Im rebuilding a 460 to swap into my 1977 f150 and the block is in the shop right now. I went over to order bearings and maybe pistons because the skrit on number 1 piston broke off. The shop manager told me i can just buy 1 piston and reuse the other 7 but would something be off balance? And if i do end up replaceing all the pistons would it be worth it to spend the extra 100 bucks to have the block bored .030 over because the pistons are the same price for standard or .030

 

The 385 series engine, my favorite to build. Depends on what you want out of the engine as to the work. If it's going to be in a street rod, the 385 blocks respond real well to a .030 bore. If it were mine I'd be looking for a steelite crank from a 429 to shorten the stroke which means you can turn some outrageous rpms but the 460 crank makes TONS of torque. Regardless of bore or not, I'd replace all of the pistons and again, depending on what you are wanting the engine for, maybe pop the compression to about 10.5:1 so you can still run pump gas. I'd find a set of PI heads for it too. You might also consider using the injection system from a late model 460 and jump up to heavier injectors with a good cam. You'll end up with more HP and torque than you can probably use but burning tires is a lot of fun!

 

i should have put more info but the motor is a 73 so it has D3VE-A2A heads that i already had redone, after i got them back i found out abou thte D0VE heads that i should have found and rebuilt but oh well. The motor is going into a 4x4 for a mud truck/ toy. As of now the mods are a Edlebrock cam and intake, L&L headers, and Edlebrock 650 carb. I got a price on a rebuild kit which includes all the bearings, pistons and rings, and gaskets for about 450 either standard or oversize

 

Two things, do not use standard rings or expect to be tearing the engine apart sooner rather than later. Use JE or Mahle, preferably JE. Get the moly plasma top ring and chrome moly bottom set. They'll take a beating that yer gonna be giving it. Make sure to use NEW pistons as the old ones will probably be worn at the backside of the ring groove and you'll be fouling plugs with oil.
You don't have enough carb. Step up to at least a 750. My preference is the old Carter SuperQuad but they're getting hard to find. I like being able to quickly change jets and metering rods to fit the weather.

 

i called Edlebrock and talked to a rep and they said with my application of the engine a 650 is going to preform best, anything bigger and power and fuel econmy go down. I was already expecting to replace the pistons and im think its not a bad idea to buy so high quality rings. I found some pistons but i dont know if there the right ones, the bore and stroke are the right size but i need to know the stock compression distance and piston head volume to make sure i have the right ones. Thanks

 

just thought i would update how the build is going. I talked to the shop on tuesday and i decided to have the block bored .030 over because i had to buy pistons. The whole kit for bearings, pistons, freeze plugs, high volume oil pump, and timing chain for the high lift cam was just shy of 400 bucks so its not too bad. Any more input on the engine?

 

High lift cam says you better be using a roller chain. High volume oil pumps can be good but what is the max pressure? Some still have low idle pressures. I'd check the specs before buying it. FWIW, my last 385 build I had a pump I built and it idled at 70 lbs and run at 70 lbs. Never had an oil related issue even at 10,000 rpms where the rev limiter cut it off.

 

i got roller chain since it was recommended with the cam, im not sure about the oil pump because i work late so i had my dad talk to the shop and order the parts and he knows what hes doing since hes built one before. Wow a 385 running 10,000 RPM that most have been an awesome engine

 

i have one more question, i was orginally going with all Edlebrock parts such as cam, timing chain, intake, and carb but i just saw a Weiand Stealth Intake P/N 8012 and it looks just like the Edlebrock Preformer plus intake P/N 2166 i was looking at but its about 45 bucks cheaper. Would it be ok to go with the other Edlebrock parts and then the Weiand intake

 

Using the Weiand won't hurt anything at all. However, the 650 carb you are planning on using will probably choke your motor off a bit. I have a 650 on a MILDLY built 302 (cam, 4v intake) and it runs great with no hesitation and gets great fuel mileage (better than my 97 f150 5.4l ?!?wtf, haha).

 

thats odd because edlebrock recommend that carb and my dads friend has a 1976 f250 with a 460 and it has a Wiend intake and edlebrock 750 and he said its not that great and the fuel milage is horrible compared to what other 460's were getting

 

I ran a holley 850 cfm on my old 352 and later on the 390, and my dad uses a 650 cfm on his 289


but there's a lot more than just throwing a carb onto a motor because it worked for someone else's situation


the total package has to work together

 

IMO, a dialed in 650 should be fine at low and mid rpms, but will cost you high rpm power on a 460. If you don't intend to rev it high and don't care about peak hp, it should be fine on the street or offroad.

When properly jetted, a 750 or bigger should give you more peak hp, especially combined with a bigger cam, but if you operate at low and mid rpm 98% of the time, there's no need to shoot for big dyno numbers.

 

Get some BOSS heads from John Foosie, he is making the aluminum heads intake and valve covers to turn a 460 into a BOSS 529 putting out 550hp on pump gas.H claims to o it yourself and have the machining done you would have about 8-10k in the engine.