Ford 460 project

[WFarm]

So our K9 Officer buddy got himself a project Ford truck with no drivetrain and then picked up a 460 that had been in a motorhome. I rebuilt an Edelbrock carb I had for it, then we decided to bring it to my shop to see if the engine was salvageable. It had been stored outside with no carb for an unknown time (supposedly under a cover) and looked a bit rough with lots of trash in the intake (no carb so critters must have had a field day).

Started tearing into it today. So far everything looks surprisingly good but as you see the intake ports are packed full of crap. I’m hoping once they’re off and the engine will turn as currently it will not. Fingers crossed that the only reason for not turning is all the crap on top of the pistons. We’ll see.

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[Scruffy49]

Huge fan of a 460/C6 or 460/NP435 combo, followed closely by FE (332-428) with the same transmissions.

Building a 460 is 2-3x the cost of a 454, and a fraction of the cost of a B/RB Mopar. Offset by the so much more user friendly front mount distributor. Tell him to get a coil in cap conversion distributor, keep an RV cam in it, good true roller/double roller timing set, Felpro gaskets (ONLY), and at minimum an 800 cfm carb on a medium rise dual plane intake. That combo in my 85 F250 XLT Lariat lwb extended cab 2wd could burn off a set of LT235/85r16s in under 1 minute…

 

[YakkoWarner]

I'd bet the cylinder walls have some rust and stuck rings which will also keep it from rolling over. Doesn't mean its a lost cause. I'd watch the YouTube video from Puddins Fab Shop last month where he had a very similar situation with a Ford 351 (and the end result was him driving it around his property). I'd do what he did - get a camera down the plug holes, see what you're up against and plan on pulling the heads.

 

[WFarm]

Mud and rust in cylinders 1 and 2. I was able to slightly rotate it so it's not hard siezed, just hung up on that rust. Pic is #1. #2 is not quite as bad.

Other cylinders look pretty decent.

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[bucket]

I've seen worse that still runs ok. A lot of times, that scale just comes right off with very little pitting left behind.

 

[YakkoWarner]

It might lose a little compression on those 2 cylinders at first, until everything settles in and maybe a little carbon buildup forms in the depressions. With that much ick in the cylinders I'd also confirm the valves are OK and moving freely.

 

[89Suburban]

My buddy in high school had an F-250 with a 300 I6 that he swapped over to a 460.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Yikes. I'd be shocked if that cylinder didn't at least need a good hone job. Could be a cool project when you're done though! We bought a '79 F250 last year that has a warmed over 460 that supposedly has a small cam in it. The Holley's junk so we've never really driven it but I plan to tinker with it some when my truck's done

 

[legopnuematic]

I’d suspect it is, but not 100% sure that the cam timing is retarded 4° on that engine. Ford did that for emissions reasons starting in the early 70s up to fuel injection on the 460s.

Something to note and check.

 

[idahovette]

There ya go again Spencer....with the fored info.....I'm really starting to worry.... @legopnuematic

 

[legopnuematic]

@idahovette have to be informed on the subject matter to make fun of them ford their life choices.

 

[WFarm]

Appreciate the input everyone. The owner was asking what I thought (bore it out or not) but I haven’t committed yet as I need to clean those two cylinders up and see how badly they may or may not be pitted.

The heads look OK, as does the bottom end so if I could get this back together after a good cleanup that would be good as the owner isn’t rolling in dough and has another kid due in July.

He had been told that this engine was in a 1993 motor home, but I told him if it was it was transplanted there as it’s a 1979 unit per the numbers and the fact that it’s pre-Serpentine and pre-fuel injection, both of which came about in 1988 from what I read.

The block casting number is D9TE followed by something completely illegible. The date code in the lifter valley is 9A24. So unless I’m wrong the engine was made Jan 24, 1979.

The heads must have been replaced and not original as they are clearly marked E8TE-DA with a date code of 8K25, which means they were made in Oct 25, 1988

And how many f-ing belts did this beast need!!!

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[WFarm]

Some cleaning and honing and everything spins nicely.

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