So, I am in the process of making a list of parts to rebuild an 88 460, as its consuming oil like a mf along with either a manifold leak or lifter tick I haven't dug enough to tell. I do want to do some upgrades while I'm in this process, but also need to keep a reasonable budget, figured getting a new efi system would be a good idea, I do not want to swap to carb, but outside of that I don't really know the weak points of these trucks. A better cam probably, porting the heads at least would be another guess and so on. Just not as familiar with what brands make the best parts and whatnot for these engines to make something decent, so if anyone has good recommendations on specific parts or even a kit that'd be super helpful

 

Why is it consuming oil? Is it blow-by or is it a bad intake gasket sucking oil into the combustion chamber? When I worked at the Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep and Eagle dealership there was a problem with the 318 & 360 Magnum engines. There is a plate on the bottom of the intake manifold and the gasket would fail. When that happened it would suck the oil from the valley into the combustion chamber.

Seems to me that if the OEM EFI system is still working properly then I don’t see why you would spend the money on a new EFI system.

 

To my knowledge it doesnt have much if any blowby. I suppose it could be the intake gasket, though I'm pretty sure I replaced that a couple years ago. My thought leaning to a valve seal issue as it had a stuck valve or something for a short while after it sat for several years, that was fixed some time ago but it was also turned into a daily driver at the end of last summer. Considering it can go through 2-3 quarts in 2 hours of driving without any additives to stop it as well...

Reason for an efi upgrade is just for tuneability, from what I've seen the stock one is just kinda hard to work with and very limiting. It's not at the top of my list, but something I'd like to improve

 

The newer EFI heads, 1993+ I believe have better flow than the early EFI heads. Finding a set of Tri-y headers will help with torque. If you can find a set of Banks headers they have the thickest flange of any headers I've researched but were discontinued in 2021 or 2022. I have a 460 EFI guys throttle body and intake and have had zero issues in 50k miles BUT if I did it over again I would get a Holley Sniper kit. The factory EEC-IV computer is really limiting unless you want to spend the time learning how to program and buy a PiMPx system. You can go wilder with cam options with a PiMPx or Holley Sniper but I'm limited with the factory ECU. Check out Parkland Performance Machine or research The Mad Porter for head porting ideas. Check out the 385 series engine forum on this site for more ideas and other people's builds. Dave McClain has a ton of knowledge about the 460 and there is also a 460 specific forum site. These engines can make big reliable power but with everything the more power the more money it takes.

Don't forget to post pictures.

 

Didn't realize they made changes to the heads from those years, I know if you're really going for it the early heads from the 60s are the best albeit heavy as ****. I'm not sure I'll go as far as getting new heads unless I find a really good deal though

I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for the headers, Texas man owned it prior to me and has stacks with cherry bomps on it and no cats, we assume he used it as a hay hauler or a fun vehicle, but left the stock manifolds on it.

Yeah I've kinda had my eye on the holley kit for it, was kinda hoping to see if anyone had any experience with it and if they were worth a damn, some of them come with an ecu kit even if I remember right so that'd fix that whole issue.

Like I said nothing crazy its staying in a 3/4 ton, just want it to be able to get out of its own way a little better while not breaking the zf5 and upgrading what I can since I'll have it apart anyways.

I'm guessing the consumption is either a lifter/valve issue or it could be a ring issue, in theory if its a top end issue outside of a better cam I wouldn't have to touch the block, but without digging into it I just don't know.

 

Iron heads from the 60’s better than brand new aluminum heads? I find that hard to believe.

It seems like you need to figure out the oil consumption problem before making any “upgrades.” Spending ~ $1,000 on the Holley EFI plus whatever other parts and end up with an engine that is still burning oil.

 

The 90s EFI heads are cast iron not aluminum and the earliest 460 heads until about 1972 are better because they are higher compression and better flow before the gas wars restricted everything. The problem is you cannot run them with an EFI intake so you would have to swap in a carb intake. Bad valve seals and leaky intake gaskets were both common causes of oil consumption on EFI 460s.

 

I never said that they were aluminum. The OP said that..

and I said I doubted that those are better than new aluminum heads. If you are going to use the Holley TBI system then you might as well change the intake manifold to one that was designed for a fuel/air mix instead of one that was designed only for air.

 

Well yes, as I said its not the priority to upgrade, but if I have the resources available to me I wouldn't mind while I've got things torn apart.

 

May have to pull the intake off again and see if that gasket went bad, wouldn't entirely surprise me knowing how parts are nowadays sometimes. If that really ends up being the case would definitely save me the time of rebuilding it.
Edit: I should ask, because low and behold I'm an idiot, assuming you mean lower intake gaskets not upper, in which case I haven't touched the lower.

 

I used the FelPro intake gasket set and used The Right Stuff gasket maker in the corners of the valley. No issues after 50k miles.

 

Why don't you determine if it is rings or a valve issue before you tear it apart?
Hows your PCV valve?

 

New as of December, one of the many things I've replaced on this truck that doesn't wanna stay alive. I may get around to checking the intake before anything else as that's the easiest to get to. Shouldn't be rings as there isnt blow-by, which is a relief

 

How about the machinist? Do you got a good one locally? That might be your toughest challenge.

 

I know of at least one that does automotive stuff, and I know someone else that would know a lot more people in that area than I would, so that's not an issue for me.