Chevy 454 Vs. Ford 460 Throwdown

Good.

Hey, you are just in time for the finale of a contest between two powerhouses of the seventies. The Chevy 454

and the Ford 460. It's gonna be quite a horsepower throw

in.

Now in the first show, we performed a budget build on the 460 spending only about 2500 bucks from you short block to finish motor.

It made 378 horsepower on the diner.

Later in round two, we treated the same motor to a high performance build using a solid roller cam, trick blow top in kit

and a hall

1000 CFM car result 607 horsepower.

But then it was Chevy's turn, same bone yard to finish motor build up same bare bones budget, but different results on the

dyno

Chevy made 409 horsepower 31 more than the four.

So today in the final round, this 454 gets its high performance build and we get to see which monumental motor makes the most power. Either way, we're gonna drop this thing into our 85 Monte Carlo and turn Chevy's last full size muscle car into a street strip beast

to match the Ford's power. We've got a similar parts combination like the solid roller cam, except this time it's from Lunati

for cylinder heads, we're using a racing head service, big block Chevy aluminum head

and for the induction side, a Merlin single plane intake manifold. Now, for the rotating assembly, we're gonna do something a little different. We're gonna hang these KB pistons on a set of eagle rods and use one of their crank shafts. Now, this is our ESP cast steel piece that's good for applications up to 700 horsepower. It's been cross drilled on all the rod throws for reduced rotating mass and they even balance the entire assembly for us.

Now, you might remember we reuse the Ford crank because they were known to handle 700 horsepower stock Chevys. We only about 500 horsepower

we've got our crank temporarily torn down so we can check the clearance between it and the bearings we've installed. And that's why we left this cap off now to do this, in case you've never done it.

Get a piece of plastic gauge from your local parts store,

cut off a piece,

open it up and put this little green plastic strip on the journal.

Then we can install the cab and the bearings, by the way are clevis

for big black Chevys

torque it down like the rest of them

and finally remove it.

Then compare the width of the flattened plastic gauge to the paper gauge.

It should be between two and three thousands. So, what if you have less than that and not enough clearance? Well, you're probably gonna get bearing failure any more than that. And, well, the oil pressure is gonna go down and

heaven knows what happen. Then

let's get this crank out and then start the right way. What do you say?

And that starts with installing this rear main seal. Now, here's a couple of tips you wanna take when you install these things. The first one is to make sure the large portion of the ceiling lip is facing the front of the engine.

Now, the next thing you wanna do is offset the seal from the main cap. This will help prevent any leaks.

The rods from our kit are forged from 5140 steel and they're available with a press fit or like ours with floating pins.

The pistons are K B's icon brand made from 2618 forged aluminum alloy with a raised dome and single valve relief. This will help put our compression ratio at about 10.5 to 1.

Here's another good feature, forced wrist pin oiling to prevent failure.

There's no graceful way to install these spiral retaining locks, just make sure you get them completely into the groove.

The last step in our prep is the piston ring set,

all ring packs are different. So make sure you follow the instruction sheet to determine which direction the bevel goes and make sure you look close because they're hard to see.

Hey, don't forget to counter the rings 90 degrees from each other that will prevent oil from making its way to the top of the piston.

Now, using plenty of lube, we're installing clevite bearings in this rod.

And after knocking in the first piston rod assembly,

we're going to lay down another piece of plastic gauge to check our rod clearance

just like the mains were right in the ballpark.

When you install these pistons, the valve relief should be pointing toward the center of the engine.

Stick a fork in the bottom end

because it's done. Now, we're gonna move on to the high performance valve train and top end and I hate to break A T but Ford guys,

it ain't gonna be pretty,

I guess we better pick up the pace. We're back with our big block Chevy high performance build. This motors got a top 607 horsepower to beat out a Ford

and just like with our Ford 460 build up.

We're going with a solid roller cam shaft,

a solid roller puts more stress on the valve train and requires frequent valve adjustment. But the upside is you can get a more aggressive cam profile and higher RPM range.

Now to spin that cam, we're gonna use a double roller timing set with adjustable key ways.

Needless to say cylinder choice was pretty critical in both of our big block bills for the Chevy. We're going with these RHS aluminum heads with 320 cc intake runners compared to two nineties on the Ford

valves measure a 225 on the intake, 188 on the exhaust. A little bit bigger than the Fords. But get this combustion chambers. These are 100 and 14 CCS. The Fords were 74.

