'76 460 rebuild suggestions

 Sounds like you are pointing the rebuild in a good direction, stock shortblock will handle a good bit of power and will be reliable. I have been dealing with 460's since the mid 80's and have rebuilt a few, mostly just warmed up stock style examples. I'd say the biggest hurdles are finding a competent machine shop and cam/lifter issues if using hydraulic flat tappet camshaft, as of right now I am on my THIRD rebuild of my late son's 472 due to cam/lifter failures, been dealing with this since December. What kind of compression are you wanting to end up with? C8VE/DOVE-C heads are basically the same, hope yours are not drilled for the EGR ports(most are not), allows for smoother exhaust port finish. Piston choices are somewhat limited unless high dollar stuff is wanted, must pay attention to compression height as well as block's deck height to keep compression within reason but also keep quench below .050", a typical rebuild using stock style 70's pistons can yield quench distances of .070"+, not good for detonation resistance or power. When I had my block machined I went with 10.295" deck height and using '88-'92 460 EFI 3109H pistons left the pistons .005" "in the hole" and used Fel-Pro 1018 head gasket with .041" compressed thickness, gives 9.73 CR using ported D3VE-A2A heads and will allow further decking in the future and quench is right at .046". The EFI pistons have a much shallower dish(7cc) and higher compression height (1.76") as compared to earlier rebuilder type pistons 22-24cc dish and 1.752" compression height), they also use the standard 5/64-5/64-3/16 ring pack. The 93-97 460 pistons have a higher compression height of 1.772" with a larger 15cc dish, but a thinner ring pack-read more expensive. using a standard volume/pressure Melling oil pump is plenty for stock spec'd main and con rod clearances, HV oil pumps are said to cost HP but also aerates the oil due to bypass conditions. Using an early 68-72 double roller timing set(you may have to omit the crankshaft slinger using these due to clearance issues) will allow easier camshaft degreeing-YES degree the camshaft!! Durabond cam bearings and KING rod and main bearings are good choices. Choosing a camshaft is a balancing act, 460's usually like .015" and 15 degrees more lift and duration on the exhaust side, so a dual pattern is usually a must to get the most potential out of the engine. Intake-for torque the stock cast iron intake is king, but weight and less HP is the penalty. It has been said the Edelbrock Performer is a good intake for a warmed over 460 and makes more HP than the iron stocker and is quite a weight savings. Intake gaskets-unless you drive in the winter, use one that blocks the heat crossover in the heads or a "bathtub" gasket for an LPG application to keep engine heat/oil splash off bottom of intake-Fel-Pro MS96044 is a good example, it also helps with vapor lock issues. Exhaust-Hooker 6126's, I haven't had any issues with mine and they have been installed since '92, if porting the heads use them, if leaving the heads alone just use manifolds. I run headers on every 460 engine I've rebuilt, they provide more power, usually more mileage and are lighter than the manifolds(hell, I'd run headers on my lawnmower if they made them). Timing cover-try to re-use stock factory unit, the aftermarket ones do not fit as well, at least the ones I have tried. These are just a few things off the top of my head. Try visiting www.460ford.com for more answers, great folks there with lots of helpful info. Good luck. 

Still researching the short block internals and looking at the spread bore carb for the '71 CJ intake... HOLY MOLEY, how is the Ford Rochester carb different from the GM Rochester? The GM carbs are affordable while the Ford carb is astronomical??

Thanks for you advise....

as you can see it's definitely the Quadrajet mounting. Guess I'll pick up the Rochester QJ to Holley spread bore adapter. Kinda liked the idea of cruising on the smaller bores then really dumping the fuel into the engine when I needed her to gitty up and go!! Oh well.....

I see the 429/460PI intakes have the funky Holley style spread bore carb mounting so I'd hate to think how hard that carb might be to find!

Here are the components on my Torino when she arrived....

The original EGR spacer also has the spread bore venturi arrangement.....

But then an open throat spacer/adapter was installed....

followed by a Holley List-8207, 4160 series, 600 cfm carb.

Well I also discovered the Motorcraft 4350 was a 550-600 cfm carb while the earlier Motorcraft 4300 was a 715 cfm carb. So now I'll dig into the Motorcraft versus Rochester carbs and try to narrow down my search.

Again, my thanks for your input!

As you can see by the decal on the fuel filter it is a Ford Reman unit that has been in storage for decades!! This carb is set up for a non-AC, Automatic CobraJet so I will need to source the necessary parts to be able to use it for an AT/AC car.

Speaking of decades in storage and sourcing parts, I opened up the bits that were included with my C8VE heads hoping to find the fulcrums, rockers, studs and hardware for the OEM valvetrain only to find just the screw in studs.  I was hoping to do a "day 1" head swap by using the early style C8VE components atop the rebuilt 460 short block, so if anyone has a complete set of ball fulcrums, rockers and lock nuts they could part with PLEASE let me know! 

Thanks guys 

With the drive screw drilled out, I flipped the manifold over and set the QuadraJet into place to see how things lined up and what bits and pieces I still need to source to mate the carb to my engine. The QJ I scored was for an automatic, non-ac car but mine will have air so I need to find the correct bracket and throttle position solenoid to install on the carb.

The QJ also uses a divorced choke assembly on the 429CJ's....

so I'll also need to find the choke stove tube assembly, the pull down divorced choke assembly and the stove cover gasket. I looked on line prior to going over to play and found no one offers the correct profile gasket at a reasonable price ($18-$32 for this little piece )....

so I just made a template and will make my own. 

My google search also turned up NO NOS choke tube nor divorced choke assemblies so I guess I'll also be making/adapting something to fill these voids. I'll be posting a second thread under PARTS WANTED with a couple sketches the parts in question.

Appreciate any and all leads to the needed ball fulcrum rocket arm parts as well as the Ford Rochester QuadraJet bits!! Also a recommendation and an informative QuadraJet manual??

Thanks guys 

From all my research into the 385 series engines it sounds like the weak link of the engine is the exhaust port. The intake to exhaust ratio sounds to be more inlet biased so I'm thinking when I have the C8VE heads worked over, I'll keep the stock 2.18" x 1.87" intake port, increase the valve to a 2.19" dia PI valve size and just smooth out the intake passage to reduce turbulance. On the exhaust side, increase the valve to the PI 1.73" dia, increase the exhaust port to the CJ size of 2.25" x 1.30" and blend the new port size back into the head knocking down the EGR bump and also smoothing them out to get the gasses out ASAP. I'll also need to decide on the valve train so the correct springs can be installed during the head prep...

All that in addition to hot tanking, magnafluxing, installing hardened valve seat and bronze guides (if necessary). 

As always appreciate your thoughts and suggestions! 

Anyone have an answer?? 

Short answer is around 8.95 - 1 CR..... but horrible quench distance of .077" which would be highly susceptible to detonation unless using 93 octane at all times.