400 ford vs 429/460 ford

This may not be the place for a very objective reply!! A few here might a bit biased

The 400 can run very strong but they need a bunch of help with compression - they came in around 7.5:1. The EMC engines have featured several 400's.

Bottom line is the 460 heads flow real good with a bit of work and the cubes will help always.

Bill

jtgb428 said:

i been reading up on the 400 ford engine lately and we all know what power the 400 made out of the box, basically none. recent articles that i have read stated that with a few changes to the 400 such as heads, cam, and bump up the compression, a person can have an engine that can out run a 429/460. im not talking about a highly modified 429/460, these articles were for street engines in the 400 to 500 horse power range. they claim you are better off building a 400 because they are a lighter engine and make as much hp and torque. what do you guys think about this. thanks, jtgb428

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I helped my Dad rework the original Ford 400 for his 1978 F-350 many years ago and while it made quite an improvement in performance it still doesn't compare to the 460 I put in the same truck last year. This truck is used for towing and such. In our case Dad didn't raise compression so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Dad put an RV2 (whatever that means) cam, Edelbrock aluminum intake, recurved dizzy and a Holley 650 cfm carb. and high flow exhaust. For my money the 460 is just better suited for bigger hp. The 400 was always prone to overheating and was pretty rough on main & rod bearings as well. Like I said, the changes made a big difference but my current 460 would easily out-pull it.

Just my experience.

Ron

There is no replacement for displacement.