Wow how did I miss this thread for soo many months.
General application wise the 454 is the better engine out of the "pre modern" BB V8's. They tended to do very well in trucks and motor homes with very little cost except for when the camshafts decided it was time to regrind themselfs. The camshaft problems are about the same on the Chyslyer BB's, 460's tend to do a bit better then the other two in this area.
As far as duribility the 440 seems to last longer then the 454 or 460, the 454 is the one most likely to need rebuilt the soonest.
The ports on the 440 heads stink in stock form, exh flow is bottlenecked right at the valve square to round dosent jive. The 454 has a better selection of stock heads to choose from, aftermarket heads all wake these engines up.
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2-12-07 Got one again! 1989 Bronco II. 2.9L AOD.
Isnt my old full size but it just might do.
454's stroke advantage helps it get going quicker than the 460. On the other hand the 460 has a smoother and more equidistant tunnel port intake. The 454 siameze intake ports can make for some headache. 460 is a tad more weighty. 454 has to balance externally for lack of bulkhead space for the extra journal material. Valves are more porcupined on the 454. Timing case and water pump config are easier to work with on the 454. 460's and their parts are available all over the place. Chevy gave up on the passenger car 454 long before Ford did the 460 so it is a bit more scarce.
All three big blocks served their respective companies well. They all did what they were designed to do, and they did it well.
It's my opinion, that of the three, the Ford 460 was the best bet. The "standard" heads flowed like a hurricane, better than many of the performance variations of other brands. It's also a very stout block. For years Fords were looked down on because of the rarity of 4-bolt main caps on many of the big blocks, where just about every Chevy and most Mopar truck engines had them.
In reality however, the Ford really didn't NEED the 4bolt caps. The 2 bolters were every bit as strong as most other brands 4 bolt caps.
The canted valve heads were (IMO) the best and the block is fairly light for its size and has room to grow.
The Chrysler 440 is (I should say was, it was phased out at the end of the 78 model year) a very good motor, and has been kown to be long lived. But the heads don't flow very well. At least in standard form. I was told by a long time Chrysler guy that the big engine's plug was pulled long before 78, in that Chrysler lost their nerve for big engine development in the early 70s (really most builders did then).
The Chevy 454 is another excellent engine. Well designed, and thought out. Very similar to the 460 in head design, but the standard heads don't flow as well. It served GM well, and still lives on in certain forms. IMO I don't think the block was as strong as it should have been, but it doesn't seem to have suffered unduly for it.
I think the 460, that was my choice. In 1996 I started looking for a 3/4 ton 4x4, with a big block. I wanted no newer than a 1986. Well, after a more than a year I found that truck an 86 F250, 4x4, 460, C-6, koaded for the year. Today, I have close to 170,000 miles, it's main job is to pull.
The 460 is a very strong engine, overheating is not a problem with the 460, parts are plentiful, including Hi Pro parts. They run well on pump reg. unleaded. Fords have never left me standing on the side of the road.
Chevys 454 makes a good race engine, but to work unless modified they don't like heat, and I've seen many stock 454s have to take a rest on real long pulls because of heating. Mileage on a stock 454 is not any better than the 460 if as good. Also with a 454 you need to carry an extra exh. manifolds with you.
As for the 440 other than motorhomes you have to work the heads to run on unleaded gas. They were great engines it was just the rest of the Dodge that was junk. A 440 in a Chevy or a Ford chassis you might have something.
I have my 460 in my 77 F250 2wd and love blowin' the doors off most vehicles I get challenged by. That said, I wonder why nobody mentioned the out-of-left-field engine: the 501ci Cadillac motor(I'll take a 71 please ) Everyone calls them the 500, but on my 73 Eldo the sticker says 501ci . They're not too hard to find still, they are externally smaller in every dimension compared to the 460 and 454, don't know about 440 though. The 501 is also lighter than the 460 or 454, don't know bout 440 tho. The 72 500(500 easier to type) has an 8.2:1 compression ratio and a factory net rating of 385lbs-ft of torque at 2400 under the new rating system, the old rating system on the identical 71 is 525lbs-ft of torque, all that bone-stock from Cadillac! Its also the biggest engine ever mass produced for public consumption installed in a passenger vehicle! Far as I know they all came with 4bbl Q-Jet carbs, and they use the B-O-P trans pattern, so you could put a TH2004-R behind it and have overdrive! I like that the 500 has the distributor mounted in front, where it is easy to get to(looks like a ford, but Henry helped start Cadillac division way back when).
I got most of this info out of my December 1994 Hot Rod from the El Camadillac article, if you don't remember that one, you may remember Caddyhack! from a different issue.
I have a 73 sitting up north waiting for me to decide what to do with it, but chances are I'll check here first:
the family had an old buick with a wildcat 502 that would stomp even the best of them...Dang thing came stock with a Ram Air type hood and it was the dealer's demo car so it was a lil beafier than the regular ones...but you better have your head against the headrest when you floor it or your gonna break your neck in half.
The rear end would squat down about 4 inches and launch itself from the starting line...wow it was cool. Smoked many 4fitty4's and 460's took it agianst the same torino with a 460 and smoked it 3 times in a row and it went up against a hemi charger once and won too.
but if i had to chose between the 4fitty4 460 and 440 i would start by throwing the 440 in the dumpster and then go from there.
The reason for the 501 displacement on Cadillac engines was that there were actually TWO different versions. A 500 and a 501. There were some minor internal differences and GM put the 501 sticker inside to let service techs know what version was there.
The 500 Cadillac easily could out pull just about anything as far as torque goes. The rumor amongst Cadillac guys was the the block had room to go beyond 600 cubes. The 1970 Muskie Clean Air Act ended that, along with high compression, (until recently that is).
In 1970 (1st year for 500 and last for 10.5 compression) the literature I have lists 575 lbs of torque and 400 hp. Pretty impressive.
What's more impressive is that there's a Cadillac performance guy out there on the web getting 5000+ lb Coupe DeVilles to outrun 'Vettes and Porsche's on the 1/4 mile!
Back to Fords..
The 460 was made with room to expand as well. It also seems (to me anyway) to be the best bet for "grunt" work in a truck. My dad has an 86 F350 DRW and it regularly huals max loads without a trace of overheating or laboring.
I never really bad mouth the other engines, as they have their strong points as well. But for me, as an engineer and machinist, the Ford 460 is the best you can get out of the box.
As for performace and drag racing, alot has to do with state of tune, driver ability, condition, gearing etc. I've seen "off brands" such as Buicks and Olds' do very well. I've also seen 429 powered Torino's and Cougars clean up and then sit at the starting line while someone from track support "mops up" after another brand's engine coughs its teeth. All in how it's built, setup, maintained and run..
Still...for this guy, I think the Ford is the best "out of the box."
now that were getting the bugs out of the '87 460 i put in a '82 bronco im liking it more and more
still cant jump on it yet, oil filter cooler/90 degree mount is too close to crossmember
however my '93 gmc g3500 with fuel injected 454 is rated at 385@1600 and all that grunt available that low really makes that van take off and thats a 10,000 lb. vehicle
while the 460/bronco runs good it wont take my van and it only weighs a rated 6100 lb.
in case anyone wants to know i just got my state of calif. smog approval and plates for an '82 bronco with '87 460 holley carbed no computer no cats and so little smog stuff it's a joke
standard exists for the first half of '87 only and is listed in the "motor" brand emissions applications guide
don't look for it in the "mitchell" guide thay didnt list it
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in case anyone wants to know i just got my state of calif. smog approval and plates for an '82 bronco with '87 460 holley carbed no computer no cats and so little smog stuff it's a joke
