efi 460 heads, what can be done?

[Andy351]

i've got a 91 van with a 460. i'd like to know what kinda things can be done to get more power. its got 230k mi on it which i'm sure is nothing for the bottom end, but thinking a head gasket job and valve job would not be a bad idea as preventative maintenance.

are there any heads (like the better early 70s ones) that would work, pass CA smog etc? or are the efi and carb manifolds entirely different...

[82F100SWB]

EFI and carb heads are entirely different. The later F3TE heads are better than what you currently have on there however.
As for passing CA amog, I think you are pretty much screwed.

[Toyoda]

Gasket match, port and polish.

[mooninite1]

the biggest restriction in the intake system on the 460 is the elbow that the throttle body bolts to. port all of the divider out and it will flow better. also removing the "flute" thing in the intake tubes helps........or so Ive heard.

[Dr.Danger]

Scotty J is your man for Ford 460 heads and performance, you can find him over on 460ford.com or 429-460.com. This is his website: http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/

He has recently done a lot of work with the E7 and F3 heads and they look somewhat promising.

It is like 25 or 30 bucks if you want access to most of his files, but it is well worth spending the few bucks.

[Andy351]

did a little reading today, thanks for the heads up on the f3te. sounds like porting and matching a set of those will not only get me significantly larger intake valves but also a slightly higher compression ratio. i'm stuck using the factory manifolds (i ain't swapping those for headers every 2 years to pass smog) so i don't see a point in getting crazy and putting in bigger exhaust valves.

sounds like i should be focusing more on the exhaust side of things from the reading i've done. gonna add a dual inlet/outlet muffler to uncork the exhaust as much as i can. the y pipe doesn't actually look that restrictive, its dual 2.5" till the cat.

i've already simplified the intake A LOT. took a 2 into 1 y pipe off a mass air small block and it fit right onto the first leg of the factory tubes. stuck the biggest cone filter on that i could fit. i'll have to take apart the intake and port the gooseneck one of these days, that sounds like a fun project.



if i see 275-300hp and 450 tq when i'm done i'll be pretty damn pleased. i know its pretty lame for a big block but this thing already scoots pretty good and i don't need a crazy amount of power.

[FORDTECHGURU]

dude, now your engine is breathing 200 degree air all the time, route that shit over to a fender or somewhere better. at this junction, you are worse off..

[Andy351]

the previous owner cut a big hole in the hood. it works so good at getting outside air in that it almost hydrolocked in the rain the other day.

people always say that about cone filters, but i feel like the stock air box which was literally parked on top of the radiator was worse than this setup in terms of intake temp. there was no room for air to move before and with the 5' of tube the air was run thru, the cold air that started out in the fender was not cold by the time it got to the engine.

[Havok450]

the heads are the intake ports on an efi are at a different degree, but they do make adapter plates for the efi heads to older intakes
such as this
http://www.pricemotorsport.com/html/...ter_plate.html

[Toyoda]

Andy351-can you post some pics of the hood, underside as well. I want to do something similar to my motorhome.

I made a new exhaust, 3" with the cat flanged, flowmaster 80 series, and installed a new merger. I was able to relocate the o2 sensor in the new merger.
I also put cone filters in place of the stock airbox, one for each side of the tb. And I pulled the air horns out of the stock piping.
This all made a noticible difference and my milage went up.

[Pt_Ranger_V8]

Where did you get that 2-1 air tube? I'm looking for one that fits on the throttle body then routes into a 3" hose for the intake. I don't know what it's called, so I can't find one on the internets

[Toyoda]

One for each side of the tb, 2.5" tube.

[chrisevans2645]

i didn't know the efi heads were different. i got tired of the efi acting up so i swapped a cummins in even though the engine was in good shape mechanically. i figured i'd save it and throw on a carburetor, intake, and distributor. i guess i'll probably just try to sell it now. anyway here's what i did for the intake and it helped my fuel economy quite a bit.
from this

to this

[surreyfordredneck]

i LOL'd at your dual air filter setup

[chrisevans2645]

i just reused part of the original hoses then duct taped the o ring from an 81mm mortar fiber on the outside so the filter didn't slide too far on.
edit: oh, and i also cut off the hard plastic that the hose connected to and inserted that into the hose to give it some rigidity where the filters slide on.

[mj]

Originally Posted by Andy351

people always say that about cone filters, but i feel like the stock air box which was literally parked on top of the radiator was worse than this setup in terms of intake temp. there was no room for air to move before and with the 5' of tube the air was run thru, the cold air that started out in the fender was not cold by the time it got to the engine.

did you test your theory?
chances are the ford has an ACT sensor that you could read with your hot air intake system to compare it to the factory cold air intake system readings.
I would bet you are worse off then the factory had it but at least you didnt pay for the downgrade like most peeps do these days

[Andy351]

Originally Posted by mj

did you test your theory?
chances are the ford has an ACT sensor that you could read with your hot air intake system to compare it to the factory cold air intake system readings.
I would bet you are worse off then the factory had it but at least you didnt pay for the downgrade like most peeps do these days

my theory is based on intense scrutiny of the factory system while drinking numerous PBRs. from the fender inlet to the filter there were numerous gaps and leaks in the piping, and the intake actually routes right next to the p-side manifold, then makes a 90* turn up to another 90* turn to the air box which sits on top of the ~200* radiator, then takes another 5' of turns or so to get to the throttle body. i'm sure there is marginal difference if any in ACT, its a van. no matter what its hot as shit under the hood. at least the hood scoop does a great job of getting cooler air in there. if there is any performance difference i can't tell, the factory exhaust does a great job of killing any chance of power. but it still does good burnouts. at least now i can check belt tension, check trans fluid level and access the engine without spending 15 minutes to get the factory airbox out of the way. thats all i really cared about anyway.

out of curiosity, how could i go about reading the ACT, just for shits and giggles?