I have a chance to buy a 1972 429 "out of a police car" for $400. What block and head codes should I be looking for to verify that it is a real 429PI?
Also does anyone have the stats on this motor, like comp ratio, valve sizes, stock horsepower and tourque? My plan is to put this in my 78F250 Ranger 4X4 in front of a ZF 5 speed. Would this motor make decent low end or is it gonna run like a 4V Cleavland? Of course I would like to build it up to around 400 HP but would it still have a truck-usable power band?Could I do all that and still run it on 91 octane pump gas?

 

Heads should be D20E, intake 2.19", exhaust 1.66". They have the rail rocker arms, hardened 5/16" pushrod guideplates, 89-97cc combustion chambers, intake/exhaust ports larger than standard production heads and smaller than those on the CJ heads. They're great heads.

Block will be standard 2-bolt production.

I don't remember stock power numbers, but like any 385, it can be built to any specs you're after. At one time I had four sets of those heads and they work well, far better than stock production heads, on a lower rpm truck engine where you're after torque. With the right porting, they can also feed an 8000rpm puller.

The bare heads alone are worth an easy $400.