How do i build a 460 on the cheap with good power?

Greetings all,
Im new to the forum. I recently made a bone head trade for my new toy. I now have a 1974 F100 with a weak worn 460. The guy i got it from said it was a slight rear main leak. That was not the case i have blow by pushing oil out of the breather and past my crank seals. The motor is out of a 78 F350. From what I can tell its the D1VE block with D3ve heads. Id like around 400 hp if i can do it all for the right price. I have a good machinist but im a little lost on what parts to put in and keeping my costs down. Im a newbie with fords and big blocks in general i used to be a chevy mopar smallblock guy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum. The horse power chart is a sticky in the Proven Builds section https://www.429-460.com/t121-big-block-ford-horsepower-chart-info-gathered-by-djohagin read it, it will give you rough guide line of what it will take to achieve your goal.

thanks for the direction. i rear up on what you had suggested and it really helped. Im trying to get together a parts list now. the truck is a 4x4 on 35s with a C6. Any suggestions on what cam to run to get the loping sound at idle and good power and still maintain manifold vacuum. Gear drive or double roller timing set?
Different torque converter?
Pistons?
Can the D3VE heads be upgraded? or is it cheaper to find a different set?
Can the 460 be made a stroker with a couple parts changes or is it a full blown Kit?

For 400 hp, sound like a rebuild is inline judging by your description.

A good street performance hydraulic cam and matching parts, a aluminum dual plane carb, 750 carb, get the compression up to about 9.5:1, maybe a litte home bowl porting, ignition upgrade and some headers...

Ok that sounds good.
Already have a dual plane edelbrock and 750 performer and HEI distributor. Im definitely going with long tubes roller rockers and most likely a hydraulic flat tappet cam. as far as cam anything You could recommend? How would you reccomend i bump my compression if i keep the stock heads?

bigblockf100 wrote:Ok that sounds good.
Already have a dual plane edelbrock and 750 performer and HEI distributor. Im definitely going with long tubes roller rockers and most likely a hydraulic flat tappet cam. as far as cam anything You could recommend? How would you reccomend i bump my compression if i keep the stock heads?

Buy flat top pistons on the rebuild, Or use the existing pistons if you don't need boring and get a set of DOVE OR C9 or C8 heads. But if your running it on the street a lot of miles the un hardened seats may be a problem on the closed chamber heads.

In that case the new piston route is the way to go. Make sure to put an after market timing set on it or a set for a 1970 429 to make sure the cam timing is not retarded.

ok so flat tops are the way ill head with the pistons. any brand in particular that is good bang for the buck? so i will need to degree the cam? I was goin to replace my timing set anyways. Do the valve springs have to be upgraded with a moderate cam? and do i need to get different push rods?

I know the trucks probly not gonna be a tire shedder but i was looking for somthing that could tow a house and get out of its own way. lol. although any improvement over the way it is now.

Sorry for all the questions guys im still new to building a ford and especially one for a 4x4 rig.

Sounds like your willing to spend some money, so Keith Black makes a set of flat tops that work good for what your doing. They come out at or very near 0 deck and give a good quinch and tight cyl wall clearance.

Get the recomended spring when you buy the camshaft and use the after market adjustable timing set and degree the cam to their spec.

Push rods should be fine as you can run the stock valve train to make the power your looking for.

If i end up running roller rockers with the same ratio the pushrods should still work id imagine. right? they should be a 1.7 stock i think.
id like to keep the spending costs to a minimum so if theres a less expensive option out there for pistons thats probly the route im gonna go.

Rockers to run with out guide plates are few. I can't remember but I think Randy Malick (R.M. Machine) here on the board has some that will work.

Here is a link to some pistons.

http://www.jegs.com/i/KB-Performance-Pistons/648/KB137.030/10002/-1?parentProductId=755796

Thanks for the link. I should be able to figure it out from here. Gonna start the tear down here soon see what i have inside first and go from there...

If you decide to put studs and guide plates on it the stock pushrods will need to be replacedwith hardened ones.

On the cheap ...
I would use Speed-Pro, cast flat top replacement pistons #H535P ---
mill the block deck to get the piston about .010" down the hole ---
get an appropriate hydraulic lifter camshaft & kit with a straight-up timing set ---
use your present D3VE heads with a decent competition valve job ---
You said you already have a good intake manifold and carb.

That should get you above 400 horsepower. The next 100 gets more involved.

thank you much ill have to let you know how it turns out.