460 Mustang project

Hello all,
I'm working on a new project which will hopefully result in a 460 powered 71 mach . I have the block and beginnings for the power plant and I'm working on a plan for build which will benefit me the best. I have read many forums but never participated in one. I am currently following the concepts of a 612 Hp 460 built in the Engine masters challenge which called for no lower end boring or stroking but used a very aggressive cam and performer RPM heads with a victor series intake for the 460. These seemed the safest power at the time. but the more I research I am finding that even for a weekend warrior the cam situation in their monster creation will create difficulties for me. Any ideas on how to make good power and not have to sell my children in the process will be much appreciated. Thanks Jay.

I'm not familiar at all really with big blocks or carbs (hey, I grew up with EFI), but I know a bit about engines in general, so...a few questions.

Is this for a street car, drag car, road racer, show car, etc.? Not being familar with this engine builders challenge I don't know what they built it for, see?

What parts you use, weight of the mach, transmission type, hell a whole list of things determine what would be best for what you need. 8O

So, give some more info and we'll see what we can come up with, cool?

Alright, here we go. First off thanks for replying. Heres some more details. The car will be a wekend racer, street and strip deal. I am not overly concerned with daily drivability. I want to remove back seats tub it out yet keep the front seats and what not in stock config. The EMC( engine masters challenge)Just has conmpetitions on Dyno engines usually competing between the big three Chevy, ford and the unholy mopar. They build there engines for best Average dyno horse and torque numbers, not max. The bottom end will remain as close to stock as possible using modified stock rods and crank where as the pistons will be forged, since the hypereutectics dont usually rate up to 600 hp. I plan on using the edelbrock RPM performer heads with the victor series intake. The cam they used is custom ground yet they have an order number I can call the company and have them make me one under the same specs.

I am worried about temp. problems at idle such as at traffic lights. I also have concerns about longevity of the engine with a severe cam and head /intake set up. I will pull the numbers off that cam profile for you later if it will help. I appreciate all input so, thanks again.

No problem, hope I can help.

Tubbing it is cool and all, but you're estimating approx. 600hp, right? A high number sure, but tubbing gets expensive between the special rear, assembly, fabbing, wheels, and (gulp) tires. You can get really good tires for street/strip with much less modification, things like rolling the fenderwells getting appropriate wheels and such, that would be sufficent for you're combo. Unless of course you just want a tubbed Mach .

If you plan on this as a regularly driven street car (hopefully not your daily driver, lol) tubbing is even less attractive. The tires you'd use cost a fortune and roads eat them up. Maintanence costs will be extreme.

Also I'd be more concerned with driveability and longevity than peak HP numbers for a regularly driven car. You never know, but setting it up for a few less HP and lb/ft could make it much more mannered and longer lasting. After all, if this builders challenge was concerned with peak HP then it didn't have to last any longer than the dyno pull. Assuming you are not Bill Gates I'd really put a lot of wieght on this fact.

Is the car an auto? If so it can be even harder. You have to keep the tranny cool, and traffic with a monster motor up front will make that hard. You'd need a cooler and a deeper pan for starters, likely more. Also if it is for street/strip duty then you'd want a higher stall converter, which would be far from ideal on the street. Gearing will be a factor as well. Say you throw 4.56:1 gears in the rear (9" I assume?), which would be a likely choice, then you have the higher continuous RPM from them and the higher stall converter working to make lots of heat and abuse.

I guess all in all the most important advice I could give would be to focus on the street side first. A street car can perform well on the strip, but a strip car has a much harder time on the street. Focus on longevity and durability (I'd use all forged internals, no stock parts, preferably a billet steel crank and forged H-beam rods, windage tray, main stud girdle, blueprinted oil pump, the usual list). Hope that helps, and any questions I'll try to answer, ok? Good luck and upload some pics when you build this thing, sounds badass!

I Havent set anything in granite and the points you make are definiyely aggreable. I think the tub idea is more just for kicks , I also agree about the auto tranny. I would like to get my hands on a tremec TKO, but thats almost as much money as my darn engine build will be. Anyhow I definitely do not want to run slicks on the street,I am thinking more like drag radials, which I understand are still spendy. I will probably not shoot for the full monty straight out of the gate, I may just build a mean mill and with all the induction power adders as well as Nitrous I can go higher later if need arises. Thanks again, it's easy to get carried away when you have a 460 on an engine stand in your garage. I tend to forget about the complete picture. I do plan of photographing the build from begining to end.
take it easy.