Why only the 460 BB in a Fox?

[willys1]

I always hhear about people putting Big Blocks in a Fox but it always the 460!! Why not a 429? or a 428 Cobra Jet? or how about the Legendart 427?
Granted the 460 has the most torque,but only after doing a performance rebuild on it.
Hell I dont know of any "stock" 427's that are under 425HP and the same if not more in the torque department!! Think about it,,A "427 Fox"

It just oozes rough sex and HP!!! Anyone have any input on this?

 

[86bluecobra]

i'll take a stab at it. I think the 460 is cheaper. plus if i did have a 427 i would want it in a cobra kit car or a older mustang. in my town there is a 4 eyed fox with a 428 in it.

 

[poneypower89]

460 is also much easier to find. They came in everything from big ol trucks to lincoln cruisers.

 

[willys1]

I thought about the price thing too,,but theres guys in here who have 10's of thousands of dollars in there 5.0's,so Im not buying that!!

 

[TorontoJohn]

Now I could be wrong...but

I have heard the 427 is bigger then the 460. Forgive me if I am wrong, and if they are based on the same block! A friend of mine was going to have a cobra jet put into his 87, and they said it would take intensive modifications. Something about re loacting the oil filter and blah blah blah. I know the 460 has swap kits you can buy to drop it in.

 

[poneypower89]

I thought about the price thing too,,but theres guys in here who have 10's of thousands of dollars in there 5.0's,so Im not buying that!!

They have that much money in their car because they put it in little by little over the course of years and years. Its hard to jusify spending a large amount of change at once over spending the change over a course of time.

I would have never been able to save enough money to buy all my mods at once, but I sure can collect the parts as I go.

Can you walk into a ford dealership and buy a FORG GT striaght up? I dunno what the analogy there is, but I hope you get the point im trying to make right?

 

[willys1]

They have that much money in their car because they put it in little by little over the course of years and years. Its hard to jusify spending a large amount of change at once over spending the change over a course of time.

I would have never been able to save enough money to buy all my mods at once, but I sure can collect the parts as I go.

Can you walk into a ford dealership and buy a FORG GT striaght up? I dunno what the analogy there is, but I hope you get the point im trying to make right?

yeah I get it...But there are people who have enough for a twin turbo set-up,,or saleen sc's..There are deals to be had if you look..If you conduct a long search for a Ford 427,I mean looking every where,old Galaxy's in junk yards,wrecked cars,,ect... you can find one.Im looking for a technical reason for my question..

 

[timewarped1972]

a 429 is the same block as the 460 so everyone goes with the extra 30 cubes........

the 360/390/428 are also very heavy engines.....although i don't know what the weight diff actually is. the 428/390 "fe" series unless it's a old side oiler type (427)some of them have horsepower restrictions like the stock 5.0 too i believe........after 450 or so you may be pushing it.......as where i think the 460 can handle more..........but i'n ot positive on that it's like everything else some people get away with more.

the 460 swap i think is more of the being different......when you add the extra weight, the tight fit, the swap parts, it's just as easy to build a blown small block from hell, which is why most people go that way i think...

 

[gcwh02]

They have that much money in their car because they put it in little by little over the course of years and years. Its hard to jusify spending a large amount of change at once over spending the change over a course of time.

I would have never been able to save enough money to buy all my mods at once, but I sure can collect the parts as I go.

Can you walk into a ford dealership and buy a FORG GT striaght up? I dunno what the analogy there is, but I hope you get the point im trying to make right?

I think rarely some ford dealerships carry the ford GT b/c my boss told me he was going to buy one and he went to a ford dealership to check it out (he might of told them and they made a order or i dunno) but he is a old guy and he said the interior is too small for him. ***** i wouldnt care if the GT was a one seater If I had the money it would be in my garage

 

[RYC CUKR]

Performance parts for the FE motors are harder to find since there really ins't a big aftermarket for them.

The 385 series motors have a larger aftermarket in part to having been produced for a longer period of time. And the blocks are fairly easy to come by. At least much easier to come by than the FE blocks.

Search around and get some pricing on 428s and 427s. If you can find one at a decent price I would buy it take it to a swap meet and sell it to someone who needs one for a resto.

 

[bobcatv8]

RYC is right about the FE. I have had many, many FEs over the years. Speed parts for the FE were plentiful "back in the day" but the pressure from car collectors wanting them too drove the price beyond what most racers were willing to pay.
I think the FE with an aluminum intake actually weighs less than a 385 series engine with one too. Physically, the FE and 385 are fairly close in size but the 385 is a more modern design and has more power potential. All you really need to know about that is Ford replaced the FE with the 385 series in most applications.
I'm not sure but I believe the old 427 SOHC even to this day is the highest HP naturally aspirated engine from the factory that Ford ever made. They are just not practical here in the good ol' 21st century.

