Rusty junk or seasoned block?

[1972MustangSVH]

I acquired a very rusty (but not pitted) 460 for free. I figured it was worth it's weight as scrap. It had been bored .030 over then left for dead under a work bench. After inspecting it I realized there wasn't anything scary about it, except, the rusty lifter bores. (mating surfaces aren't pitted, bolt holes were chased when it was bored, no "flaking" in the threads, etc.) So I surfed honing and or sleeving the lifter bores and found a mixed bag of answers but landed on a positive note. I can be done, it's fairly common, but not often considered when weighing the cost of finding a "good" block vs. machining. With that, has anyone had any experience with sleeving the lifter bores?

 

[TommyK]

I acquired a very rusty (but not pitted) 460 for free. I figured it was worth it's weight as scrap. It had been bored .030 over then left for dead under a work bench. After inspecting it I realized there wasn't anything scary about it, except, the rusty lifter bores. (mating surfaces aren't pitted, bolt holes were chased when it was bored, no "flaking" in the threads, etc.) So I surfed honing and or sleeving the lifter bores and found a mixed bag of answers but landed on a positive note. I can be done, it's fairly common, but not often considered when weighing the cost of finding a "good" block vs. machining. With that, has anyone had any experience with sleeving the lifter bores?

Lifter bore bushings are common practice to correct worn bores, correct bore alignment and/or to control oil to the top end.

I know Tim Meyer is a great believer in bushing lifter bores on 335 series engines.

 

[c9zx]

+1 on TommyK's post.

 

[IA Rider]

I had 2 lifter bores in a 302 block that needed to be sleeved. The block had very good .030 over cylinders. The machine shop told me it would be cheaper to find a different block and bore the cylinders than to sleeve the lifter bores due to the setup time of the machines. I did not get a second opinion from another another machine shop as 302 engines where cheap and abundant. That was 10 years ago not sure if that would hold true today with a 460?

 

[mjlan]

If it's surface rust, you might be able to clean it off with a gun cleaning brush....

What is the concern, excessive clearance once the rust is removed?

 

[Ron Tanzi]

I acquired a very rusty (but not pitted) 460 for free. I figured it was worth it's weight as scrap. It had been bored .030 over then left for dead under a work bench. After inspecting it I realized there wasn't anything scary about it, except, the rusty lifter bores. (mating surfaces aren't pitted, bolt holes were chased when it was bored, no "flaking" in the threads, etc.) So I surfed honing and or sleeving the lifter bores and found a mixed bag of answers but landed on a positive note. I can be done, it's fairly common, but not often considered when weighing the cost of finding a "good" block vs. machining. With that, has anyone had any experience with sleeving the lifter bores?

Lifter bore bushings are common practice to correct worn bores, correct bore alignment and/or to control oil to the top end.

I know Tim Meyer is a great believer in bushing lifter bores on 335 series engines.

FYI the 429/460 blocks are of the 385 series engine family. I think lifter bore bushing is a good idea for oil control to the top end as well.

 

[TommyK]

I acquired a very rusty (but not pitted) 460 for free. I figured it was worth it's weight as scrap. It had been bored .030 over then left for dead under a work bench. After inspecting it I realized there wasn't anything scary about it, except, the rusty lifter bores. (mating surfaces aren't pitted, bolt holes were chased when it was bored, no "flaking" in the threads, etc.) So I surfed honing and or sleeving the lifter bores and found a mixed bag of answers but landed on a positive note. I can be done, it's fairly common, but not often considered when weighing the cost of finding a "good" block vs. machining. With that, has anyone had any experience with sleeving the lifter bores?

Lifter bore bushings are common practice to correct worn bores, correct bore alignment and/or to control oil to the top end.

I know Tim Meyer is a great believer in bushing lifter bores on 335 series engines.

FYI the 429/460 blocks are of the 385 series engine family. I think lifter bore bushing is a good idea for oil control to the top end as well.

Thanks. Tim Meyer is a Ford 400 specialist (335 series). I thought his view on lifter bushings for those engines would be relevant to the OP's question on the 460 given the similarities between the two.

Some more info here:

http://www.the351cforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=148

 

[Ron Tanzi]

Lifter bore bushings are common practice to correct worn bores, correct bore alignment and/or to control oil to the top end.

I know Tim Meyer is a great believer in bushing lifter bores on 335 series engines.

FYI the 429/460 blocks are of the 385 series engine family. I think lifter bore bushing is a good idea for oil control to the top end as well.

Thanks. Tim Meyer is a Ford 400 specialist (335 series). I thought his view on lifter bushings for those engines would be relevant to the OP's question on the 460 given the similarities between the two.

Some more info here:

http://www.the351cforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=148

Sorry about that. I misunderstood. Thanks for the link.