It's great to be here, if Im in the right place. I have an '87 that's carbureted so my F-250 is a mish/mash of 86/88'ish. Since I have questions that are about the engine I'd hang out here for a while. Is that about right or do they cover carbureted engines in the 87-on forum?

 

They do, but you might get more carb experience here

 

Here is probably the best place for carb info regarding 302 family engines, big blocks, and the old reliable 300-6. During the Bullnose years Ford basically maxed out what carb'd engines could do as far as emissions control.

If all your emissions equipment has been deleted, then you will find sound engine advice all the way back to the 60's.

Question for you: what engine and trans/t-case are in it? This will help a lot. If you can get casting numbers out experts can even tell you how old the engine is and the best places to upgrade. Also, notorious trouble spots that did vary a bit by year.

 

My truck has the 460 engine with the manual hubs and t-case. Im not sure what t-case it is I assumed there was only one available. It is aluminum but that's about all I know for now.
I'll crawl under it and see if there's a tag or some part number on it.

I'm very interested in getting a lot more torque out of the engine. With the trucks age, I expect to be needing a rebuilt engine in the near future. There has to be tricks and secrets to making the 460 the best truck motor I'm sure but I am only aware of high hp tricks for drag racing.
It would also be awesome to get info about the quirks and weak points of the truck.
I'll be researching this stuff before I start asking questions.

 

The biggest problems the 460 has, IMO, is the small exhaust ports. I rebuilt mine and kept the heads stock. Kind of wished I hadn't but the money was tight and I had to work with what I had. On the older engines you'll want to make sure that the intake is crack free. Mine had fractures in the carburetor holes and along some of the channels. I had a big problem with vacuum leaks which lead to the rebuild. I used a used Edelbrock intake I found on eBay.

I also switched out the Ford proprietary carb for an Edelbrock but that was a personal choice. The Ford Holley the 460s come with are meant to not be tampered with as they plugged off the mixture screws. I rebuilt the Holley several times but couldn't get it run quite right. Now I got a torquey motor that gets 15mpg not towing anything.

I also switched out the cam for a Comp Cams RV camshaft which gives a little more torque and top end.

The block I bored .030 over but could have gone so large as .060 as there is plenty of material between the cylinder walls and the water jacket.

So, maybe you don't have to do all that. I would say switch the cam and freshen up the gaskets and see what your cylinders look like. If you do a complete teardown make sure to do a cook, clean and crack check.

 

Lavatan, thanks for the advice. If you could have put different heads on it which would you choose, regular early 429 heads, aftermarket aluminum heads, 70's 460 heads?
I dont know how small the ports or valves are on the 80's 460 heads and why they would be so small.
I want advice about the big stuff because of how it affects the other things, like cam selection. I'd like to get a great whole package dedicated to making low end torque. This truck is way cheaper than a modern diesel pickup so Im not too worried about spending a dollar or two, as long as I spend it wisely and get what I pay for.

 

I have an '87 460, and find more carbureted information here than in the '87-'96 forum.

The biggest improvement you could do for torque is to install a new 'straight up' timing set.
I used a Cloyes 9-1122.
You could also install a stock replacement timing set intended for the later ('88-on) EFI 460's.

The biggest restrictions in the stock heads are the thermactor humps and short side radius in the exhaust ports.

Your 1987 heads are D3VE, the same as any 1973-1987 460 heads.
The early C9VE & D0VE heads have smaller chambers, but you may find it hard to get these iron heads to run well on pump gas with a torque cam.

If going aftermarket look at TrickFlow and stay away from assembled Chinese aluminum heads (Procomp)

Just my 2c

 

If I could have afforded it I would have gone with aluminum heads. They can be real spendy though. For example, here are the results at Summit Racing for the heads that fit a 460.

 

Ya'all are awesome. Thanks

 

To Ardwrkntrk,

"If going aftermarket look at TrickFlow and stay away from assembled Chinese aluminum heads (Procomp)".

Do you know of anybody that acutally used those heads? Is the casting bad? Like are they thin and crack or overheat? Just wondering if there was something specific wrong or just what you could expect for something made in China. If anyone has used those China heads please chime in.

 

The bare head castings are not known to be "bad".
There are some good builders using them as a starting point.
Lots of advice here and over on 460.com not to trust the machine work or components of assembled heads.

Paul, Carl and Scott are all well regarded

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...0ci-heads.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...for-460-a.html
procomp heads - 460 Ford Forum
ProComp heads $1450.00 - 460 Ford Forum

 

If you want lots of torque you do not want anything "big". If you want the engine to pull good starting at idle, you need to keep the carb small, the ports in the intake small, and the valves in the head small. This keeps the air/fuel velocity up, which keeps the fuel suspended in the air and makes it run better at very low rpms.

You can go big, with a larger carb, larger volume intake, and larger valve heads, but it will change the personality of the engine. It will make more power and more torque, but it will be at higher rpms. This is ok if you plan accordingly and change your gear ratios and and possibly use a higher stall converter if you are using a automatic.

If you already have 4.10 gears, you can get away with some changes without changing the gearing. But if you are going to run oversize tires, and really hop the engine up, you might need to go to 4.30 or higher depending on the tire size and how radical the engine is.