I recently bought a 460 for my upcoming project on my 77 F250. I wonder if you guys could help me decode some of the numbers I found on this motor.
Starting from the top down:

Intake: (first line) 4DOVE-9425-B (second line) F4OB12
Heads: DOVE-C
Block: (front near pass. side of timing cover) OB27R
(side above starter) DOVE-4
(lifter valley) OA13 ....that is what it looks like
I looked these numbers up in one of my books and still cannot thoroughly figure out what year motor I am dealing with. Does anyone have any ideas? What were the hp/tq ratings?

 

You are basically dealing with a 1970 passenger car 460, it's a decent starting point.

 

0B27R: this is probably stamped on the block and is the date they started building the engine...Feb 27, 1970.

0A13: This should be cast in the valley and is the date they cast the block...Jan 13, 1970.

your block is close to when ford went to the taller deck. my guess would be you have a shorter deck block. internally balanced.

the numbers ford published for your engine were inflated due to testing procedures of the day...approx 350 hp and torque. my conservative 460 rebuild makes around 350 hp@engine...15.04 quarter mile, 4080# vehicle w/driver @ 3050 ft elevation 3.0:1 open rear end. cheers, garsten.

 

Thanx alot guys! I am new to the big block world, do you fellas have any suggestions on how to set this beast up for my application? I will be running it in my 77 F250 High Boy. I will be running Dana 60s front and rear with 4.56 - 4.88 gears turning 38" - 40" tires. I have decided to convert it to a C6 from the old 4 speed. I will be using this truck primarily for mud bogging and sand dunes. I am thinking around 450 hp 500+ tq will be about right for what I am doing. What do you guys think?

 

well... your power numbers are pretty conservative, so it wont take too much for modifications to reach those numbers. a good port job, dish pistons, midrange cam, good intake to go with the cam... probably a weiand stealth being a midrange cam... good headers... holley or edelbrock 750 cfm carb... and you should be able to have your horsepower and torque goal... if you find that isnt enough power for you then youd have to probably go aftermarket heads and a stroker setup... but for 450 horse 500 torque youd probably be spending more on your rims and tires than you would the engine
but you will have to buy motor mounts and a rear sump oil pan kit to mount it into the truck. oh, and i want the 4 speed tranny and bellhousing for my truck

 

I have been looking through my Jegs and Summit catalogs and decided on the Weiand Stealth intake, L&L fenderwell headers, and Flowtech Purple Hornie header mufflers (show all those Chevy and Dodge boys what a real motor sounds like) I am still not sure what cam to go with, I want a grind that will give me the best overall performance from idle to redline. I am wondering if I should be looking into stronger internals, I would like to be able to twist it around 5500 rpms with out worrying about things coming apart inside. Being it will be used for mud bogging, rpms are important to me. According to one of my books I am at 10.5 to 1 CR, I don't want too much more than that so i can still run pump gas in it. Thanks again for the help and keep the info coming!

 

5500 is fine for the stock bottom end... most you should need to do is maybe upgrade rod bolts... the stock bottom end is good for about 800 horse... its the top end thats restricting... if you port the stock heads right theyll be fine for up to about 700 horse with the right cam... if youre planning on sustained 5500 rpm runs youll be sacrificing low end torque for higher rpm horsepower... for that kind of sustained rpm id probably recommend a solid roller cam like crane cams #358801... 5500 rpm for that cam is about right... but youll need a pretty big stall converter- 3000 rpm or so... so goodbye low end torque... if you want a cam that peaks at 5500 then id go with a regular hydraulic cam like #354551 but youll still need a stall converter

 

Good enough for 800 hp! That's good to know I won't be anywhere near that! I was pretty much figuring on running a stall converter with a pretty lumpy bump stick. I imagine I will have to look into a set of pistons? I want to run a built C6, trying to decide if I should run a manual valve body or not. I was also planning on going with all ARP fasteners (rod bolts, mains, head bolts/ studs, rocker studs, etc)

 

with that roller cam id mentioned and associated valvetrane, full roller rockers, heads properly ported and done with a little bigger valves, and proper headers you could have about 600 horse and 525 ft lbs torque if you set your compression at 10.5-1... but youll be running premium only- dont even try 87 octane in that thing. as for pistons id go good forged ones with an 11 cc dish- that with a .041 head gasket and the early heads should put you right around 10.5 compression