Some of you may recall my short stories titled junk yard tales. I have a few of them on the backburner to share with you later but in the interim I thought I would ramble on about some of the good folks that stop by my garage on the weekends. I see everything from drunk fella's to religious types and they all have one thing in common... they make for good stories. SO this weekend a regular stops by who is picking up a motor and asks me if I know what a Mercury Marquis looks like? I figured he meant the 1985 version that my mom had 20 years ago. so I said yes..."do you know if they came with a 429?" he asks. I said I doubt if it came with more than a 302 there buddy, what the heck are you talking about??
He says this fella called him up with a 1970 Mercury Marquis that apparently has a running 429 in it. Come and pick it up for a grand.....
Well I've never seen a 1970 Marquis but figured that it must be 1 step down from a Lincoln which means the sucker is huge and could possibly have a 429 in it. Anyhow we parted ways cause I ain't no expert on big ole boat cars. After he left I looked the car up on the net and sure enough that sucker is huge it must be 26 feet long, but I couldn't find any motor details on it so I still don;t know if it came with a 429 or not? AL & Big block gang...do any of you know.
This guy stopped back in on Sunday and said the car was actually a 2 door (they must be huge) and he couldn't get it running but was gonna go back with some cash that afternoon cause he figured it had a 429 in it ......
I guess I'll find out next weekend if he bought the thing or not.

Stay tuned,
TFC

 

Feeling guilty, is that why you posted here? LoL!

Anyways, hmmm...I could be wrong but I thought those big old cars did have those engines. I thought I read it somewhere. Could be wrong though (I have been before...once or twice).

-Matt

P.S. Plus, that was WAY before my time.

 

Yes, 429 was used and later in the mid 70`s the 460 engines were used, not too much else would move them around very well. After 78 they used the 400 for a year or two then the resized Mercurys used the 302. A friend of mine used to get around 28 mpg with his 76 Grande Marque 460 with cruise on a trip.
truckfarmingcanuck, is this a public repair shop that you are in or your own personal place at home?

 

It seems like its you me and Fomoko are the only 3 on the boards right now and we are chasing each other around .....
I posted cause you asked and I thought the digits 429 would get AL fired up.

Guilt phhhht, the Sask chapter can't be all that bad you were over there reading up, do you wanna join.. LOL!

later
TFC

 

yup, Marquis had 390's or 429s, gas was cheap and bigger was better!

So what are you going to do with a 429? easy thing would be to put it into your 4x4 BUT if u want a challenge .....think Focus!

Frank

 

This is my personal home but I've got enough old Ford's around the shop that I get lots of neat (and sometimes not so tidy) folks stopping in for a chat. I've had a few of the FTE gang make the trek for some hard to find parts.
As for the 429 I have no use for it. I know this fellow that was in visiting just picked up a 78 4x4 short box with a weak engine so he likely has plans for it and will put the boat out back of his place. It will go nice with the 68 cougar, 79 F250xlt, and handfull of chargers he already has back there lurking in the grass. Next time I'm over at his place I'll grab some pics.
So would this 429 have been putting out some horses or was it dead weight? Speaking of dead weight **cough**focus.....looks like Matt got himself a new signature.

later
TFC

 

You like?

-Matt

 

It certainly catches ones attention, I didn't realize you were a fiction buff.....

TFC

 

LoL!

-Matt

 

Guess I have to make up for Matt`s post in our forum. LOL.
The 429 has torque more than horse power so it`s good to have in a heavier vehicle, a truck or a big Mercury car. I had one in a 75 F150 XLT and it would do things in a hurry.
I think that the Focus is neat, probably alot of fun to drive while saving fuel.

 

Ahhhhh, the 385 series......Great "Haulin' Freight" motors.
As for 26 feet long...My 78 Town Car was 19'3" from bumperette to bumperette. The last year for these boats was `79.
I towed an 85 F-250 (loaded) from Toronto to Calgary (the towbar weighed abot 200 pounds & was 6' long) with my Town Car. I had it doing 130 along Hwy 2 in northern Montana with no complaints.
I parted out the car in Calgary & the engine went into a pick-up that had a contract to haul trailers over the Rockies.
So, if you think you have no use for a 429 or 460, think more about heavy hauling & what it'll do to the engine you've got.
AL.

 

Thanks for the insight folks. I can;t imagine pulling a full size truck with a car accross the country, but really I guess these things were tanks with wheels. I'll find out this weekend if he bought the car and see if I can get a pic. Hopefully it will fit on the camera without me standing on the roof of my house. I was exagerating the 26 feet but if your Lincoln was 20 feet I wasn't too far off.

later
TFC