I bought a 74 Thunderbird with a 460 in it for my 65.My question is ,are there many versions of the 460,such as are the older motors much different than the newer versions?Or is a 460 pretty much the same up through the years?This thread made me currious as to how much power I might expect from it.We also have an old ambulance with a 460 in it,though it's a bit newer.I believe it is in the 80's.

 

Try this:

http://phystutor.tripod.com/stang/engines/big.html

Not sure how many versions of the block, but I think they are all 2 bolt mains.

Heads and manifolds are in abundant supply.

Do a google under "429 & 460 Ford" and you'll find plenty.

 

The 460 is hands down more durable than the 454. There is no comparison. Ive got two 460s on irrigation wells right now. Ive had no problems whatsoever with them. One has 15,000 hrs the other 1200. Its 2 years old. A neighbor of mine bought a 454 at the same time. It started taking quite a bit of oil. Just plain woreout. Its shot hes not using this motor no more. A mechanic that works on both motors says when you rebuild the Ford once youve rebuilt the Chevy twice. If your in to truck pulling nothing beats a 460. It has gobs of torqe down low. A stock 460 will out torque a 454 thats a fact. Fords always built motors with torque down low. A guy I know has a 460 in a old 70s truck used fro pickup pulling. Hes won many contests with that truck. Hes never touched the motor. That motor was pulled to the max. Other than the 300 6 the 460 was one of the best motors Ford made. There a tough motor too beat. A neighbor of mine got a 496 big block chevhy for his irrigation well a year ago. Guess what this year hes broke down. No oil pressure. Dont know what the problem is. Typical Chevy motor you cant depend on them.

 

I have to say that we test drove a 97 460 powered crewcab, neither me or my father were impressed, we had my mother in the '95 dodge van w/360 and when we got to a passing lane we got beside the van and both punched it, from 100 Km/h to 140, the van was 5 carlengths ahead. 230,000 km van vs. a mint 87'000 km ford. BUT, we do now own a 90,000Km 1990 F-250 S/cab with a 460. Same performance as the '97 but we actually tow with this one and it has good power once loaded. So we are all quite happy with this Ford. It could use a but more power though.

 

I own a 7.3L and have driven the new 6.0Ls. I cant tell you that the 6.0 is faster and thats all I have good to say about it. Torqey? No way you have to rev it way up to get it too move. Also you say there more efficent? How so? Oh, you must mean the suprir mileage they get over the 7.3L? Yeah 6mpg on the 6.0L loaded beats the average mileage of a loaded down 7.3L which is the 10-15mpg range. Yeah they get better emssions, something Im sorry to say I dont give a damn about. Its quiter which for me is bad since I love loud engines, not some gorocery getter engine that I cant hear. Stop bashing the 7.3L because "newer must be better" the 7.3L it makes better low-end and gets better mileage. My modded 7.3L out-accerlates the 6.0L by a mile. No replacement for displacement.

 

351M, the 460 is not a race engine, and the 360 will rev higher, so why even try? You want to help the acceleration on your ford, throw a set of 4:10 or 4:56 gears in it. I'm willing to bet it shipped from the factory with 3:73s.... the 460 is a great motor for haulin a trailer, but not for speed in stock form.

 

Nope, it came with a 4:10 Limited slip, the van spanks it but when it comes to towing it definitly does a good job. I know the 460 ain't a race engine, I really don't expect it to be but what happened to the 460 that threw you back in the seat like the '70s ones? These engines should have alot more power than this in stock form.

 

What trans? Is it an auto or manual? If it's the auto it probably need a fluid and filter change.. I couldn't believe the difference in mine.

 

E4OD, dealer showed us the records from it, all service had been done, It seems to do more revving than moving but we might do another oil change on the tranny and install a shift kit.

 

If it feels like it's revving then you may have a bad/goin torque converter, my 351 will run at 2000 at 55 until the trans gets warmed up and tells the tc to lock up, then it drops 500 rpm...

 

I should have mentioned that it only does that when we punch it, 4000 RPM and very slowly speeding up, even compared to our 6.9 C6 dually with same rear gears. It runs about 2300 RPM at 62mph i think. Haven't really payed attention to it in awhile. I know it runs 2700 with O/D off. Almost the same as the diesel. Diesel hits 3000 at the same speed.

 

That's about right. If I punch the 'ole 351 in the **** at 55 it downshifts to second, and then pulls real hard to 4600 when it shifts, then gives you whiplash and does it again through 3rd, by the time it hits 4th you've buried the speedo.

 

I driven both and at the bottom end they both have gobs of torque for gas engines. But the 460 stock stop breathing in the low 4000. I don't know as much about the 454 because it was a work truck and I treated my employers equipment with care because I was only 16 at the time.

As far as the 460 not being a race engine talk to the guys that race them. They make great engines if you know what you are doing and you can rev them to 6500-7000 with just the 2 bolt setup.

 

I said in stock form, I know they can be built to handle almost 10k rpms. It's all in how much money you are willing to spend.

 

Actually, speaking of the 460 running out of breath, the intake on them looks like a 4bbl one with a 2 bbl plenum bolted on? At least it does on this '90 of ours.