So all 460 heads are pretty much interchangeable right? I’ve got a 1992 460 EFI and a set of D0VE heads I want to install on it. That’ll work right? Besides that I just need a carb and an intake manifold. Right?

 

They will bolt on and they will work if you account for their difference. You're right about the intake being different. The valvetrain is also different and it will require a different pushrod length. If you stick with the rail type rocker arms then an unhardened pushrod will work fine. If you use an aftermarket roller rocker then you'll have to add guide plates and with those hardened pushrods are mandatory. Most but not all DOVE style heads come with a non adjustable bottle neck type of stud which uses a 3/8 nut at the top. Those will have to be changed to a normal 7/16 stud, Big Block Chevy ones are usually too short. Valve covers are perimeter bolt vs the centerbolt ones used on the EFI engines.

The exhaust will have to be changed too. Then it should work. Other stuff like accessory holes in the ends of the heads are the same. I think that's all of it.

 

Dave, have you ever ran into having to mill the rocker stands on a D0VE head before putting in studs and guide plates ?

 

I've never had to mill the bosses on a DOVE style head even though technically they are too tall when compared to a head that came with guide plates but I have cut the guide plates in 2 and then aligned each rocker individually. I've had to do that on A429 heads too.

 

what about pistons? Will I need to change them? Also what would be a good pushrod to use if I’m using aftermarket rockers and guide plates?

 

Can you go the other way Dave? Put fuelie heads on a early 429 or 460 and run fuel injection?

 

Yes. You could make that work.

 

So the rockers height doesn't have much to do with the geometry ?

 

The height of the rocker arm does effect the geometry but having the guide plate or not does not change the height of the rocker arm.

 

Then what does dictate the height ? What situation would necessitate a change in height ? Would it be based solely on the rocker to valve tip pattern ?

 

On a stud mount rocker arm the height of the pivot is determined by the length of the pushrod and the height of the end of the valve stem. This is what determines how the contact point moves across the end of the valve stem as the valvetrain actuates. There isn't any one single "correct" geometry or height. Most of the time if the lift is greater the rocker arm pivot should be lower relative to the valve stem height and vice versa if the lift is less. This is if you're judging the geometry based on how the contact point moves on the valve stem tip where it generally should sweep outward, stop at about mid lift and then sweep back inward toward max lift. The movement should be mostly equal and where this occurs on the end of the valve tip makes no difference as long as the contact point doesn't move off of the end of the valve stem.

Some geometries don't try to achieve an equal amount of movement. Some companies like Jesel try to achieve the least movement when the lift is high and the most when it is low and the spring loads are lower.

 

I enjoyed reading that Dave
Spot on
I think I should tell you all about my experience with a similar situation on 351C heads
Bought 4bbl closed chamber 351C heads for a boss 302 in 1980 ,machine shop did it all but did not machine the pedestal enough for the guide plates
Ended up bending quite a few pushrods. Crane guy kept telling me I had interference somewhere. Finally saw some witness marks at the bottom of my rocker arms
I just ground down my screw in studs a little for clearance and installed some lash caps. Been running the same setup now for years and all is well

 

I've never seen that happen on a big Ford but it might be possible to run out of room depending on the rocker arm of choice if the pushrod was way too short. I had a big block Chevy come in where they had interference between the bottom of the rocker arm and the kicked up area of the guide plate. Their solution was to remove the guide plates and you can imagine what that did to the valvetrain. The engine had a valve stem poke a hole through the oil pan.

 

A longer pushrod would have also solved my issue
Funky **** size for that motor
Valve stem through the oil pan sounds like you been doing this a while too
One of my better ones was when I put angle plug turbo chev heads on my 302
Sucked a valve sideways through the head and the piston pushed it up into the valve cover area
Thank god the block was okay
Sold the car to finish getting rid of my x wife
Best deal I ever made