I recently bought a 460 with a shattered piston, PO did not torque rod nuts properly. It was partially disassembled when I got it. I have rebuilt a couple Chebby 350s, Ford 302s, and my 351M in my '78 F150 (which has been running strong for 8 years now). This will be my first 460. The engine came from a 1985 F250, so it is a D9TE block and it is still standard bore. The heads, I assume, are D3VE, but I can't find a stamp anywhere on either head. The PO tried to rebuild is as cheaply as he could. He ball honed the cylinders and it looks like he used an Engine Tech kit from eBay or Rock Auto. The pistons, bearings, and other parts are cheaply made and of very poor quality.
My plan is to take the block to a machine shop, have them sleeve a cylinder and check out the rest. If I can keep the standard bore, that is ideal, but I am not opposed to .030 over. I will buy a quality kit from somewhere, not sure where yet. I am hoping to get up to 400 hp when done. This shouldn't be hard. This will be a slow rebuild and I want to do it right. Hoping that I can get some expert advice as I go along. I love posting pics, so that will be happening. Any valuable input is appreciated.

Big engine to turn those big tires.


A set of D3VE heads and early 70s valve covers.


Standard bore Chinese pistons.


Pulverized piston.


The other shards of that piston and a rod bearing.


When disassembling the lower end, five rod nuts were less than finger tight and two were even backed off a couple turns. Six rods still look good to reuse, two are not.


All torn down. Next stop is the machine shop. Just don't know when I will have the chance to get it there.



A couple questions that hopefully someone can help me with:
1. Are the C9AE rods the correct rods for a D9TE block?
2. I have heard that these blocks have oiling issues. Is there a something to do to correct this at the machine shop? Or will a high pressure, high volume oil pump good enough?

 

Have the align bore checked in the block. Don't let them finish hone the cylinders before they have the pistons in hand to size the bores to. Any 429-460 rod will work but get them resized with new bolts. I would have it balanced too.

 

This is the first block I will be taking to a machine shop. Was hoping to get away with just a cylinder sleeve and hone all cylinders. I will ask their opinion on the rest of the cylinders about boring before I buy the pistons. I expect this part to take some time.

 

The machine shop WILL tell you it needs to be bored - just wait until they tell you what will "clean it up" before ordering pistons.

Unless you want something that burns oil and kills rings/ring lands quickly due to cylinder taper, just do it correctly.

 

The align bore has to be checked after a sleeve is put in.

 

I got a quote today from HP Machine in Bremerton, WA. Everyone has been recommending them to me. Foe a sleeve is gonna be $225 and that covers everything to do the job. For boring all eight cylinders is $175. I think this is about average from what I can find online.

 

When a sleeve is installed it is pressed in with an interference fit and this tends to distort the adjacent cylinders. How much is always a crapshoot. Having it bored or honed to the next oversize on all cylinders after sleeving one cylinder is a very good way to go and the repair will be as good as new.

Enginetech sells King bearings and Silvolite pistons both of which are very high quality.

 

Installed lots of them (King bearings and Enginetech pistons) and never had an issue. Good stuff for the money!

 

There's no problem what so ever with the 460 oiling system in your application. Build it with the correct bearing clearances and use a stock replacement oil pump.

 

I thought Silvolite pistons were made in America. These pistons are made in Mexico actually. Either way, after a better inspection of the cylinders, three of them have some bad pitting and one has some scarring (not including the cylinder that took the rod beating). I will be boring to .030 over. So, replacement pistons will be ordered.

Here is a good read if you want to learn about Silvolite's history.
About Us History | UEM Pistons

 

The condition of the cylinder walls is evident in your pictures....which is why I said the machinist is going to want to clean them up with an overbore.

Nothing is made in the USA anymore thanks to the EPA, DOL, DEQ, OSHA, IRS, and every other alphabet soup agency out there regulating businesses out of doing business.