I'm not up on the 454 or the 440 except in a general sense. I'm going to assume that you are talking the whole engine, including headers, intake system, and ignition. I will also put the limit on cost at 4K but this would not. Cost for components will come from Jeg's or Flatland Racing. I will also try to use the same components manufacturer for all 3. I am not including the machining cost, it verys to much arcoss the country.
Note there is no way to do this easily. For instance GM has had BB in there trucks from 1973. For Ford trucks the 460 is a popular swap. 440's in Dodge trucks don't seem possible or I should say its not very popular so I will use A-body if all else fails.
Piston, Rings and Bearings:Speed Pro, Total Seal and Clevite77
440 - $523
454 - $661
460 - $550
Timing Chain - Cloyes True Double Roller
440 - $90
454 - $83
460 - $84
Gasket set - Mr. Gasket
440 - $35 - Still need Valley Pan gasket
454 - $38
460 - $42
Oil Pumps - Melling - Stock
440 - $22
454 - $25
460 - $30
Intake - Edelbrock RPM Performer
440 - $200
454 - $194
460 - $204
Carb - Holley Street Avenger - 770cfm
All - $395
Ignition - I assume stock will work but not sure about the 440.
Ok where did i get with this exercize.
440 - $4028
454 - $3923
460 - $4094
Well I almost made it with all of them. On a pratical note the heads are an option. I think the 440 and 454 heads are pretty good stock and a good rebuild would make them good, probably around $300-$500. The same cannot be said for stock 460 heads. You will need to spend around $1300 for a rebuild and good port job to make them work. I think this shows that price is really that far apart with any of them in stock or close to stock form.
Once that is complete how do you think they compare performance wise? I know that with good head work, a set of headers and a good cam the 460 can come alive with ample HP and torque. Basically fixing all the production problems to turn the enigine into a performer. I'm not sure if the same can be said for the 440 and the 454 as those were originally designed as performance engines.
There is not easy answer to your question when keeping the engines close to stock form. The Chevy has a huge advantage in the exhust port that the Ford can't ever catch uless you go to some pretty exotic heads. It would be intersting to build all 3 engines as I outlined above and see the dyno figures keep the cams the same. I think you would see the 454 first, 460 second and 440 last. But as John Kaase proved in an all out effort all bets are off.
The claim to fame for the 460 or to be accurate the 385 engine series is the vesatilty. The stock crank can handle 7K rpms. You have 2 to chose from, the 429/460 and they are cheap. You can make a 460 by using a 429 crank and a 4.6 bore and piston. This egine can turn 10K. Of course you need really good parts to build something like that. And then you have the strocker capabilty which none of the others can come close to matching.
And one educational point that needs to be said. When looking at 2 engines with identical or close to identical displacment stroke makes no difference on which engine makes the most torque. A build off was done not to long ago with a 460 standard stroke and a 460 short stroke(429 crank, 4.6 something bore). Everything else the same. The standard stroke made torque earlier but the short stroke made more just at a higher RPM.
I've owned all three. Performance wise, the 440 wins hands down. The question was which is the best. Not which is the easiest to find, or whatever. To me, faster is better. This is speaking in stock form of course. Not modded in any way. Somebody will try to bring up the special 1 or 2 year 454 with aluminum heads, but that was a low production engine. Then there's the 440 magnum with a 6-pack, and the model with 2 4-barrel carbs. No doubt in my mind. I'm a Ford guy, but I've never had a stock 460 that was faster then a stock 440.
your right matter of fact they do a shoot out ever year last year the 440 won by almost 75 horspower pretty impressive for the smallest ci
Remember, the 440 is a 1950's design, with extended skirts (i.e., flat oil pan rails), very heavy block but very durable. Valve sizes in the 908 heads were 2.08 Intake, 1.74 Exhaust, not bad. Both the 460 and 454 were designed in the 1960's, without extended skirts, due to improved casting technology. BTW, except for cross bolting the #2, 3, and 4 mains, the bottom end of the 440 is the same as the 426 hemi. Which is "better", who cares!
__________________
Glenn Garrahan
Glenn's fleet:
1969 El Camino SS396 (325 HP)
1970 Dodge Coronet R/T (440, 375 HP)
2001 Camaro SS (5.7L, 335 HP)
2003 F150 King Ranch SuperCab (daily driver, 5.4L, 260HP)
2008 Corvette Z06 (7.0L, 505HP)
What can I say, I like American V-8's!
The 454 made the most HP in stock form. My personaly fav is the 440 though. I have seen some amazing things done with them on dynos, with stock displacment one making 800+ hp on pump gasoline, and INDY cylinder heads. I have never seen a real performance ford big block only truck one so I won't comment.
__________________
2003 F250 SD 4X4 5.4L 4:10 Arizona Beige
1987 Mustang GT
09 Challenger RT
A bunch of motorcycles, other cars, and a Quad.
I'm not surprised the Mopar won. I would have expected the 460 to do better then the 454 though. Mark Sanchez is one heck of an engine builder. I've followed his work for years. A true blue Ford man.
Comparisons by various groups, magazines, etc. are like statistics. You can juggle any thing around to make it come out like you want it to. A fair comparison of the three engines, would be to have them all built with the same manufacturers parts, same engine mods, etc, etc. But ... then you may not get the results you are trying to prove.
I take magazine comparisons pretty lightly, since I have seen many a biased magazine.
__________________ Dick '99 NASCAR Edition F-150-4X4 Praise the Lord!! John 3:16
Comparisons by various groups, magazines, etc. are like statistics. You can juggle any thing around to make it come out like you want it to. A fair comparison of the three engines, would be to have them all built with the same manufacturers parts, same engine mods, etc, etc. But ... then you may not get the results you are trying to prove.
I take magazine comparisons pretty lightly, since I have seen many a biased magazine.
Of course you're correct. But these buildups were done by independent builders known for their own brand bias.
I'm making excuses for the Ford motor but my guess is that the AEW crew, as competent as they are, had other projects going on. I'm basing this on the last minute manifold screw up among other things.
The link is up above DOHC and the Big Block challenge was 2003. The 2004 shootout was small blocks and Kasse won that with a 351 cleveland base enigne. I know many of these guys thru one of my other forums.
For the 2005 BB shootout it is rumored that Kasse will do a Pontiac engine this time. Any bets that he will win again. My guess is he will.
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