Hi guys new to the post, know a little but not alot like on this forum. Not many poeple in Australia know how to get max power from the mother of all ford blocks the 460. Not to common. Spent a few bucks on the build hoping to acheive a street hammer to but a little disapointed with the result I guess. Alot of different opinions but no direction. But I havent lost faith in the old BBF! people are telling me I should have just stuck in a worked 351. But I know theres more performance potential, hope you guys can help or point me in the right direction. Here is the setup:

Current 250rwkw or 335Hp at the wheels

Body: Sedan early falcon 71
Engine: 460cid (40 over) 10:1 comp Balanced and blueprinted Scat H beam rods probe pistons crane f246 solid all good gear.
Heads: D0ve pro ported big s/steel valves, isky springs and retainers roller rockers.
Intake: Victor Jr manifold new holley 750DP.
Driveline: Stage3 2sp powerglide, 3inch tail shaft, 9'' diff 4:11 gears.

Q: What power should I be getting approx and how can I improve on what I have? thinking down the track either new aluminum heads or strokin to 557, which will give me more power gains?

PS: where do I check for numbers on my head and block what to double check castings.

Cheers and thanks

 

Hello- Welcome to FTE! I have moved your post to the specialized forum we have here for your question. Check out the list of tech forums we have on FTE. There is a wealth of information and expertise here to help you. There are a number of links in my sig below to help you also. Have fun!

 

From what I remember 335 hp at the rear wheels means about 420 at the flywheel. At least that the numbers my 428CJ used to show on the engine then on the chassis dynos.

 

On the surface it looks like you are way over-cammed.

How much porting was done to the heads? I just ran a quick DD sim on your config and that cam only works with a lot of head work. DD is coming up with almost exactly the HP you are seeing (428@5000) until the heads are hogged out, then it jumps to over 500 HP pretty fast.

Brad

 

that cam shouldn't be too much for the intake but I would guess that A the heads probably aren't ported enough, and B your carb is too small for that combo. and your gonna need a pretty good stall convertor with that combo also.

 

thanks guys,
the heads are heavily ported and well prepped. I had a old 850 DP Holley but replaced it with the new 750HP DP gained and extra 10rwkw and more responsive with a cleaner throttle. The stall on the auto is a 3500 TCE as recomended in the cam specs (minimum).

Now I'm thinking the botton end is solid...intake is cool...so its gotta be the heads, right?
thinking down the track either new aluminum heads or strokin to 557, which will give me more power gains? and which will be easier and cost effective.

 

AU$ prices for Aluminum heads:
Prices on blue thunder bare - $2995.00 inc tax
Super cobra jet - $2995.00 inc tax bare
Super cobra jet - $3750.00 inc tax
Edelbrock $3100.00 inc tax
Which heads bolt straight on and be good value but not sacraficing power?
will I need to port these heads?

 

personally of the ones that bolt right on I prefer the TFS street heads they are a very nice casting and pretty darn impressive right out of the box, next steop up would be the SCJ alum heads but they will take a valve relief bieng cut into your pistons because they have a revised valve angle and also are CJ castings so the standard intakes won't work very well. the blue thunders are supposed to be ok, and some models of them are bolt on replacements for your heads. Personally I don't like the edelbrocks just not that impressed but they are a bolt on replacement also.

 

Thanks Monsterbaby & Brad for you feed back,
what do you you guys think of the Edlbrock CJ Victors and or CJ RPM?
Ford SCJ look good but dont what to mod pistons to suit! looking for bolt on HP but may want to go stroker later on what heads will suit this
Hey Brad when you geta chance could you run my combo with big port heads and see what HP numbers come up? What the max I can produce with that cam?

thanks again.

 

Hello, i have a 460ci engine in my 83 XE falcon, runs a 4 speed toploader, 9 rear( 3-5 ratio ) 31 spline. i had my 460 put together by Wyong Performance, as im on the Central Coast. i agree that not many people in Australia know much about the 460ci engine. one thing i have learnt from this forum is what parts to use in my 557ci rebuild, with my cast iron heads i am having them opened up to Corbra Jet specs- 2-25 inlet 1-76 exh, both inlet & exhaust ports opened up to match the Edelbrock Victor Manifold (ed2965) topped off with a Holley 1050cfm Dominator, as i have learnt the large strokers need tons of air , the comp-ratio will be 10-5 to 1, with a single or twin 3 inch exhaust system, i have ran this engine compo on my computer Dyno ( Depending on camshaft ) Horsepower is rated around the 750 mark. and if you can afford to go a rollercam you are lookind into the 800 mark. if you need any info or help let me know, Jamie. Australia.

