Rlzegers

Forgive the uninformed question. I've been an FE block guy and this is my first experience with a 460. I bought a ready to assemble 460 a while back. It came with dove-c heads. Can someone tell me something about them? Are they run-of-the-mill or is there anything special about them?

Thanks guys,

Ron

GT300TD

They're nothing special except have 75cc +- compustion chambers which are good for compression. D0VE is 1970, they're about the same as C8VE ('68), or
C9VE ('69). After that D3VE have 95cc +-. They're good for a mild build IF you clean up the exhaust ports, they're very flow restrictive. Intake valves are 2.08, exhausts 1.66. I recently bought a set off the 'auction block' at 460ford.com :: Index, ported and polished with CJ valves (2.25 int, 1.72 exh) that were good for 700 horsepower.
Since you're a beginner like me I STRONGLY suggest that web site, they ARE the 429/460 experts and are really great guys.
Good Luck and go to www460ford.com for your answers.

GT300TD

Paul Kane

Ron,

The D0VE-C factory iron cylinder heads are the most popular of the 429/460 heads. Contrary to the above post, they are a great factory iron cylinder head...definitely among the best mass produced passenger car cylinder heads of the era.

The intake port architecture is second to none and these heads can flow great intake numbers for what they are as cast and with a little bit of cleanup.

Valve angles are great and the combustion chamber is great, spark plug location is great, and these heads, on a .030" overbore 460 with flat top pistons, make about 11.4:1 compression ratio.

The exhaust port is poor flowing as cast (all factory 429/460 iron heads are), but fortunately they can be ported and this transfoms the D0VE heads a la Jeckyl and Hyde.

Well ported and prepped versions have been known to support 600+ hp on 460's and over 700 hp on stroker engines, naturally aspirated. Oversize valves are available, 7/16" roller rocker studs screw right on, etc.

Making use of the proper head for a given application is important when planning your engine combo. Whether the D0Ve-C head is right for your build or not depends what you want to do.

Paul

__________________

Rlzegers

Thanks Paul. I appreciate the information. I intend to use the engine in my 1978 Ford p/u for towing my RV. Here's what I have:
460 bored 0.020" over. Comp cam CCA-34-235-4, Weiand 8012 intake, recurved duraspark distributor, dual exhaust with oversized pipes, I haven't decided on whether or not to go with headers.

Sustained RPM will be around 4000 with 4500-5000 for short periods during hill climbing while towing. Cruising RPM will be a nice 2200. What size carburetor would you go with? What do you think?

Thanks again Paul.

Ron

GT300TD

Rizegers,
I apologize if you thought I misinformed you. I guess my statement was based on the fact that they are so plentiful. I guess I shouldn't have even posted anything knowing that Paul is on this forum. I thought I covered most of the bases though. I am glad that Paul 'plumbed' me up though as I have 3 sets of D0VE-C's. Once again sorry for any misunderstanding.

GT300TD