For anyone that's swapped an iron headed 460 into their cars did you notice a big handling difference ? How about aluminum ? Thanks
Any BB dropped in the front of one of these is seriously going to affect the handling of the car.
If you're worried about cornering/handling, don't drop a BB in there...
look all I want to know is how your car handled after the swap if you can't anser that dont bother responding.
How about telling folks what your intended use is for the car?
The car will handle like you've added 300# to the front of the car.
Also, how about getting the bug out of your ass?
Maybe I better rephrase my question. You see I'm only interested in the difference between the iron heads and aluminum heads where as handling is concerned. A guy on a Mustang forum told me he's run both and could'nt tell the difference. It's a real simple question.
Well, when you are adding at least 300# to the front of the car OVER a 5.0....the "lighter" AL heads aren't going to make any difference as the balance of the car (which is nose-heavy as it is) is going to be even worse. The 50#(?) between the two isn't going to matter.
I have both iron and aluminum heads in a 460 fox body stang and a 429ranchero.. around town couldn't tell what heads where on it.handle the same and drove the same.
the only time i notice any change was in my drag racing ET. the aluminum heads flow better than fords factory head at the higher rpms(4500 and up) .so it made more horse power in the higher rpms.
if your going to just drive your car around town and some highway driving .the aluminum not worth extra money .
if your going to race(street or strip):burnout: or
want the cool factor:bowdown: or
tring to keep the lbs down. then get aluminum head.
Just what I wanted to know. I already have custom coil springs (550 lbs f 325 lbs r ), Eibach sway bars, Bullit Mustang gas shocks, CHE rear control arms etc... so I'm hoping it handles pretty good despite the extra weight. It's not going to see the strip anyway.
It won't handle, period. Those front springs you have are too light anyway even for a Tbird w/ a SB.
It's completely asinine building a Fox with a BB hoping it will "handle".
Then again, I must not know anything about these cars...
First of all they are stiffer than the springs that are already on my stock 5.0 powered 87 Cougar by 30% according to Coil Spring Specialties ( the manufacturer) and if the are'nt I can use the Mach 1 springs I have ( 600 lbs front ).
First of all...:rolleyes:
They are too light, period. The stock springs are too soft to start with, your 30% increase won't mean squat.
The car will wallow and push and handle like you set a hippo on the hood...
Oh wait...are you going to tell me to get a life again?
If the mach 1 springs dont work I can always go heavier. The big block stays It's the cheapest way to 500 hp without juice. I must tell you though so far I just put the Eibach swaybars on and the difference going around corners is amazing. Unfortunately the harder cornering I did killed the old shocks on the car and now it sits until I can replace the whole suspension and since I want to replace the drivetrain anyway I'll do it all at once this winter.
no, your car not going a handle like a slot car (da) with a 460 but i would put the much-1 spring in first because i use the 99 cobra takeout springs all around in the fox body stang and it handled like any 88 to 93 mustang 4cylinder car handles like.
i remember reading some where that 460 weights the same as the iron block 4.6 . if they can get those boats of a 1996 on up mustang with a 4.6 to handle. you would think that a 460 bird/cougar would handle some what? just food for thought:hick:
by the way i still have the 86 stang that i had the 460 IN but i went back to 351w. thinking i could get better ET out of a 351ford crate motor. runs the same ET SO THAT WAS A WASTE.
You're shooting yourself in the foot with the big block. You won't see 500hp anyway...and what's the use if you're not drag racing it? All you are going is totally screwing up the balance of the car so you can say you have a 460 and a hypothetical big HP number.
You didn't like my answer because I didn't tell you what you wanted to hear. It doesn't matter one bit if people could tell no difference in the handling between an iron or AL-headed 460. They could tell no difference because they handled equally as bad.
If you want to live in lala land and build your big block so be it, but don't kid yourself that it will handle one bit. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
ranchero... no a 460 weighs upwards of 700#+... The 4.6's don't weigh close to that.
why not just upgrade the suspension first, then get a cheap rebuilt motor($1000 or less) throw a couple hundred in junkyard parts at it then just swap out motor's and have an extra just in case? you could get to 400hp with better gas mileage and still save money and not have to swap everything else out.
You need either a new k-member with mustang specific 460 drop mounts, or custom mounts for your stock k-member. New tranny and engine, as well as a lot of wiring changes to keep efi, or swap out to a carb and lose drivibility and dependability.
Also, chuck used to design and still builds parts for the suspension of these cars and used to work for kenny brown if I remember correctly. So I would just guess that your arguing with him isn't going to get you anywhere...
As far as making 500hp i can see a 460 making that much power without spending as much money as say a 351, but how much is all the other things needed to convert a fox car to a BB going to cost you? I like the way my car handles and can't imagine dropping all that weight in the front of one of these. Even when my motor kicks the bucket and I build something else I'm sticking with the smallest V8 package with the most CID I can get out of it. I.E. 347 stroker.
What do you want a 500hp BB for anyways? If it's never going to see the strip what's the point then? If you want it to handle at all stay away from that BB. Big blocks are for old muscle cars that don't handle anyways and pickups that pull loads if you're afraid of the power potential of a turbo diesel.
It sounds like someone just wants a redneck tire smokin' machine.
In short: You're going to need all the aluminum you can get.
LOL. Something like that.
I have to tell you I'm an operating engineer so I know all about big turbo diesels.
thats classic!!
I vote this be the quote of the day!!
;)
I can tell you firsthand about an all iron 460 87 TC because I built and drive one.
First, it handles better than I thought it would ever with the factory 140 K mile 4 cyl. springs that came with the car. It will handle even better when I put the factory sway bar back on the front.;)
Check out my link in my sig to all the pics of my maroon 87 460 TC.
I never touched the front suspension when I did the conversion.:D Check out the ride height. (stock)
It has cast iron exhaust manifolds, cast iron water pump, and an aluminum intake.
Just my hands-on experience, not presumed (never-tried) assumptions.;)
so the 87 has stock springs and holds up/,,,,, thats awesome....and hey how much do you have into those blocks? Pistons/ rockers/ intake? the 87 looks close to stock.. but im probably wrong...
I think my stroked 460(545) in my truck is WAAAAYY more reliable than my tc at the moment. My truck sat for 9 months without running and not doing a thing to it. wiped the clutch out in my tbird, and got the truck running, put gas in in, and two days later went and raced it. That engine has been together for 4 years and hasnt been apart other than to check bearings when I poped out a soft plug. Its making 487rwhp/493 rwtq on pump gas. 1/4 times in sig:D But as far as handling in a fox tbird, no idea. Even though it'll go in there, I just dont see any reason too, due to all the heavy reinforcement it would need to be able to handle any of that power without twisting. Hell, I'm afraid I'm gonna twist my car with the 4 cylinder
I think you need the man'o war 460 small block! Of course if you can afford a $14,000 crate motor....
The engine in the pics I paid $ 100.00 for out of a truck. It burns oil a little. Can't wait to find time to put in the new engine.
I was very surprised out how well those 4 cyl. springs have held up.:D
It will NEVER handle like it did with the turbo 4, but it drives and feels pretty good tho.
In contrast, our Gray 83 460 Bird has moroso trick front springs and it really doesn't handle well at all. Doesn't matter, it wasn't built to turn corners anyway.
Already thought of that. The shortblock is $ 5,000 assembled.
Thanks for your replies it's good to hear from someone who tried it.