Alright. I'm working on building a 429 for my '80 F100 Flareside, 4x2. My first time doing a big block, and I'd like to get some advice or even constructive criticism from you gents.

The road so far...





- D0VE-A block, .030 over (manufactured Nov. 31st, 1969)
- 4340 H-Beam rods
- Forged SCJ Pistons (floaters)
- Assembly dynamically balanced
- Stock crank turned .010 main and rod journals
- ARP studded mains & bolted rods.







- C8VE-E heads, milled .005, stock intake ports, ported exhaust side, machined and assembled with stainless 2.24 intake and 1.76 exhaust, Viton stem seals, 7/16 studs, push-rod guide plates, Comp springs (I think they are 928-16s). I thought the valves were a big big for the street, but I couldn't pass the heads up for the price.

- Bolt ons: Weiand 8012, Holley 780, FlowTech headers (1 3/4" primary, 3" collector, 4-into-1), plan on building a 3" dual exhaust (muffled) with X-pipe.

I have a 9" traction-lok rear with 2.78 gears and a C6 trans.

Questions...

Trying to pick out a nice cam... and I would really like to go hydrolic roller. I've been looking at the Crane 359341 cam:

RPM Range 2,000-5,500
Advertised Duration 278 int./ 286 exh.
Lift (Factory Ratio) 0.556 int./0.580 exh.
Lobe Separation 112 degrees

Any feedback from someone running this cam would be awesome. I'm also curious as to substituting the Lunati roller lifters for Crane rollers, but I can't seem to find any specs other then lifter diameter (which is the same). Can they be substituted? I'm not trying to go cheap on anything where it counts, but the Cranes are about $200 more then the Lunati .

Also, My cruse RPM was about 2000 RPMs on the highway doing 65 mph, and ~1800 doing 55. I would like to keep my factory rear end because I will probably be doing a lot of cruising (occasional track runs). What stall converter should I set it up with so it locks in quick but I still have some off the line?

 

Finish the porting job, exhaust AND intake.
Custom Cam. no point in a hyd roller, get just as much from a solid FT for a fraction of the cost.

Do you know what your compression ratio is going to be? Flat tops, early milled heads, IDK but you might need to be careful if its to run on pump gas.

other than that I'm sure it'll be fine

 

11:1 static compression, 8.35:1 dynamic compression using the crane cam specs. I know you have to keep it under 8.5:1 dynamic to run it reasonably on pump fuel (93 octane).

Solid flat tappet as in regular mechanical or mechanical roller? I'm guessing you mean regular mechanical because the mechanical rollers I've found are almost as much as the hydrolic.

 

I'd get a custom solid flat tappet cam ground for your combo by a BBF guy, from what I've read the hyd rollers have pushrod geometry problems in the 429-460. Basically hyd rollers are a taller lifter, needing a shorter pushrod, creating a steeper angle, causing side load issues. Or something like that..

Also, how close are your pistons to the deck? Close to zero is good for detonation resistance, especially with compression as high as you've got.

Very nice build.

 

Oh yeah, your rear gear is pretty tall. Keep really short tires or it'll be kinda doggy, even though you should have a really stout motor.

 

That sounds about right. Still, I think if properly set up (geometry) within the limitations, the hydrolic roller setup could do quite nicely. I'm not planning on turning it past 6000 rpms; more or less a nice street engine with limited and occasional track time.

The pistons are ~.005 below deck.

As for the tires, I'm running 235/75R15's on 90's Alcoas. The hopped up six I had in it before had no problem with the tall gears, and I think it'll help with traction control. Will be adding ladder bars from axle to frame and a safety loop as well.

 

I am running that Crane 359341 cam. My setup is 460 with 10.5:1 comp. Dove heads ported 2.19 1.76 valves. I am running the stealth standard port intake. I like the cam in my application, but you will have to change something to run it. I have 3.50 gears in a 2wd swb 67 model. With a stock converter it is not that impressive until you roll out a little bit. It comes alive about 2600 rpm like a two-stroke. Idles nice around 750 or so. It is a little finicky until warm. The main problem is in a 429 it will not like the taller gearset, and I would advise 10.0:1 compression for pump gas. I am probably giving up HP in tune and timing. I ran a very small cam in a 429 and bottom end torque for a tow vehicle actually was better ran 87 octane with 9.0:1 comp. I built that engine 10 years ago with no problems. It is happy shifting around 56-5800. That is really more dependent on gear splits. The c-6 has a fairly tall gear and I plan on swapping to a E4od which will help my holeshot performance.

