Dove-c heads

[hpwdboss1]

I've been gathering parts for my 460 and now have 2 pair of dove-c heads.
One pair is chalk marked 429, the other pair have had the engine tag wired to them marked 460 71. Both heads have original valves, no porting, factory studs,etc. The ones marked as 429 have no air injection holes into the exhaust and have the "dove" lettering positioned so the bottom of the letters are toward the exhaust manifold side of the heads. The heads with the 460 tag have the air injection ports and the "dove" letters are upside down as compared to the 429 heads. When you set the heads side by side on a table,deck down, the valve cover gasket sealing surface on the 429 head is nearly 1/4" higher than the same point on the 460. If you measure down thru the head bolt holes, the 429 heads are .045" taller than the 460. I can't c.c. the chambers yet, but they appear to be identical. My question is, are these heads off of blocks with different deck heights, maybe made with different deck thicknesses, or have they been milled that much or what's the story? The intake surface looks to be the same height relative to the deck,so maybe the same intake will fit on both. But that may be wishful thinking. What have I got? Can anyone tell me?

[Itoldyouso]

Yeah, Paul is kinda like a Ninja......just kind of sneaks in, does his thing, and leaves very quietly.

Don

[R Pope]

429's and 460's are the same deck height. The thickness of the heads, doesn't really matter as to application. There are variations in lots of different heads, seen it in SBC heads even. What matters is the height of the rocker arm bosses, I'm betting they will be the same there.

[shawnlee28]

I think those are both good heads........the one with the bump needs that ground off and the air holes filled,for a performance application.
I am not sure on the taller valve cover lip....sounds interesting.

Paul Kane,will definatly know or can find out...

[stovens]

Shawn
Here is a picture of mine, DOVE-C Heads, off a 1971 lincoln best I can tell. Still don't know if the engine is a 460 or 429. Block stamped 460, but stock 2 barrel intake and carb on it! When I swap out the oil pan with a rear sump pan, I will look at the bearing numbers and any crank markings at that time.
I couldn't get the DOVE-C marking in the photo because it is on the lip of the head, just above the exhaust manifold, where the camera won't fit!

[stovens]

This web site gives all sorts of usefull info on blocks heads and crank shafts. Your heads should have 75.8cc combustion chamber size.
How to Rebuild Your Ford V8 - Google Book Search)

[Paul Kane]

This web site gives all sorts of usefull info on blocks heads and crank shafts.....
ABSOLUTE CRAP INFO HERE

Beware of the information posted above! It comes from a book authored by Tom Monroe. While this book will do fine in assisting the entry level 460 enthusiast during engine assembly, the data tables that display engineering revisions and casting numbers are very, very much erroneous!

Paul

[Paul Kane]

I've been gathering parts for my 460 and now have 2 pair of dove-c heads.
One pair is chalk marked 429, the other pair have had the engine tag wired to them marked 460 71. The ones marked as 429 have no air injection holes into the exhaust and have the "dove" lettering positioned so the bottom of the letters are toward the exhaust manifold side of the heads. The heads with the 460 tag have the air injection ports and the "dove" letters are upside down as compared to the 429 heads. When you set the heads side by side on a table,deck down, the valve cover gasket sealing surface on the 429 head is nearly 1/4" higher than the same point on the 460. If you measure down thru the head bolt holes, the 429 heads are .045" taller than the 460. I can't c.c. the chambers yet, but they appear to be identical. My question is, are these heads off of blocks with different deck heights, maybe made with different deck thicknesses, or have they been milled that much or what's the story? The intake surface looks to be the same height relative to the deck,so maybe the same intake will fit on both.

Short of one pair being drilled for Thermactor (smog pump) exhaust and the other set being non-drilled, all 4 heads are identical in regards to bolt-to-fit dimensions. The orientation of the lettering in the heads means nothing. All 429 & 460's used the same cylinder heads over the years that they were simultaneously in production and are therefore fully interchangable from one engine to the other, and this includes any pair of heads from one carburetted 429/460 to another regardless of year. It may be possible that the heads tagged as "460" have been decked before. On these heads, .010 of decking equates to about 2-3cc less combustion chamber volume. There is a triangular detent on the cylinder head's mating surface, dead-center, spark plug side of the cyliner head mating surface. Compare the depth of this feature between the two pairs of heads and I'll bet the "460" heads measure less than the 429 heads...should be about a .100" deep step, less if radically milled.

Paul

[nitrowarrior]

Paul, do us all a big favor and show up more often. The questions on the 429,460 FoMoCo's are going unanswered with the tidbits of what to look for and which direction to go into. Come on back! (often).

[48fordnut]

I think all early 460s were 4bbl. I have used he heads off of the 68 460 and they have worked good.