[Reliabilityman]

Hello, I am new to the forum and to building Fords (be gentle old chevy guy here!) Boo! I know right? Well anyway I put it out there for all to ridicule! -LOL. I am currently starting on a lifelong project of restoring a box top 63 Ford and am upgrading the 352 to a 460. I was given!- (Yes Given) A 460 block by a friend of mine who got it from an acquaintance.. It came with a fuel injected manifold, but I cannot read the casting number and was curious if anyone could give me some leads on what year it may be.

Looking to obtain some trick and suggestions for a build. I plan on running this car on the street to car shows and general crusing. I want it to have some decent HP but not taking it to the drag strip etc. I am staring from scratch with the bare block and plan on building a stroker kit around a 502 etc.

Currently I have the motor mounts and headders/radiator for the swap, but the build for the 460 I want to do right but no nothing about Ford performance tips and tricks. I have built several engines in my past but not a Ford.

The casting number on this block is very difficult to read. It is what is cast into the side of the block by where the starter goes, but I cannot read it. Is there another location to look for a casting number to get an idea on when this block was built? Someone painted the block to make it even harder to tell. The other picture is over the rear D side bellhousing which looks to be electro stenciled on, but I cant read it either? Any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

[Mark G]

Copied and Pasted from elsewhere in the forums:

Ford Production 460 Block Differences

The available production cast iron block casting numbers are C8VE-A, C9VE-A, D0VE-A, D1VE-("xxx") and D9TE-AB.

I like to refer to all but the D9TE as the "early-style" blocks. The D9TE casting arrived in the 1979 model year and was utilized until the end of 460 production ( to 1996).

For the most part, all blocks and rotating asemblies are interchangable between all blocks except the D9TE. A D9TE rotating assembly will fit into an early-style block, but the opposite is not true.

All 429/460 Fords are internally balanced engines except for the D9TE 460, which is externally balanced.

These block identifying marks (D1VE, etc.) are not actual casting numbers but are engineering revisions that are cast into the block castings themselves. And they are what we enthusiasts refer to when identifying our factory iron, as they give not so much the year that the block was made but rather the revision of the block as specified by said engineering revision. (Actual date code is in the lifter valley.)

Early-Style Blocks: For the most part (and with small exception), the C8VE, C9VE and D1VE blocks are all essentially the same configuration casting with the thinner main webs. The thicker main web block is the D0VE block, which may or may not have 4-bolt main caps on 2,3 & 4. (Very few D1VE blocks may be thick webbed.) All Ford production 385 blocks can be decked as needed, so this is a non-issue detail.

D9TE Blocks: The externally balanced rotating assembly utilizes a crankshaft that has slightly smaller counterweights. This was done to so that the cylinders of the D9TE block could be extended about .1875" deeper towards the crankcase. I believe the cylinders were lengthened in the D9TE block because this block was revised to double as a big equipment truck block, and the dump truck rotating assemblies consisted of a very deep skirt piston that benefitted from the extended cylinder walls for support.

The deeper cylinders of the D9TE blocks are the reason that the early-style, internally balanced rotating assemblies will not fit (internal balance crank throws will not clear D9TE cylinders).

Since most prefer to use internally balanced rotating asembies in the performance applicaton, we usually opt for any block except the D9TE. There are also advantages to specific blocks within the group of early-style blocks, such as the D0VE-A's thick main webs...

Further, the D9TE block was presumed to be a lightweight ("late model") casting and therefore not very strong and also limited in it's overbore capability. But this belief is currently being re-evaluated for a couple of reasons:

No-one had yet evaluated D9TE cylinder wall thickness with a sonic checker, and preliminary testing suggests the block may not be so bad afterall.

Strokers have become popular and the D9TE's deeper cylinders offer more support for the increased-stroke rotating assemlies.

Most all aftermarket stroker kits use a crank with the dimensions of the externally balanced crank and so they fit the D9TE block as well as the early blocks.

 

[Reliabilityman]

Copied and Pasted from elsewhere in the forums:

Ford Production 460 Block Differences

The available production cast iron block casting numbers are C8VE-A, C9VE-A, D0VE-A, D1VE-("xxx") and D9TE-AB.

I like to refer to all but the D9TE as the "early-style" blocks. The D9TE casting arrived in the 1979 model year and was utilized until the end of 460 production ( to 1996).

For the most part, all blocks and rotating asemblies are interchangable between all blocks except the D9TE. A D9TE rotating assembly will fit into an early-style block, but the opposite is not true.

All 429/460 Fords are internally balanced engines except for the D9TE 460, which is externally balanced.

These block identifying marks (D1VE, etc.) are not actual casting numbers but are engineering revisions that are cast into the block castings themselves. And they are what we enthusiasts refer to when identifying our factory iron, as they give not so much the year that the block was made but rather the revision of the block as specified by said engineering revision. (Actual date code is in the lifter valley.)

Early-Style Blocks: For the most part (and with small exception), the C8VE, C9VE and D1VE blocks are all essentially the same configuration casting with the thinner main webs. The thicker main web block is the D0VE block, which may or may not have 4-bolt main caps on 2,3 & 4. (Very few D1VE blocks may be thick webbed.) All Ford production 385 blocks can be decked as needed, so this is a non-issue detail.

D9TE Blocks: The externally balanced rotating assembly utilizes a crankshaft that has slightly smaller counterweights. This was done to so that the cylinders of the D9TE block could be extended about .1875" deeper towards the crankcase. I believe the cylinders were lengthened in the D9TE block because this block was revised to double as a big equipment truck block, and the dump truck rotating assemblies consisted of a very deep skirt piston that benefitted from the extended cylinder walls for support.

The deeper cylinders of the D9TE blocks are the reason that the early-style, internally balanced rotating assemblies will not fit (internal balance crank throws will not clear D9TE cylinders).

Since most prefer to use internally balanced rotating asembies in the performance applicaton, we usually opt for any block except the D9TE. There are also advantages to specific blocks within the group of early-style blocks, such as the D0VE-A's thick main webs...

Further, the D9TE block was presumed to be a lightweight ("late model") casting and therefore not very strong and also limited in it's overbore capability. But this belief is currently being re-evaluated for a couple of reasons:

No-one had yet evaluated D9TE cylinder wall thickness with a sonic checker, and preliminary testing suggests the block may not be so bad afterall.

Strokers have become popular and the D9TE's deeper cylinders offer more support for the increased-stroke rotating assemlies.

Most all aftermarket stroker kits use a crank with the dimensions of the externally balanced crank and so they fit the D9TE block as well as the early blocks.

Wow Very helpful! I wasn't sure what this block was and was afraid to use it for a stoker set up, but according to this most any block will work. I do assume since this was a fuel injected block it was from at least 1988 and up. I am wondering if the head casting or something else could give me a clue to its year?

 

[Mark G]

Yes, head casting would help.
All factory FI engines used the D9TE blocks.

 

[BBF521]

I have a block with D1VE-6015-A2B and in the lifter valley 7B28
So would this be a 1977 block? or a 1967 block no heads so no casting numbers to help yall out.

 

[Reliabilityman]

Yes, head casting would help.
All factory FI engines used the D9TE blocks.

Checked this weekend and it looks like its E7TE-BD which would be the last edition of the 460 right? So would this be a good block to build out as a SCAT 500+CU stroker kit?

 

[Mark G]

E7TE were the earlier fuelie heads. F3TE were introduced in 93 and ran to 97. The blocks were the same D9TE that was introduced in 79. It’s a fine block for a stroker build. Contact Scotty (The Mad Porter) for your equipment needs and technical information.