We aquired a Ford 460 base engine, that came with a 557 kit. The previous owner has passed and never assembled the engine, but had some machine work done. We took it to our local machine shop for cleaning and final honing and line bore check. We knew the passengers side lifters had been “ bushed “ . Not sure of the reason, but supposed to help something. Our builder stated that the bushing have no holes in them and cannot oil properly. Can any one here tell me why the right side liter bores were bushed and do they need to be drilled? Obviously I’m new to this type engine. Thanks in advance for any help. Bones
Heres a link from the 460 forum. I guess to restrict oil to the top end and increase pressure to the mains and rods. https://www.460ford.com/forum/37-engine-tech/135821-bushed-lifter-bores-c9ve-block.html
If there is not a hole how does oil get the top end on that head? I hear stories about starving the rods in these motors. and I remember high rpm Pontiac 421s both of these engines have 3 inch mains the answer for Pontiac was a lot of oil pressure 80 lbs or more at high RPM You have to push the oil to the center of the main before it can go to the rod. The bigger the main the more pressure it takes to over come the centrifugal force to get the oil to the center of the main.
I'm not sure about the 460, but in a typical engine the oil passages for the lifters are drilled with a really long drill from either the front or back of the engine, and the passage plugged at that end with a small cup plug or pipe plug. Maybe you can just get a long drill and run it through, to open up the oil holes again.
Sounds like they put the bushings in but never got around to drilling them if Beanscoot is right. Never ran into it myself.
I’m totally lost Bones , I owned a 70 429 SCJ , it was a brute and much better design over an FE engine . Mine was rebuilt to OEM specs , solid lifter , cam . I spun it hard on a regular basis , and I never had one oiling issue and it had an oil cooler also . I have not one clue , why to bush the lifer bores other than they would be worn out of round . As far as oiling , I can understand restricting , but no way stopping all oil flow . Something has to give here or it is going to give up the chase and seize up fast . I think as suggested by BamaMav , drilling may be in order .
Guys, I would drill it in a minute, but when drilling, I will have to be a small hole and with the distance I have to drill and the round bushings, drill bit wander is going to be crazy! Maybe some one here has a idea as to how to drill them. I have found out, the reason they are bushed is to elimate oil leakage around the right side lifters. For some reason Ford routed the main oil feed through tThe right lifter assembly before going to the mains. . Still searching for answers. Bones
Bones, if you can drill through the oil passage like Beanscoot was talking about, you should be able to rig up some sort of a guide, something like a tube to keep the bit straight. The problem I see is finding a drill bit that small that long! Maybe you could use one of those bit extensions that the bit fastens in the end with a set screw? If it’s been done that way, somebody should know....
I'm with you guys, bushings installed but never drilled. Especially with only one side of the block being done.
The main oil gallery oils the crank. But first it oils the lifters. With big holes. One side you can block off with a pipe plug. No doubt they did that. But you can't block off both sides without blocking the mains and rods. So that side gets bushed. Oil still runs down the gallery. Passes the lifters. This assumes that you will be running solid lifters. Bad new with hydraulics. I had such a thing and I don't remember how oil got to the top end. But it is very common on race Ford engines. I have a Lakewood blow shield for a 460 I.m not to proud of. Also some closed chamber heads. Heads free if you come to San Mateo and get them.
If it's a race engine could be enough oil splashing around the the top end to keep everything sufficiently lubricated.
To me it sounds like an unfinished block and only one bank was finished and for some reason work was stopped on it. I would clean the block and go over every inch of it looking for a reason not to use it.
There should be existing holes drilled in the casting for the lifter oil gallery, the drilled holes will just end at the bushings. This factory drilled gallery should guide your drill. I see foot or more long drills often at bigger swap meets, there will be guys selling only weird tools like this. I suppose a certain amount of oil is lost through the hydraulic lifters, but not so much as one might think, since the clearances around and inside the lifters are quite small, so oil can't leak through too fast. Hey I just realized the importance of what RichFox said in his post. Does your 460 come with a solid lifter camshaft setup? Then the sleeves are okay, since the oiling system to the top of the engine is no longer operating anyway. With solid lifters, I don't think that oil passes up the pushrods to oil the top. I can see oil being flung around and oiling the lifters, but there can't be very much that makes its way up to the rocker arms.
