460 street hp

I seen a build up in car craft's web page "87 octane 460 engine build" 8.82:1 compression ratio, and with out any port work on the stock early heads. Made 437 HP at 5900 rpm, and over 500 ft. lb.'s of torque at 4900 rpm. The cam was a erson spilt duration grind, and said the longer exhaust valve opens with 8 degrees more exhaust duration claiming that it would equal out the flow, and was the biggest cam Erson suggests for a low compression build, I think if memory serves the lift was 540 intake and 548 exhaust and duration @ .050 220 intake and 228 exhaust can't remember the LCA? Anyway a Weiand stealth small intake port opening dual plane intake, and a 750 cfm Holley, hooker 2" tubes. long chassis header's And 3" collectors. Comp roller tip 1.73:1 ratio rockers, rounds out the low compression build. I think I will build this combo for my 1971 F-100 truck. It has a nine inch rear end with 3.25 gears behind a c-6 automatic. High 12 to low 13 second runs at the drag strip:D 

I think you can easily do better than that. It's mostly about the heads and flow but you haven't said anything about that. Is 87 octane the limit?

I'm thinking high 13's low 14's with that combo.
I know what I had when my truck went 12.98 and that combo isn't it.

I ran 840hp on the street daily. 12 point cage, 5 point harness, 29x18.5x15 mickeys. Liked 101 octain. Used to be pumped at Sunoco pumps around town here. Although for street driving, near idle, it didn't mind 91 octain for an emergency. Just couldn't put any foot into it.

If I over looked your question, can I build a 460 horsepower street engine from a 460 cubic inch Ford 385, my apologizes. My answer to you, I'm not acquainted with your abilities, although without detail the answer is yes. The first and one of the more important decisions you must make is, what do you expect from your application? Big cams do not go hand in hand with stock stall converters and/or high ratio final drives. One must also ask themselves, how much time will my engine experience higher engine speeds? I'm just saying, a magazine engine build may sound good, if it doesn't fit within your expectations and/or application you may not be as excited after the engine build as you were after reading the magazine article!

Here's a build I done several years ago for a F150 that's involved in towing, heavy and light and is used daily locally.

468 cubic inch Ford 385.
Cast iron cylinder heads with intake port match and blending, stock 2.08" (IMMSMC) Exhaust port heavily worked with 1.71" valves (IMMSMC)
8.65:1 cr.
COMP Extreme 4X4 camshaft. XX-231-XX number. Intake lobe near a Hi-energy 252 and exhaust lobe of the Hi-energy 268.
Edelbrock Performer intake, port opening matched to cylinder heads.
Holley 600 CFM carburetor.
Duraspark ignition.

The vehicle was equipped with a C6 and 3.25:1 ring and pinion. Final drive ratio was near 3.15:1

The engine's rpm was limited by the camshaft design, although it would pull right to the 5200 rpm limit in any gear! High gear included. The average street car would be surprised by it's performance, stop light to stop light or during top end blasts. Oh did I mention, it almost idled smooth and it was very drivable.

Keep in simple and in line with your true application,
Dave.

Dave gave the best advice, that many of us forget to preface our million dollar engine fantasies with. WHAT DO YOU WANT? What are your goals, and what is your budget? There are many ways to get somewhere, but only one is going to be right for you.

Dave De wrote:I think you can easily do better than that. It's mostly about the heads and flow but you haven't said anything about that. Is 87 octane the limit?

460 junk yard $100.00, re ring kit bearings and so forth, dove heads ported by me. BBC head studs used, new guide plates, chrome moly .100 longer, 5/16 push rods and oil pump drive. Weiand stealth intake, 850 holly, used in good shape, I rebuilt the carb. SSI cam from PAW 276x286 0.50 .218x.228 114 LC's. Headman 1 3/4 inch long tube headers 2 1/2 collectors. Recurved the distributer all in by 2200, 24 degrees total dist. advance with 10 at idle 34 total, 9'' rear with 3.25's. Built c-6 trans, w front sump pan fits a 1971 F-100, need 460 frame mounts, rounds out the package. After break in I went to little river drag strip, ran a 13 flat @ 112 mph, . the truck weighs 3750 lbs. with me in it.spinning 10' good years in first and second almost had to lift. weight is 3753 with me. lightened no bumpers. That's it:

bully boy wrote:I seen a build up in car craft's web page "87 octane 460 engine build" 8.82:1 compression ratio, and with out any port work on the stock early heads. Made 437 HP at 5900 rpm, and over 500 ft. lb.'s of torque at 4900 rpm. The cam was a erson spilt duration grind, and said the longer exhaust valve opens  with 8 degrees more exhaust duration claiming that it would equal out the flow, and was the biggest cam Erson suggests for a low compression build, I think if memory serves the lift was 540 intake and 548 exhaust and duration @ .050 220 intake and 228 exhaust can't remember the LCA? Anyway a Weiand stealth small intake port opening dual plane intake, and a 750 cfm Holley, hooker 2" tubes. long chassis header's And 3" collectors. Comp roller tip 1.73:1 ratio rockers, rounds out the low compression build. I think I will build this combo for my 1971 F-100 truck. It has a nine inch rear end with 3.25 gears behind a c-6 automatic. High 12 to low 13 second runs at the drag strip:D 

12's, I do not know, seems very optimistc to me, maybe if the truck is very light, and you get excellent traction. 3.25 gears seem a little high also.