Thread: Wanting to give my 460 some pep!!

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First thing I'd be finding out is what the gear ratio in the diff is. If you change cams, you will need to change gears anyway. If you determine that the truck has, for instance, a 3.00 gear and you change to a 3.89 gear, you might find that you have no need to do any work to the motor and that the additional performance from the gear change will satisfy your needs.

Also, don't be too quick to pull the trigger on those early heads without doing your homework. The factory used smaller chambers in those days, resulting in higher static compression ratios that could be supported by the high octane gasoline that was available on every corner. That isn't the case anymore, so we have to build the motors to operate on the available fuels. Using the early heads with a 22cc piston would yield 9.9:1 static compression ratio and could be run on premium pump gas or E85 with the right camshaft and a good tight squish. Heads produced 1973 or later (such as D3VE) will have larger chambers so that you could run a flat-top piston for 9.7:1 static compression ratio and again, could work well on pump gas with the right cam and squish. Don't expect too much from any combination you put together though, if you don't use the right gearset in the differential.

The key to good performance on most any motor is to open up the intake and exhaust so that the motor can breathe. This means, on a street or street/strip motor, 850 carb on a Edelbrock RPM or Weiand Stealth intake manifold and long-tube, equal-length tuned headers. Don't waste your money on shorty headers. They're not much better than stock OEM cast iron exhaust manifolds.