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well $144 dollars later i owned a 1968 460 Big block with 46,000
miles. A true little old lady drove this car, and donated it to
the local salvage yard.. Guess who was there at the right time
anyway, the motor has the Power steering off the crank???
How do i go about getting rid of that or is worth keeping????
ALso i know the motor has 10.5 to 1 compression, is there any way
to bring this down to run a reg gas , without breaking the bank??

 

Hey Joe, I can get you 8.5:1 real easy. I'll swap your 10.5 heads for a pair of 8.5 heads.:7

Stryder

 

I would keep the higher compression heads, the later low compression 460's were dogs compared to the earlier ones.

 

can you put a restrictor on the intake/carb? That would make it suck less air/fuel and give less compression.

maybe a different cam with a long intake duration that allows some gases back out the intake valve. Kinda pricey/crappy option though.

 

Am i just to concerned with 10.5 to 1 compression??
Or can it be run on todays pump gas??

 

First thing to check would be the deck clearance. The closer to "0" the better. Take the heads off, run a piston to TDC, place a true straight edge across the cylinder and measure how far the piston is down the hole. This makes a big difference if you will have detonation or not, which will eventually kill your engine. I'm running 10.25-1 with .010" deck clearance on 92-93 octane premium without detonation, or pinging. It would have been better to have "0" or slightly out of the hole, but I didn't want the compression any higher. You already have the right timing set in it, if it hasn't been changed to a later 4 deg retarded chan/gear set. I doubt it with that few of miles on the engine. For your other question, you need a timing cover off an engine that doesn't have the crank mounted ps pump and the spacer that goes behind the balancer. You might also need the balancer, just mave sure to get a balancer off a pre 79 engine. 79 and later are externally balanced.

Edit: Check the pistons. I'm not sure if the 68-71 460's used dished pistons or flat tops. If it has flat tops, changing to a later dished piston will lower you compression.

 

Hard to imagine a little old lady adding octane boost.
It may ping under load.
10.5 does seem a little high for regular 87 octane, better stick with the best gas.
If her name is still on the title, you could write and ask her what she used.

 

From what I've heard, octane booster does little to boost the octane of your fuel. I've heard only .2-.3 points, as in 87 oct. fuel + booster= 87.2-87.3 octane fuel. Not much of an improvement! If I'm wrong on this, someone please correct me, just repeating what I've heard. Running 92-93 octane would be your best bet.

 

I don't know. I never used the stuff, like you said, I just get the 93 octane when needed. It would not surprise me if you were right about that though.

I was thinking though, a bad case of the knocks may be why she junked the car, with low miles and all. Unless the body is just shot.

 

She junked the car do to rust in the pass side floors and being a gas
guzzler, she told the owner...Come on a 460 4bbl a gas guzzler..
Who would think that :0

 

Run it and see. I have a 71 460 with 68 heads and I am told 10.5:1 compression. I run on chevron 89 octane unless towing. I live in AZ so with all these hlls I have to run 92 but that is rare and only with towing. My engine runs really cool due to 4 core radiator and an aditional electric assist fan, maybe that helps.

 

keeping temp down reduces chance of knock,
my .02


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