I have a 460 in my rat rod and I was told that it's out of a '75 Lincoln. How do I find what year it is or can I. I put a timing gear set in it and it pops in exhaust and when I use my timing light the pointer is off the timing degree marks. Thanks for any help.

 

if the little aluminum tag is still bolted to the dist, that will tell you the exact year of the engine, but without it, it is hard to tell exactly what year it is. but you can narrow it down by looking at the casting numbers on the lock and heads.
the casting number for the heads is right above the exhaust ports. for a 75 engine it should have D3VE heads. these were used from 73 till about 86 or 87 when the fuel injected engines came out.
the casting number of the block is by the starter. it should be D1VE. this puts the engine in the 73 - 78 year range. in 79 (only offered in trucks after 77 or 78) the block would be D9TE and be externally balanced (has a big hatchet looking weight behind the harmonic balancer).
but that shouldn't be the reason behind your problems as the timing gears are basically interchangeable among all years (the early ones prior to 72 were straight up, while 72 and newer until the fuel injected units were 4 or 8 degs retarded). it sounds like either the gears weren't installed lined up or the distributor was reinstalled incorrectly. either way can cause some serious damage to engine so i would recheck both to make sure they were installed correctly.
as far as timing sets, the best is to get the set for the 68-70 years or for the newer fuel injected engines as they are both straight up timing sets and add some free hp to your engine.

rgds
Mike

 

Block casting number: D1VE-6015-AB - A1B - A2B = 1971/73 429 / 1971/78 460 & some 1979 460. Internal balance.

Block casting number: D9TE-6015-AB = Some 1979 460, 1980/97 460. External balance.

Even though I've typed this info over 100 times, some people continue to make this same mistake, think the D9TE block was the only 460 used in 1979, but that's incorrect!

FoMoCo changed the 460 mid-year 1979, has a weighted crank spacer. There are no before/from production dates or serial numbers, as this was a "running change."

1979: The block casting number must be known to get the correct harmonic balancer & flex plate.

460: 1968/78 Lincoln/Continental Marks / 1972/76 Thunderbird / 1973/76 F100 / 1973/78 misc. Ford/Merc Passenger Cars / 1973/79 F250/350 / 1975/79 F150 / 1975/97 E250/350 / 1983/97 F250/350.

Notes: Some 1978 Lincoln/Continental Mark V came with 400's. 1979 F150's sold new in CA were not available with 460's.