 

A cam that runs from 2000rpm wont work properly with a 2000rpm converter.
You would be better with about a 2200 or so lockup so you have plenty of vaccuum going on, not to mention you wont be cruising at 2000rpm with that setup.
But I must say that block doesn't look 40 years old. What an awesome starting point. good luck.

 

I used to have a Lunati #96 in my big block and I wish I would have reused it in the last rebuild. I would also regear your truck, something like 3.89-4.10.

 

The block looks really good for a 40 year old block, but that's because I had it tanked . Sigafoos Machine in Easton, PA did the work. Dave's done fantastic work for me and my friends; nice older gentleman who doesn't BS and charges a fair price.

Anybody run a Comp hydrolic FT XE274H? Specs are as follows:

RPM Range: 1,800-6,000
Advertised Duration: 274 int./286 exh.
Valve Lift: 0.562 int./0.565 exh.
Lobe Separation: 110

Starting to think a little differently here. I'm thinking of going with a worked AOD, a 2200 stall and re-gear to ~3.73s. Trying to keep the stall speed down as low as possible so as to not generate excessive heat and to keep the RPMs down on the interstate. I just don't think it's possible to do what I'm trying to do with the setup I have, and since I have the entire truck apart anyway...

 

That's sounding better.
I have a stroked 460 out to 557 and my Crane comes in at 1800 and works till I think 5000.
My tranny builder that doing the C6 is using 5 clutches up from 3 and has recommended a 2200 stall.
In his opinion it'll be a lot smoother to drive and will change a lot better than if we ran a lower stall.
In theory I assumed with an 1800rpm cam that an 1800 converter would be right but he assured me it would be a pig, and I guess you have to believe the experts.. lol

 

I am building a 460 for my 95 F-450 Super Duty. I pull a 15,000 lbs. backhoe with it up in the mountains at 8,100 ft elevation. When the stock EFI 460 took a dive I decided to hot rod a motor together. So I bought a set of D0VE-A heads, push rod guides, roller tip 1:1.73 rocker arms. The 75 cc combustion chambers should really help at the high elevation. Planning on pistons, hyper-eutectic 1995 versions, coated skirts and the rods and crank are pretty stock. I need a torque motor and want to continue using the EFI for the fuel mileage. Can anyone suggest a cam? Mild RV maybe? I bought a cam gear drive. Should I use it? I plan on as many aluminum pieces like water pump, valve covers, oil pan if I can find one reasonable. The oil pump will be a high volume, high pressure unit. Any suggestions on pressure? Thanks in advance, Sprinter4.

 

I run a melling high volume oil pump on my 460, no complaints. One thing you will have to consider is the D0VE heads will not work with your efi intake. I believe there are other threads on FTE about this if you care to look it up. I think the solution was some kind of aftermarket adapter, maybe someone else will remember.

 

Carb heads won't fit on the intake AND the exhaust side too.
Price Motorsport makes an adapter (CS-460EFI) to bolt a Holley carb onto an EFI lower plenum, and I think they make spacers to put a carb intake onto EFI heads, but I know of no one who puts an EFI plenum on carb heads.

High volume pumps are fine for loose race engines that get torn down all the time.
They cause cam/distributor gear wear for no good reason in a street engine.
My truck went 300k on the factory oil pump with a 5,800 redline.

 

OK, I'll go with the Melling oil pump. That sounds logical.

But I've been looking at the D0VE head to the EFI intake manifold and I think I have an answer. Since I'm not going racing or into the upper stratosphere in RPMs, remember all I want is a grunt engine. The manifold will bolt on but the ports don't line up. The EFI ports are round and raised while the D0VE heads are oval. If I place an EFI gasket on the D0VE heads I can see where I can port match them, if I port the heads a bit. I think I'll do that. It won't make for the best flow, but in a 2 1/2 ton truck hauling a 15,000 lbs loaded trailer, you don't want to got into high RPMs.

Personally I prefer the older style rocker arms.studs and I plan on putting on roller tip rockers with poly-lock stud locks and pushrod guides. This won't fit under the stock valve covers, but the tall square covers should work fine. Then if I have to move any brackets I'll do that.

As for the exhaust I'm putting on headers with dual 3" pipes and Flowmaster mufflers so that shouldn't be a problem.