Originally Posted by georgedavila

You can achieve 360hp using the early or late heads with a compression ratio of about 9.5:1 by piston selection. Grind down the smog bumps on either head, use a cam of about .500/.515 lift, 205/215@.050 duration, a dual plane aftermarket intake manifold, a 750cfm carb, a good set of headers with a true dual exhaust and you'll probably be closer to 400hp.

The weak design in all 385 heads is the exhaust port. It was compromised to fit between strut towers on intermediate sized vehicles of the late '60s and early '70s. Anything you do to enhance the exhaust, such as grinding off the smog bump (worth 25hp according to lore), simple cleaning up of port casting marks and especially a set of headers with a good 2.5" exhaust system is well rewarded.

A good approach is to tear the engine down and put together a working budget for the shortblock. Then you'll know where you're at financially. Everything else is bolt-on, and the shortblock will run fine with stock heads and accessories until additional funds become available for bolt-on modifications.

Originally Posted by pyropig

I've got a 1977 town car with a 460, i was wondering if you lincoln gurus that seem to pop in can hook me up with some power ratings