 

thanks Jamie, sounds like some good power there. A stroker will def get you some big cubes touque and power, I am convinced that factory 460 heads are not worth the hard work and dollors to work with. I have spent alot of cash porting and smoothing my Dove heads to CJ specs, but I think its the heads that holding my engine back, just not giving me the power I expected and mind you reputable poeple carried out the work, no backyarders here. Thats why I'm looking into a proven out of the box pair of heads maybe the Kasse designed FORD SCJ. Engine is making about 435hp with my setup should be making close to 500. Hopeing with the new bolt on heads I can get over the 500hp mark? I'm looking for a pair of heads that will give me the potenial to make other improvments later on, but bolt on for now.
Would love to go to a 545 stroker as well. What stroker set up are you looking at?

cheers xy1971

 

Hello xy1971,
Im going to purchase the Scat 557 Stroker Kit from VPW in Victoria, for now i have picked a Lunati Hydraulic camshaft with 600 lift, if i can afford to go to a roller cam set-up i will get 700-750 lift which would add abit more horsepower,i cannot afford to go to alloy heads so i will have my 82 cast iron heads heavily ported to match the Super Victor intake.i found out by buying the kit seperate,e-g Crankshaft $780. Scat H-beam rods $700. it works out alot cheaper than what some speed shops charge for the rotating kit. Pistons will be the Hypereutectic type, it pays to shop around ! i have been quoted a price of $1700-00 to have my heads reworked to the CJ specs. 2-25 inlet & 1-76 ex, with the ports opened up to match,as i have heard that with alot of the Alloy aftermarket heads they still need alot of porting work done. when it is finished i do plan to take it down the 1/4 mile to see what it can do, evenknow it has a 3-5 ratio 9 rear. Im not into drag racing more the old muscle car shows, if you ever need your engine combo dynoe'd let me know as i purchased Desktop Dyno 2000 from the U-S-A earlier this year. Cheers Jamie.

 

jamie, VPW are not far from me..
I think stroker is the way to go with BBF's. Here are some prices I have been quoted: 460-557 STROKER KIT.$2800
KIT INC. SCAT 6.7 H-BEAM FORGED RODS
SCAT 9000 SERIES PRO COMP LIGHT WEIGHT CAST CRANK 4.500"STROKE
FORD PROBE DISHED FORGED PISTONS 460+.080" CLEVITE 77 H SERIES CONROD BEARING SET CLEVITE 77 P SERIES MAIN BEARING SET
PERFECT CIRCLE RINGS SET

As I am looking for new heads and your going to spend $ to port your 83 cast heads would you be interested in purchasing my ported dove heads? as I have 2-25 inlet & 1-76 ex, with the ports opened up to match the same Victor manifold (I have had mine polised look nice). The heads have had $2500 worth of port work. Will sell to you bare for you to bolt on your own hardware. Only been done 1 year ago by popular machine shop duggins balancing, they do all performance builds.
if your going to use a cast head the dove head is the choice over other castings.
If you are interested let me know, send me you email I will send you some pics.
Peter xy1971.

PS: could you run my combo when you have time. All specs are in the same thread, then run it with say ford SCJ heads.
thanks again

 

Hello xy1971,
I just ran you engine combo on my Desktop 2000, i did not know your camshaft specs so i gave it a cam with 600 lift, the Dyno read out 480 horsepower, thats with large headers and a open exhaust system, if i typed in a larger CFM carb horsepower would increase ! as you are into drag racing it would help to bump up your compression ratio as you know that will also add more horsepower, as i plan to use 10-5-1 in my 557ci rebuild. i personally think you need to go to a bigger carb than that 750cfm D\P. I am not to sure what i am doing with the heads yet, i will do the bottom end rebuild first then see if i can afford a pair of alloy heads. if you would like email me your cam specs and i will run your engine combo again to get a truler reading. i know i can get the Edelbrock Performer RPM Heads for $3'100. if you do happen to get a price for the Cobra jet heads could you let me know the asking price, i purchased all my engine parts from VPW for my 460ci as i did shop around but saved $$$$$ by buying from them. I found it best to deal with one person- as i had all my parts sent C-O-D, The salesman i dealt with was called Joe. Cheers Jamie. Email- jamies460@hotmail.com

 

hi Jamie,
10.5.1 would be the max as pinging and detonation will occur with pump fuel.
Prices from VPW Super cobra jet - $2995.00 inc bare, Super cobra jet - $3750.00 inc., Joe is the owner (or part). When for a squirt on Saturday am pretty happy with performance but know how it is you want more more more! Cam kicks in after about 3500rpm.
My cam is a crane f246 Lift:
Intake @Cam 3294 @Valve 563
Exhaust @ Cam 3412 @Valve 583
Lift: Opens Closes ADV Duration
Intake 37.0 BTDC 65.0 ABDC 282 °
Exhaust 78.0 BBDC 34.0 ATDC 292 °
with a twin 2.5 and tri headers (block hugers).
Could you run it again with the cam specs?
Thanks Peter
PS: they srcapped you email address form the post.