I have an 87 460 with a cracked block. Everything I look at shows thru 85 or after 85. What is the difference. Thanks

 

Welcome to FTE.

The difference is fuel injected vs. carburated. The intake manifolds are different and so are the holes in the block for the intake, probably needless to say.

There are subtle differences, but as for the pre'85 and after, that's it. There is also a difference around '92, but I think that is internal.

Hoep this answers your questions.

 

Mine is an 87 with holly 4 barrel. It is in a motorhome. Do you think I have the old style heads? How can I check?

 

I would have to go look at my '90. I can give you an idea what the valve covers look like. I don't know if those changed or not. I would think that if you have a Holley on it, you have the old style block. If you can get the intake manifold information off of it, it can be cross referenced to tell you. Just an idea.

 

The EFI heads have aluminum centerbolt valve covers, while the carby trucks have steel ones with bolts around the outside.
Every gasket set I see lists pre 85 and post 85, and, that just plain gets me.
Evan

 

Don't forget the 79' and older 460s are internally balanced and post-79' engines are externally balanced.

I just thought I'd throw that out there in case you get to looking at older engines.

 

i just put a 460 in my supercab.it had a 400 in it but i came across a wrecked 1979 F-350 that had a sweet runing 460 in it so i put that 460 inplace of the 400.i used the flywheel that was already on the 460 and it all worked fine but my flywheel had a counter wait on it,and I know for fact that it is a 79 motor,and hear is the problem,i plan on putting a N.P.435 in place of the c6 and i have to figure out what flywheel i need.I had this problem with a 302 small block once and endeed up doing the job twice couse i used the wrong flywheel.I also don't have the vin# of the truck that the 460 came from either,and not to sure wear to look for a ID# on the block to find out what flywheel is needed.help

 

Heath, to verify that you engine is indeed a 79', look the casting numbers on the passenger side of the block right near where the starter sits. If it's a 79' block it should read D9VE-A2B or something similar to that. The last 5 digits aren't really important for what you're trying to figure out. The part of that stamping that tells you what year it is are the first two digits, D9. D is the decade it was built (70s). C would be 60s, E would be 80s, etc.... The number is the year within that decade. So D9=79'. My 71' block is stamped D1VE-A2B. Am I making sense? Incidentally you can identify the year of just about any Ford part this way.

If your engine really is a 79' you'll need an externally balanced flywheel. These are much more common than flywheels for 78' and older 460s which are the internally balanced versions.

I hope this helps.

 

Are the block casting numbers really reliable though? My block is a D1 but everything else has the D8 prefix. I assumed its a 78 that used an old block.

 

The block numbers don't determine the balance, the crank does. Look at the spacer behind the balancer, if it has a big counter weight on it is external balanced. If it is just a straight spacer than it is internal balanced. Mudder is right about the external flywheels being easier to get, as the ones from 80's model motors will work. The flywheel will have a counter weight cast in the backside.

Dennis
1999 F-350 Powerstroke
1977 Highboy 429 4-speed 35"s
1972 Ranger on a 1978 F-250 4x4
frame 466 Pulling Truck

 

Good point and clarification.

pro, I'm kind of in the same boat you are. My block is D1 but my heads and intake are D3. I'm guessing we both have 71' blocks that someone has swapped on later heads.

 

you can use a new style flywheel (external balance) on a old style engine , just have a machine shop remove the counter weight from the flywheel. I coverted a old style 460 from a automatic to a 4 speed (don't foget the pilot bearing).It worked great!

 

Dont forget that ford did not cast new parts every year. They did not use a D4 block with D4 heads in 74, a D5 block with D5 heads in 75, etc. They would just use a D1 block and some D3 heads until time came to make a new casting.