429 SCJ had solid lifters I sure they oiled through the push rods. Steve you don't need a round hole can you cut a slot through the bushing with a small dremel cutter?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-PERFO...638872?hash=item34238b6b18:g:BiMAAOSwYGJeXa6C Cut loose with a few bucks and get one of these. Everything will become clear
Or join one of the two 429-460 forums out there. Lots of experienced builders on the message boards on both forums.
I've spun some mild 600 horse 460s up to 7 -7500 on shifts drag racing every weekend back in the day... thats alot of mass screaming that high... The bushing were installed to run a huge cam, the higher lift cams push the lifter out of the top lifter bore causing oil leak and/or bad oiling to the lifters, It sounds like you got a can of worms here for sure, You may be better buying a non molested 460 block and dropping the stroker crank into that. If you are dead set on using this motor, you need to talk to some serious HP ford engine builders and pick their brains. This isn't a street motor anymore for sure... The other side lifter valley wasnt complete yet by how this sounds, need to check and see if someone already bored them out and just didnt install bushings.
That’s a good idea! This engine actually belongs to a friend of mine and I’m involved in building it but not a decision maker. I would sell this block to some racer and use another unmolested block. But he wants to keep this one. I understand the reason for bushing these bores now, once I looked at the oiling system in the 429/460 engines. It runs through the right side lifter galley first, before going to the rest of the engine, including the left side lifter galley. That is the reason they don’t Bush the left side lifter bores, only the right. All this being said, I still cannot figure how the right side head would get ANY oil. The 460 Ford seems to oil the heads like a 350 Chevy/351 Ford, through the push rods. If there is no pressure in the right side lifter bores, there not going to be any oil going to the right head! Still searching for answers! Thanks ,guys! After thinking on drilling or cutting with a dermal tool....... how would you clean all of the chips out??? Bones
Rich, I’ve got that book somewhere in my stack of literature! I just didn’t think it would address this modification. But, now that you have reminded me, I think I will look for it! Thanks, also PM sent. Bones
I did join one of those forums, but have had little response. The other forum has very little activity, seems like the last post was like two months old! Bones
Bones ,,do you have any pics at all ? Since this is for another guy,,,he might consider going to the trouble of having them removed,,,,drill a smaller oil hole,,,and having them replaced . You might have to purchase new ones and start over,,,,I don’t know if they would allow being removed and pressed back in . Just an idea . How thick is the wall of the bushing,,,you might find a small diameter puller and remove them,,,sort of like pulling a sleeve from an engine,,,( think big dozer engine ). Then again,,,,if you could remove them in one piece,,,,number the hole it came from. Then drill an oil hole,,,,freeze with dry ice,,,then reinsert ? A race engine (1/4 mile ) could survive on just the splash on one bank of lifters,,,,I think a street engine would fail though . Tommy
Many, many street engines lived just fine before hydraulic lifters came into being. They even lived without pressure oil to the rods.
Check out Paul Kane's website high flow dynamics he's a 460 oil system guru there's oil system mods articles available and contact info
No pics, now, the engine is over at the machine shop, in another town. I been busier that a onelegged man in a butt kicking contest! I hope to get over there next week. I’ll take some pics and do some more checking! Thanks guys! Bones
Slow and easy with a center drill . Is it possible to drill 1/2 from front and 1/2 from rear ? The small block in my 32 was built to blue print specs . The first lighting of the wick the oil pressure dipped to 10 psi from 80 psi in 30 seconds . Tore it down and determined it pushed the Welch plugs out of the front lifter oil passages . I tapped 1/4 NPT and installed 1/4 NPT countersunk plugs drilled .030 to oil the chain and gears . This damn thing still has way to much oil pressure as in 80 plus at 40 mph . I know everyone says it’s washing out the bearings , it’s got 30 K on the clock that way and still going . It may puke tomorrow , but a wise man told.me if it ain’t broke don’t fix it .
"Many, many street engines lived just fine before hydraulic lifters came into being. They even lived without pressure oil to the rods." But didn't those engines have shaft mounted rocker arms that were supplied oil via passages up to the rocker shafts? And when those oil passages got clogged with sludge, the rocker arms and valve tips wore badly.
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