So how could they have the same compression ratio of 10.5? But don't forget we got those big dome pistons taking up a lot of space in here.

We are swapping out the springs that came with the heads though, for these con dual springs with dampers. Now, they've got twice the spring rate and they're a perfect match for that solid roller cam

to seal our heads. We're going to try out a set of these comic gaskets. Now, they sent us a cut away. So you can see the three layers of stainless steel with the elastomer coating. Now, as the motor goes through the compression stroke, the head tries to lift away from the block. So a cool design feature about these gaskets is the gasket will actually vertically lift to take up that room and still maintain a good seal.

After dropping on the heads, we're gonna cinch them down with a set of a RP bolts

and torque them in three increments up to 75 ft pounds.

The rest of the valve train came from lunati

including the roller lifters.

Because of our parts combination, we have to measure the push routes to get the correct length.

And just because we have to wait to get them in the morning doesn't mean we're dead in the water.

In fact, we can install this Merlin single plane intake. We got from world products. Now, it's what a lot of racers are using these days. It makes good power in the 25 to 8500 RPM range

and they use what's called a right cast process, which means they smooth out the internal. So there's no need to clean up the runners or the plenum. It's ready to go on

just like the heads. We're gonna sit them down with a set of a rps.

This engine is gonna need much better oiling now. So we're upgrading to a milling high volume pump and a pickup that came with our new pan,

which is one of Hamburger's racing pans with kickouts for extra oil capacity and inside trapdoor bathroom.

All right. Quiz time.

It would have been a lot easier to roll the motor upside down for this. So why didn't we? Was it? A, the engine stand is stuck and won't turn

b the instructions say, install the pan this way or

C without push rides and rockers,

those lifters we installed would fall right out of their holes if you answered C you're right. And chances are, you'll never have to uninstall your intake manifold to pick up fallen lifters.

We can do the rest of our work today in the

dyno,

including the dampener from pioneer

the water pump.

And since we ran the same car for both of our budget builds, we're reusing this 1000 CFM Ha Haley, which is the same car we ran on the second stage with the Ford during it.

Dyno runs. Well, now we really are dead in the water until first thing in the morning when our push rod show up. What does that mean? For us? A good night's sleep. And for you guys, only a few minutes of commercials. You have G Ford and Chevy guys better stand close by. The big showdown is coming up.

I'm nervous. I ain't nervous. I'm ready to get it done

today. We're turning our 454 budget big block into a horse power hoss burst with an eagle rotating assembly and Dom

icon pistons. Then with parts like a Lena,

a solid roller cam and valve train,

a set of RHS pro action heads and a Merlin single plane Inane,

a similar build we did on a Ford 460 recently that paid off to the tune of 607 horsepower.

Will this bow tie counterpart meet or beat that?

We're just a few steps away from finding out.

Well, I'm happy to say the push drives we ordered, came in just in time

and just because they're new doesn't mean they're ready to use right out of the box machining material can get lodged inside these things. And unless it's removed, it can actually block oil from getting to the top of the engine.

So you should always take the time to clean them with solvent

and then blow them out with air to make sure they're clear.

Well, after dropping them in place, we finish up the valve train with these 1.7 ratio rocker arms

to adjust the valves on a solid roller cam. You're gonna need a feeler gauge to set the intake to 22 thousands

and the exhaust to 24,000

to look like.

Look, we're 31 cool

to fire off our 454. We're relying on this patrons

flame thrower equipped with the new Igniter three module and a built in adjustable rev limiter with it. A set of their eight millimeter performance wires.

Oh,

I feel better now

to get started. We're running the engine through a heat cycle to get the ring seated and all the components broke in.

God. I love the sound of these big blocks,

the sensors in each header pipe. Tell us the exhaust gas temps. This is a useful way to detect a problem with any of the cylinders

running a solid roller has its dues.

Look how Lucy's rockers got during the heat cycle.

Now you have to

rash the valves after the break in and it's good to check them about every 3000 or so miles.

All right, I'll make a little ball.

Now, remember, we're chasing a peak horsepower of 607 from the equally modified Ford.

Our first run at four grand was a fine 409 and rising.

So's the torque. Let's, uh,

let's step it up.

