adsala
05-12-2004, 12:44 PM
I have an engine from hell. But it not the 460's fault. I rebuilt my original 460 about three years ago. I didn't want to go too crazy on performance upgrades but here is what I did and all the grief I've had.
Ford 460: Aluminum edlebrock performer RPM heads 92cc. .030 over, 9.1:1 Keith Blacks, Comp xtreme marine cam (234, 244 @.50), comp lifters. Arp bolts through out, excellent machine work etc. Kept the stock size Main and rod bearings as machinist suggested. Rear sump pan, HV pump. I assembled the motor.
Year 2002
First day out, engine runs fantastic. Very healthy! I run the boat around for about three hours for short breakin. After that I go ahead a run the RPMs up and oil pressure drops.
Go home pull engine and oil pan. Readjust pickup and to be safe put in a Mellings HV pump instead of the Milodon. And checked one main bearing for wear and ouch.. total scoring on almost all of the bearings. As I tore the crank down , I find a wire brush wire fragment! Where did that come from?
Pull the crank, send it in to have it taken down .010. Clean all the oil galleries. Reassemble take it back out for a run. Oil pressure not much higher than 40 but I go with it. I have a whole season of fun with my new engine running fantastic till the Mallory dist lost it's two advance tabs and grenades the insides, and shears the dist gear pin. I send it back in under warranty get a new distributor.
Year 2003
Next season, boat runs great till the distributor gear pin shears again. I look in the distributor and it's missing an advance tab??? No damage but in the back of my mind I'm thinking HV pump.
Well, instead of putting the mallory dist back in, I picked up a marine factory replacement distributor(electronic) and install a bigger roll pin on the gear. Go on one last trip with my big family. Pull the kids around in the tube and wham, engine backfires, once again as it did before. I pull the distributor and low and behold the gear was almost ground to a knub!
I used the mallory dist as a backup to get back to the docks. Now I was stumped. Come to figure out that the factory distributor had placed the roll pin hole almost 1/8" off thus not meshing correctly with the cam gear.
New season year 2004
Ok, present day. I send the mallory in once again to warranty the broken advance tab. They give me an upgraded brand new distributor. At least Mallory has supported me. They also put in a bigger roll pin on the gear.
I decided to pull the engine and put in a stock oil pump(I want dependability damm it). I also installed a new cam as the gear showed signs of wear. Used the original lifters(mistake?). Put the engine back together. It started right up. Runs fantastic. Oil pressure at a wopping 65lbs!
Oops, in about 15 minutes, the engine starts really running bad, I mean bad. Thought it was unadjusted valves, No. Distributor, wires, plugs, coil..No. Vacume leak ..NO. I pull the intake and at first it looks like it could have been leaking. But as I was taking it off, I drop a nut into the oil pan Doh! Pull the engine again.
Drop the pan. Inside was full of metal shavings. Man! The product of three flattened lobes on the new cam! Jeez! Time to take a breather. I sat down cracked a beer and just tried to relax. I forgot to break in the cam damn,F#K$#it%$#it.
I was so wound up in trying to set the idle right I didn't follow the procedure. I don't build engines on a regular basis but I used to be a builder in another life and never had these problems.
Regardless, Summit racing made good on the cam and sent me a new one.
So at this point. I've flushed the engine of particles, got new crank and rod bearings, cam and lifters and oil pump all installed. Timing chain is tight. Everything is clean measured and good. You know at least I never had to pull the heads through all of this greif.
Now I am very apprehensive about starting up my engine. Will everything go right? I lubed the cam and lifters, check all clearances. Practically everything is new. Engine only has 30 hours on it. I can't believe the bad luck.
Dean Sala
Ford 460: Aluminum edlebrock performer RPM heads 92cc. .030 over, 9.1:1 Keith Blacks, Comp xtreme marine cam (234, 244 @.50), comp lifters. Arp bolts through out, excellent machine work etc. Kept the stock size Main and rod bearings as machinist suggested. Rear sump pan, HV pump. I assembled the motor.
Year 2002
First day out, engine runs fantastic. Very healthy! I run the boat around for about three hours for short breakin. After that I go ahead a run the RPMs up and oil pressure drops.
Go home pull engine and oil pan. Readjust pickup and to be safe put in a Mellings HV pump instead of the Milodon. And checked one main bearing for wear and ouch.. total scoring on almost all of the bearings. As I tore the crank down , I find a wire brush wire fragment! Where did that come from?
Pull the crank, send it in to have it taken down .010. Clean all the oil galleries. Reassemble take it back out for a run. Oil pressure not much higher than 40 but I go with it. I have a whole season of fun with my new engine running fantastic till the Mallory dist lost it's two advance tabs and grenades the insides, and shears the dist gear pin. I send it back in under warranty get a new distributor.
Year 2003
Next season, boat runs great till the distributor gear pin shears again. I look in the distributor and it's missing an advance tab??? No damage but in the back of my mind I'm thinking HV pump.
Well, instead of putting the mallory dist back in, I picked up a marine factory replacement distributor(electronic) and install a bigger roll pin on the gear. Go on one last trip with my big family. Pull the kids around in the tube and wham, engine backfires, once again as it did before. I pull the distributor and low and behold the gear was almost ground to a knub!
I used the mallory dist as a backup to get back to the docks. Now I was stumped. Come to figure out that the factory distributor had placed the roll pin hole almost 1/8" off thus not meshing correctly with the cam gear.
New season year 2004
Ok, present day. I send the mallory in once again to warranty the broken advance tab. They give me an upgraded brand new distributor. At least Mallory has supported me. They also put in a bigger roll pin on the gear.
I decided to pull the engine and put in a stock oil pump(I want dependability damm it). I also installed a new cam as the gear showed signs of wear. Used the original lifters(mistake?). Put the engine back together. It started right up. Runs fantastic. Oil pressure at a wopping 65lbs!
Oops, in about 15 minutes, the engine starts really running bad, I mean bad. Thought it was unadjusted valves, No. Distributor, wires, plugs, coil..No. Vacume leak ..NO. I pull the intake and at first it looks like it could have been leaking. But as I was taking it off, I drop a nut into the oil pan Doh! Pull the engine again.
Drop the pan. Inside was full of metal shavings. Man! The product of three flattened lobes on the new cam! Jeez! Time to take a breather. I sat down cracked a beer and just tried to relax. I forgot to break in the cam damn,F#K$#it%$#it.
I was so wound up in trying to set the idle right I didn't follow the procedure. I don't build engines on a regular basis but I used to be a builder in another life and never had these problems.
Regardless, Summit racing made good on the cam and sent me a new one.
So at this point. I've flushed the engine of particles, got new crank and rod bearings, cam and lifters and oil pump all installed. Timing chain is tight. Everything is clean measured and good. You know at least I never had to pull the heads through all of this greif.
Now I am very apprehensive about starting up my engine. Will everything go right? I lubed the cam and lifters, check all clearances. Practically everything is new. Engine only has 30 hours on it. I can't believe the bad luck.
Dean Sala