 

[willys1]

a 429 is the same block as the 460 so everyone goes with the extra 30 cubes........

the 360/390/428 are also very heavy engines.....although i don't know what the weight diff actually is. the 428/390 "fe" series unless it's a old side oiler type (427)some of them have horsepower restrictions like the stock 5.0 too i believe........after 450 or so you may be pushing it.......as where i think the 460 can handle more..........but i'n ot positive on that it's like everything else some people get away with more.

the 460 swap i think is more of the being different......when you add the extra weight, the tight fit, the swap parts, it's just as easy to build a blown small block from hell, which is why most people go that way i think...

450hp mite be pushing it? r u nuts? The 427 that came in the AC Cobra was well over 500hp!! What made the 427 great was its ability to rev while retaining a sh@t load of torque!! Something the 460 cant do.(rev)

 

[timewarped1972]

i meant passenger car 390 428's.........not 427/428 cj's.when i used to hang in the fe truck forum they were always saying how the stock 360/390 /428's passenger car blocks were not as strong.......i believe it was a main bolt/cap issue....the 427's had the cross bolted mains........i think some of the passenger car/truck blocks were cast lighter than others as well.......

maybe 450 was an under estimate........but it seemed like i recalled the standarrd passenger car blocks did not have near the hp strength compared to the 427.......and was around 450 or so and you could have main cap issues.....like i said that was the general concensus among the guys who build these engines for their trucks but.......perhaps i was wrong.... i simply mentioned it because just buying a regular 390/428 block isn't a gurentee it will be good for 5 or 600 hp like a 427 might.......
regradless though, i agree, they are tough engines!!!!!! wouldn't mind having a stang with an FE and a 4 speed someday

 

[bluevenom867]

FE's are great motor,they ARE lighter than the 385 series with an alum. intake.

The blocks are strong,dont worry about that,the side oiler was made because of OILING at HIGH RPM.

You can also get the "side-oiler" in a 406.And FE's came in a bunch of sizes,but they all had the same size block pretty much.

Theres also a differance between mech cam blocks and hyd. cam blocks.

But of course,there down fall is the old desing and the heads.Very expensive to make them run fast like a built 385 series.

 

[willys1]

i meant passenger car 390 428's.........not 427/428 cj's.when i used to hang in the fe truck forum they were always saying how the stock 360/390 /428's passenger car blocks were not as strong.......i believe it was a main bolt/cap issue....the 427's had the cross bolted mains........i think some of the passenger car/truck blocks were cast lighter than others as well.......

maybe 450 was an under estimate........but it seemed like i recalled the standarrd passenger car blocks did not have near the hp strength compared to the 427.......and was around 450 or so and you could have main cap issues.....like i said that was the general concensus among the guys who build these engines for their trucks but.......perhaps i was wrong.... i simply mentioned it because just buying a regular 390/428 block isn't a gurentee it will be good for 5 or 600 hp like a 427 might.......
regradless though, i agree, they are tough engines!!!!!! wouldn't mind having a stang with an FE and a 4 speed someday

maybe Im seeing it wrong but Ford never made a 360..

 

[bluevenom867]

maybe Im seeing it wrong but Ford never made a 360..

Yea they did...late 50's or something.

IIRC,they made a 332,352,360,390,406,427,and 428?

All are FE based.They also had special larget truck FE motor with steel cranks that were like 1 ci bigger on the "listed" motor size.

 

[rd]

The reputation of the big FE's is strong, but they seem hard to find, except for 360's and 390's these days. Stuff is out there for them, but you can get a Mustang into the 9's or 10's fairly easily with small block stuff, so I see no need to go for the FE stuff. We have a car club member who just got a pro built 427 for his Cobra kit car.

I have just decided it's one engine I don't want spend any time or money on to learn about. Just like I have never owned a small block Chevy, or a Buick.

The 429-460 stuff is still available in salvage yards, so stock up now!

Personally, I'm going 2.3 next.

 

[willys1]

Yea they did...late 50's or something.

IIRC,they made a 332,352,360,390,406,427,and 428?

All are FE based.They also had special larget truck FE motor with steel cranks that were like 1 ci bigger on the "listed" motor size.

I gotta check that..If where counting 50's then you forgot the 292,the 312 T-Bird motor,youve seem to forgotten the 351,the 289 & the 260..not sure about the 360.what did it come in?

 

[88Stangboy]

For all out racing, where money is no object--Big block.

For nice, 400-500hp street car---Small block.

Both have their uses, advantages, disadvantages. Small blocks are just more streetable these days.
Big blocks in racing...One thing, they're so strong, another is the torque output, and in racing, the horse power the bigblock actually makes offsets the weight disadvantage to a point where there isn't one anymore.

 

[willys1]

For all out racing, where money is no object--Big block.

For nice, 400-500hp street car---Small block.

Both have their uses, advantages, disadvantages. Small blocks are just more streetable these days.
Big blocks in racing...One thing, they're so strong, another is the torque output, and in racing, the horse power the bigblock actually makes offsets the weight disadvantage to a point where there isn't one anymore.

I agree.A 302 with a turbo HP & Torque But it was a genuine question.(why always a 460) I guess the money issue prevails!!