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OT - Milling 460 Ford Heads

iirc the 72+ smog motors lost most of their compression through increasing the deck height of the block. You want a 429/460 that's not a slug you mill the deck to gain quench.

Money ahead to buy a running 68-70 motor and drop it in.
 
I can't tell you on that particular engine, but I've never had a reliability issue going .050 on SBC and also on AMC. This then creates things that need to be checked and corrected. Rocker arm height, push rod angle interfearance, piston to valve clearance. Also the amount you lower the heads changes the relationship of the intake to the head and you will probably have to machine the intake sides to set it down further on the heads. You can use math to figure out how much to cut the intake. And if the intake also covers the valley, a cut might have to be made where those two surfaces come together.

It's easier to get pistons for higher compression, but not as challenging or fun as cutting metal.

You can also make a solid copper head gasket from flashing material instead of a thick composite gasket and gain some there.
 
so what do you figure, one point more in compression, what will it get you? what makes you think this is the way to go? i know nothing about your engine, but im sure there are more efficient ways to increase power.
 
Just port and polish the heads, in a conservative manner, to get the flow better. That is simple, cheap, and as long as you don't get carried away, will make a great improvement in getting the gasses out and the fuel and air mixture in. If the carb is right down on the intake, a 1 or 2 inch spacer will likely loosen a couple more ponies from the smog.... Shy of that, only trial and error will get your deck/head combo correct. Either find some early heads, or have bigger valves put in your heads.
 
BTW, angle milling will produce the biggest bang-for-your-buck in the metal removal department. The downside is that it changes your valvetrain geometry drastically. On small Chevy's, this is a fairly straightforward fix, but Ford's, with their rocker rails, will probably require some creative shimming to correct. If you've never seen it, there was a book written with Smokey Yunick (sp?) regarding small Chevy's years ago that is pretty in-depth in the air flow department. The book was written about small Chevys, but the cylinder head section is fairly universal in regards to port & chamber design. A pretty good read.
 
Yeah, you spelled his name correctly. He was a legend in how to make metal go fast. Fortunately, as you pointed out, many of his wisdoms were preserved in many books.
 
Yes, I have been around alot of big Chevys over the years. In this case a 460 was givin to me + a C6 to chain down/strap in a dirt track truck. On other forums they said to change the timing gear to an older CJ timing set advancing the cam, chqange out the distributer,& raise the carb. Thank you for all the input. 460 + C6 = FREE
 








 
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