-stroke bumps this behemoth to 545 cu. The main journals are a whopping 3.00 inches, so the cast crankshaft and stock rods are not conducive to engine speeds above 6500 rpm. Note that these stroker cranks also usually require a sizeable investment in Mallory metal to balance properly, and heavy metal adds significantly to the overall cost of a stroker change.

face you win

The Stock Iron 460 heads are a head turner. On the intake side, the oval-shaped intake offers an attractive cross-sectional area for solid torque and horsepower potential along with acceptable 2.19/1.76 valve sizes for early castings. But like their small-block cousins, the 460 exhaust ports are among the most restrictive we've come across. The exhaust port flow is so poor that using a large cam hurts performance across the board. The long duration damages low-end torque, while the restricted exhaust ports stifle any chance of power at higher engine speeds.

Choosing a decent iron production head is an effort to minimize clogging. It seems the cast iron numbers '69 C9VE or '70 D0VE are the best heads for a budget engine. All iron production heads from 1968 to 1971 were closed chamber and 76cc. These are getting harder and harder to find, and we won't even be talking about the 429 Cobra Jet Iron and 429 Aluminum boss castings; They might as well have been buried with King Tut. In 1972 Ford went with an open cam from 95 to 100cc, which as the worst of all 460 iron designs should be avoided as it has no cooling surface and is therefore prone to knocking. The '73 and later heads reverted to a closed chamber setup but with deeper 95cc/100cc chambers.

You can open up the exhaust ports on a stock headset to improve horsepower potential. But also consider the time and money you will be spending on new valves, guides, valve work, bolts, guide plates and buying all of those parts. With all of that, you've easily sunk $900 to $1,100 in scrap and porting hassle. If it is a purely cheap approach, this is still about half of a set of new Edelbrock heads, for example. On the plus side, you'll also shave at least 60 pounds off the front of your car with the aluminum heads. The iron castings weigh about 73 pounds each, while the alloyed Edelbrocks weigh about 42 pounds each.

In addition to Edelbrock castings, there are other heads to choose from. Perhaps the best is the Ford Racing Cobra Jet head designed by Ford big-block guru Jon Kaase. These heads offer the most promising flow potential of any aftermarket 429/460 head. Kaase moved the valves to cancel out flow and change angles, and this cylinder head is especially powerful on larger displacement engines like a 514 with a big cam. For more details on these heads log on to jonkaaseracingengines.com. Another good set of heads comes from Trick Flow Specialties (TFS). The company offers track and street versions, which are also worth investigating and are priced competitively with Edelbrock castings.

lubricant to life

If the 429/460 has one weakness, it's the lubrication system, according to JGM. For a low RPM torsional tornado, the system works well. But for higher engine speeds, where horsepower lives, there are a few things that need to be addressed. Ford chose to lubricate the main line through the siphon kitchen, meaning the oil must flow through the siphons on its way to the main pipe and dipsticks. This path is full of restrictions, reducing pressure and aerating the oil.

As with the 351 Cleveland engines, the solution is to radically increase the oil pressure, up to 70psi. The higher pressure reduces foaming and ensures oil is pumped from the front-mounted oil pump to the rear main pipe. With a lack of oil, the back seat and connecting rods suffer more. The solution requires a high volume/high pressure pump and a strong oil pump drive shaft. JGM also recommends a solid transfer case drive pin rather than the hollow roll pin (eg. This pressure also requires a racing filter to prevent bursting. Of course, this also means taking great care when the engine is cold to limit pressure-related filter blowouts with more viscous oil.

CC 466

After dredging a complete 460 out of a '73 Lincoln Continental, we stripped it down and shipped the block, crank and rods to JGM. To lay a solid foundation we decided to also invest in a nice short block with a set of Federal-Mogul forged Speed-Pro flat head pistons in case we decide to squeeze some nitrous in the future. These pistons also gave us a gas-pump-friendly compression ratio when paired with the 95cc-chambered Edelbrock heads. Grubbs then supplied a set of rebuilt truck bars with ARP bolts to add a degree of durability. JGM also bored and honed the block's torque plate and supervised the machining of our crankshaft to .010 to work with the Federal-Mogul bearings.

JGM has built a healthy 466 (see Project 642 dyno diagram) with fully ported iron production heads, but Grubbs advises that unless you enjoy a challenge, it's not really worth the effort in terms of investment and cost. We went with a set of Edelbrock aluminum Performer RPM cylinder heads and a Performer RPM Air Gap intake as the route to performance. These heads are designed to use roller rocker arms, so we fitted a set of Harland Sharp 1.73:1 rocker arms to aid in valve lift. This led us to cam selection, and it seemed like a good idea to go with Edelbrock's entire Performer RPM package, which uses a street-quality flat-tapstick hydraulic camshaft (see Cam Specs sidebar).

JGM then assembled the 460 with recommended changes to the lubrication system and bolted the engine to the dyno. We also installed a 750cfm secondary Holley mechanical carburetor in the HP body rebuild (see that story elsewhere in this issue) to act as the mix master, and also a set of 131/44 inch Hooker chassis heads. This test was performed on the Grubbs 901 SuperFlow engine dyno, but the cell does not accommodate a full exhaust system. We also decided to test both Edelbrock hydraulic cams. The Performer Plus cam is designed for torque, while the RPM cam offers more duration and lift for a bigger boost in power.

The Performer cam made an incredible 523 lb-ft of torque, but the same short cam timing only made 406 horsepower. This prompted the JGM team to change the higher-rpm cam, to which the 466 responded with a peak power output of 503 fuel-pump horsepower at just 5,200 rpm, while bottoming out with 555 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm shocked. These numbers are actually pretty close to Edelbrock's performance claims for their Performer RPM package. Even in a 4,000 pound car, this ranges from a low 12 to a high 11, depending on the weather and altitude. This engine was incredibly easy to assemble and required no custom parts. Do it yourself in your garage. Bolt it to your favorite Ford and you have a tire roaster.

win wedge

The JGM team also pointed out to us a simple valvetrain adjustment on these engines. All '73 and later 429/460 Ironheads use a non-adjustable fulcrum style rocker arm assembly. Rebuilding one of these Lima engines usually involves removing the block and heads. Using one of the high platform height blocks may mean milling up to .030" or more from the block platform. Keeping the pivot beam system with a shorter platform height or milled heads creates excessive elevator bias. Crane makes a kit (PN 99170-1) with .030-, .060-. and .090 inch thick shims that reduce lifter preload.

This small change does two things. Improving idle quality usually pays dividends, and more importantly, minimizing the amount the lifter can "pump" at higher engine speeds. While this may seem insignificant, minimal hydraulic tappet preload usually pays dividends at higher engine speeds.

Networking at its finest

There is always something new to learn and one of the best things on the internet are websites dedicated specifically to engines like the Ford 429/460. While researching this story, we came across a forum on network54.com. Look for the search button and type 385 series ford and this will take you to 460ford.com (we tried just going to www.460ford.com but it never works for us). Its technology forum gives members the opportunity to ask questions and get answers about these engines and related Big Block Ford information. Listen.