I need to know the stock oil capacity of a 73 460. Now I'll tell you why the dumb question. I just bought a Jet Boat with a mildly built 460 in it. The seller swears up and down that the oil level is right, but it shows to be a bit over a quart high on the dipstick. The dipstick is in the front of the engine (is that where all the dipsticks are in this vintage?) It has a real short dipstick tube and the dipstick itself fits very loosely in it. So, I will be looking for a new dipstick and tube to replace it. I'm concerned however about the oil level. I can only
assume that it's the normal 5.5 quarts and I'm positive that it's a stock pan front sump.

Now to the next question, not quite as dumb I hope. This is my first experience with a 460. I know by all the reciepts and cross-referencing the part #'s on the summit site what the motor has in it. I could bore you with all the details, but I'll cut it short by saying that it was built right, the only thing not new is the block and main caps. In jet boats rpm is going to be up a lot. Sustained WOT at around 5,400 rpm with the new impeller I'm putting in. Are 460's prone to holding oil in the upper part of the motor? Do I need to pull the motor and put a large capacity oil pan on it? It already has a HV melling oil pump, but I'm concerned about running out of oil under sustained high rpm.

Questions:

Stock oil capacity of a 460?

High capacity oil pan, or is stock fine?

Anyone know the best place to get a trick dipstick?

 

well, first off, as my welding instructor always says, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people...heh, j/k. as far as stock capacity goes, i wanna say 6 quarts, but a haynes manual for any ford fullsize of that vintage will tell ya(oftentimes they are already open at the parts stores, so you could look it up) or you can ask stock capacity for a 73 ford LTD at the counter. as far as pan size, i dont see why stock would be a problem. and for the dipstick, unless you weld in a latemodel style bung in the pan, you'll have to go stock. lokar makes a trick dipstick and tube, but only for the rear sump pans. good luck man
mike

 

Thanks mike,

The reason I asked was mainly because I have to pull the motor this week in order to overhaul the Jet pump, so I figured that there would be no better time to replace the oil pan than when I already have the motor on the stand. I'll probably flip the motor and pull the pan anyway just to check on the bottom end and see what, if any, crap maybe in the pan. I've been lookin on the web for large capacity pans and mostly I find the racing pans that are pretty damn pricey. So I figured I'd ask you 460 guru's and see if there were any inherent oiling problems with a BBF. As far as the dipstick goes, I'd like to find a nice trick one to replace the one on the motor now, but it has to be a front sump tho =/

Thanks again for your help!

Nick

 

Stock oil capacity for a passenger car 460 is 5 quarts.

Any engine running at sustained WOT with a HV oil pump is prone to dry sump. I'd definitely get a bigger oil pan.

You'll find a lot more "techy" people and likely a quick answer regarding restrictors on this forum:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/85220

 

Thanks for the info Scroob. I tried to create an account with the forum that you posted with no luck so far, I guess I'll have to keep trying. In any case, I am a bit concerned with the oil supply so I guess it's better to err on the side of caution. I'm going to have the motor out so I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and buy an oversized pan and oil pickup. Especially with a boat with the bow being elevated more than a car, it seems to me that a front sump 5 qt. pan just won't cut it. I'd rather have too much oil than not enough. Does anyone know off hand who sells a reasonbly priced big pan for the BBF? I'll need to get another oil pickup tube as well. Thanks for your help guys.