Hey everybody I have a question. I have 1983 460 block and I am going to be building it. I don't have the heads anymore, but that is the best part, a friend of mines dad has a couple sets of early 460 heads he said that he would sell me real cheap. He said he has one set from a '67, a set from a '68, and I think a set from '71. I would like to make the block similar to a '67-'71 block, arent' all of the blocks from that era the same. Would this work out putting the early heads on my '83 block. What would I have to do to the block to make it the same specs as an early block. I know I have to deck it, wouldn't I have to deck it like .022 or somewhere in there. I would like to run these heads with a performer rpm intake with either an edelbrock performer rpm carb, or a holly truck avenger or something like that. With some kind of roller cam, and headers. Also what would you recommend for a carb, intake, cam choice. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this got so long.

 

first things first. Remember that the type of piston you use dictates the compression ratio. If you are wanting an engine to run 11-1, you could use those early heads and deck the block to .022. A piston with a 20 cc dish in it will bring the engine back to a pump gas CR. Also figure out what kind of engine you want to run. Street, street/strip, strip, or all out drag. A roller cam will cost you $1100 for all the components you will need. The roller cam, $320; roller lifter, $380; pushrods, $120; Roller rockers, $200-350. Just a few things to think about.

 

Hey thanks for the info. I will go into a little more detail with this motor. I will probably go into either my 78 f-150 or my 86 f-150. I want it to be a really healty street motor. It will see quite a few mudholes, It probably won't be driven around town too much, just once in a while to shut up my chevy luvin friends. LOL. It will be used primarily for offroading, and when I do drive it around town I want it too have enough torque to rip your arms off if holding on too tight to the steering wheel. I would like to keep it so I could run on 93 octane, maybe a 93-110 mix since 110 octane is readily available. I will probably be running 35 inch mt/r's with maybe 4:10 or maybe 4:56. I would also like to have enough power to sizzle those 35 with little problem's, like I said before I have alot of chevy fans around here to shut up. I will probably port those early heads for more flow, along with hardend push rods and valve seats. Probably bore the motor 30 over too. Let me know what you think.

 

Myself, I would use a early set of heads & clean the chambers with a sanding roll. Zero deck the block & run a flat-top piston. There's a lot of good cam profiles out there but remember that it will affect cylinder pressures so choose it wisely. A good dual-plane intake & you'll be smokin' 35 inchers!

 

Remember he said torquey not racing. The early style heads, 0 decked block, and flattops will give him a 11.3-1 CR. A set of D3VE's with a good set of 2.19 I and 1.76 E with wake them up. With a set of flat tops and a little milling to the heads and a .010 block deck you will have 9.6-1 CR. Also while you are at it convert the pedistols to studs. I have mine at the shop right now. In fact, when I left the bronze liners were freshly installed. I should be done with them on Tuesday, painted and ready to install. I have the Comp Cam's Extreme 4X4 cam, biggest Hyd, installed I should have around 537 TQ and 477 HP when all said and done. Just remember that the more you improve the lower end the longer it will last.

 

The heads I'm talking about will net more compression but won't detonate as fast as the D3's & flow a lot better. I use them on everything & throw the D3's out at the scrap heap. The chamber design just begs for detonation. I would re-size all the rods & turn the crank as well. I've never had a rod problem even with the milled square-head rods spinning them to 7500 RPM. As for the machining for the studs. If you aren't going to run a racey cam, I don't usually do it. There's a good gain from going to a roller rocker but the early heads already have the provisions for studs. The thing to remember is static compression ratio is not going to tell you squat, the cam is going to tell you how much cylinder pressure you have, that & the chamber design will let you know about the dreaded detonation.

 

What would my compression ratio be if I left the deck height stock with the early heads and a flat top piston? How much horsepower and torque could I expect with this combination with the heads ported and probably a little bigger valves, bored .030, with a performer rpm intake and probably performer rpm carb, with a decent size cam, you guys could give me some reccomendations on what to use for a cam for this set up. Thanks for the info guys.

 

Well just to give you an idea of what could happen when you go to have your block decked. I had my block "mocked and decked". That is when you temp install the crank and a piston in the four corners of your block. They measure the installed height of the pistons in the block. Mine block was .043 front passanger side and .047 on the back. The driver side was .035 on the front and .031 on the back. I dcided to have it decked to .025 to square it up again. Well after the final cut a casting flaw (a void) was found next to the # 3 cylinder gasket ring. I had to have another .010 shaved off to get rid of the void. So keep that in mind. Since working at the machine shop I have seen many blocks with the same problem. Didn't matter if it was Ford, Cheby, or Mop.

I too did the same thing you are considering. I have my D3VE's that hopefully will have the 2.19 and 1.72 valves installed tomorrow. Block was punched .030 over and so forth. I am opting to go with a Weiand Stealth intake and Holley 750 vac sec carb. I have a Comp Cam's 34-239-4 and dual valve springs. I should have roughly 537 TQ and 467 HP. I'll be around 9.5-1 CR with my flat top hypers. I got the TQ and HP #'s from Desktop Dyno. Only draw back is that there isn't an option for roller rockers when you plug all of your information in. So I might have a little more then that. I can send you a more detailed listing of mods if you wish. Just e-mail me and I will send you what I did and how much it cost so far.

 

Ever flow a set of D3's? Try sticking your finger in the exhaust port & touch the exhaust valve. Owning a SuperFlow I can assure you, they aren't gonna make a lot of horsepower.

 

Thanks for all the info guys.