5 32 5 61. This thing is still climbing. Unbelievable at 5000 RPM.

But let's see what more timing does before we go to 6000.

Sounds phenomenal.

We're up to 615 horsepower at 6500 RPM,

but we're not done lately. We've enjoyed impressive results from changing to lighter distributor springs.

Oh, yeah,

you did. It

sure did.

622.5. Don't forget the half horsepower.

All right,

all I can say is that Monte Carlos in the Hall of Mail.

I'm telling you it's gonna be a fun drive

now before you, Chevy guys start slapping high fives. Let's look at peak runs of each engine stacked up against each other. This is horsepower. The bright whites, Chevy peaking at 6300 RPM. 11 more horsepower than the Ford that flattened out here at 5900 torque is a different story though. This is the Chevy bright green down here and the Ford

making 11 more foot pounds now average. That's a little different story. Average is the performance measure throughout the dyno

run

and in that department. Well, it's Chevy Hands down 21 more horsepower than the Ford. The Ford still making a little bit more torque. Well, no doubt they're both stout engines, but

only one's gonna fill up that hole in our Monte Carlo

recently. We built a Pontiac engine in Olds, plenty of Fords and Chevys. So, what's missing?

Hey, Mopar guys, don't worry, your chance is coming a lot sooner than you think. But after the break, Joe's got a little tech tip. He wants to share with you on an LS one here on the dyno. So I've got to get this thing out of here.

We're always on the lookout for ways to save money, building and maintaining engines and today's budget tips all about making your headers work more efficiently extending the life of engine components and saving you money in the long run.

We're wrapping this header with deis Titanium header wrap that acts as a thermal barrier,

keeping the engine compartment cooler

and containing the header heat to enhance performance.

Now, it comes in a kit with enough wrap to cover a set of headers,

locking ties to keep everything secure and snug

and a can of silicone coating to further seal and protect.

All right. Now let's run this small Black Chevy with one stock header

and the header I just wrapped on the other side.

We'll have to run in the motor for about five minutes at different RPM. S we check the temperatures in the area around the pipes

and it's 307 on the naked side.

236 on the wrap side.

Well, that's 71 degrees cooler than the other side. Imagine that difference in your engine compartment. Of course, there's also the obvious advantage of never worrying about your spark plug boots burn up.

Now, you can get that header wrap individually or in the kit like we used for about 80 bucks.

The next time somebody gives you the finger, you better hope it's one of these, the magnetic finger from turn pro. Now it has a magnet sewn into the tip that allows you to pick up light magnetic objects with a breeze even in tight places. Now, it's also good to have around when you're working with spring loaded objects like sea clips or even distributor spring.

Now, on top of the finger, they also offer gloves that have magnets in both of the index fingers. Now, the gloves, they cost about 20 but for 11 bucks, you can get the one special friend that will stick with you forever.

You don't have to be a seasoned gearhead to know that sludge is your engine's enemy. Why?

Because once it builds up and clogs oil passages, the result is reduced gas mileage, decreased engine performance, maybe even engine seizure.

Castro's GTX is formulated to provide your engine with maximum protection in a leading oil against sludge, build up viscosity and thermal breakdown.

Castro GTX contains unique dual action dispersants

that provide a superior level of protection against sludge, build up to withstand the most extreme driving conditions.

Oil is your engine's life flood. It can also be your safeguard against sludge

build on a budget horsepower projects that save you time and money.

Yeah, you guys have watched us build a lot of performance engines and you know the drill, each project involves a lot of tear down machine shop, work new parts and the meticulous assembly,

it's a lot of fun to do and it's the right way to build a performance engine.

But when a problem develops in your everyday driver that results in water in the cylinder. Well, the cost could be more than just a new gasket. It's time

and a shop can get hundreds in labor.

So instead of going that route, you might want to try a chemical solution.

Head gasket fix is a new internal engine coolant seal from bars, leaks. According to them,

their technology has advanced to the point that now you can just pour it into a cool radiator, then idle the motor for 15 minutes

as it circulates with antifreeze, it reacts to engine heat ceiling leaks including water, water passages in the head gasket head and block.

They claim it works in any gas, diesel, iron or aluminum engine and that it seals permanently. So if you are on a budget,

this is a low cost option.

Oh, and you a MC guys, you just got a peek at our next project car.

But that's it because we're out of here.