I bought my truck a few months ago and I am trying to get some specs on the new 460 that was dropped into it. The guy I bought the truck from can't find the receipt and the guy who did the motor work isn't around anymore. The info I got from the parts place that sold the motor was that they got "a stock truck 460" along with a Holley 600 carb (vacuum 2ndary), a double overtiming chain set, and a 268 Comp Cam". My question is this: What kind of horsepower is reasonable with this setup along with headers (which look to be 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 diameter)??? I am assuming that the crank, rods, pistons, manifolds, are all stock. I need to know what my next steps are to make my truck a real ripper. Thanks for any responses!!

 

Just looking in some other threads and went and found my heads....they are D3VE-ARA. Are these worth a crap?

 

Sorry, but I forgot...it is bored .30 over. Not much of an engine guy here, sorry again!

 

the d3ve heads are fine for what they are- basic smog heads. with good porting they will do pretty well for you. with good long tube headers and dual exhaust, and you already have the aftermarket timing chain, and an rv cam, id say you could be putting out around 290 horse assuming everything is in good shape and properly tuned. as for other mods, what is your budget and goal?
oh, and nice truck

 

Thanks Darrin. Budget is so-so. Also this is my daily driver so I don't want to take it out of commission long. Everything under the hood is new from the pumps, starter, cam, etc. However, I would like to eventually polish and port the heads and maybe upgrade the manifolds. With what I have would the intake be a better upgrade than the exhaust manifold at this point? Also, I was told that going to an Edlebrock 750 ccf carb would make a difference. My goal is to have a solid daily driver with some snort! I want it reliable of course and not to much power but enough to be respectable around town! Thanks for the direction!

 

Headers would be my first upgrade.

The 460 with stock heads are very restricted on the exaust side and any help to get the gases out is going to be noticed. especially with that cam you have.

if they used stock replacement pistons, your compression ratio is probably pretty dismall. probably 8.5:1. you can swap heads with the early closed chamber heads (C8Ve, C9VE or DOVE heads) and push the compression up to a more respectable 9 or 9.5:1. this would add a few ponies and be a fairly cheap upgrade (cheap being a relative term depending on amount of work required on the used heads)

the heads you have can be made to perform fairly decent with some port work and valve upgrades, but if you have dished pistons, you are still limited on your compression ratio.

with some minor upgrades and selection of parts, 400hp from that engine is very easy to obtain. check out 460ford.com for a wealth of info and advise as to the potential of the 385 series engine. they have lots of articles on builds from mild hop ups to all out 600" + builds.

rgds
Mike

 

I have some long tube headers now, not new but still look in good shape. I have my eye on a parts truck ('79 with a 460) so I may check and see what heads that has on it. I am willing to bet that they will be the D3's. How much would ported and polished D0VE's run? Are those some of the better heads around? I know SCJ's are top notch but spendy. 400 horses is about what I would like. What Exhaust manifold would you suggest with the D3VE head set up? Thanks.

 

the factory heads in order of preference and power potential are

DOOE super/cobra jet heads. 2.25" intakes, 77cc chambers, huge ports
D2OE police interceptor heads, 2.19" intakes and the smaller intake and exhaust port
DOVE,C9VE or C8VE heads, 2.08" intakes, 75cc chambers, small ports, stud rockers
D3VE, D8VE, 2.08" intakes, 95cc chambers, samll ports, bolt down pedastals.

the first two heads are very hard to come by and very expensive as they are very sought after by restorers and racers that are limited to stock heads. the D20E would be the bette choice for a 460 based engine as it has the larger valves and smaller ports. i am not sure but i think they came in both 75cc chambers and 95cc chambers, but not 100% sure.

the DOVE (and their early model numbers) are probably the most common heads to find as usually you can pick up a set of rebuidable heads for $100- $200 most places. depending on how much work and money you want to put into the heads, you are looking at anywhere from $200 for a straight forard valve job with no new parts to around $1200 - $1500 for an all out job. that would be larger valves, new seats, springs, retainers and guides plus professional port job.

of course when you look at that kind of money, you might want to consider aftermarket heads as by the time you put that much time and money into a set of DOVE heads, the aftermarket ones are looking pretty good. just try to stay away from the chinese junk on upay as they are basically a copy of the factory heads and require a lot of work to get them decent.

check out reincarnation-automotive.com. lots of great info on the 460 heads and he sells a lot of different levels of rebuilt heads to suit any budget or hp goal.

rgds
Mike

 

the only difference as far as performance goes between the d0ve and the d3ve heads is the d0ve heads have smaller chambers for higher compression. they flow the same. if you pick up the parts truck, id pull the engine and rebuild it and drop it in... that way you can do whatever you want to the engine instead if just nickel and diming without seeing any sudden change. your best upgrade for the current engine is headers. the edelbrock 750 is slightly overcarbing a street engine... youll see a slight power increase, but mostly youll just see your mileage drop vs the 600 cfm. the stock intake is fine until you get a cam bigger than the rv cam, then youd want an intake to match.

 

Cool, thanks guys. SO right now, with the chain set, 268 mild rv cam, D3VE heads, Holley 600 dbl pmper carb, and older headers I should go with new headers and maybe a valve job on the D3's. I was told that grinding the 'smog bump/thermoactor bump" on the exhaust port would add some pony's. Does this cost a lot, like near the $1000 port job you mentioned??? Thanks fella's.

 

just go to www.reincarnation-automotive.com and pay the 25 dollar membership fee, and follow the directions there and do it yourself... itll take about 8 hours or so with a die grinder.