Plan on getting into truck pulling and decided on a 429. for the street legal class I am allowed a aluminum intake. must be 480ci or lower. I plan on puting on wedge heads. Do you guys know of how to build HP and keep me legal? thanx

 

Hey ,

I'm just started on the same type of project .
Where are you at ?
I'm in N.Illinois .
How much can you spend and how much work can
you do ?
I have some ideas I'm gonna try .

dP

 

 

I am in northwestern WI. i dont have much right now but will next summer. I am 15 and live at home so i dont have any bills or anything. I am lucky to have ardisam in my town. they hire at 16 and I can get all the hours i want plus they pay real good. plan on working my ##### off and have a a nice truck at the end of the summer.

 

I'd say I'd start with a 460 crank and then I'd bore it as much as possible yet still be within the max CID limit. If you have to stick with iron heads, I'd get a good set of D0VE's and send them to MPG head service in Colorado. He's the only guy around that I know of that CNC ports iron Ford heads. They will flow as good as the aluminum heads after he's done with them. After that it's all about compression and matching your other components. CR will depend on what gas you are allowed to use. Cam selection is probably the most important of all engine building decisions.

 

What gears are you using ?
In street stock , gears get you more power " cheap "
from a 460 .A guy running in Iowa uses a bone stock 460
and came in 2nd place this years local pull
( behind a very questionable " street truck " )
and won last years .

He runs 4.10 w/4 speed .
Pulls in 2 Low ...
It bogs a bit off of the line .

I'm running 4.56 w/4 speed .
Should help get started off the line better .

With an auto you may need 5.13 or so gears .
Guys try to pull with 3.5 or 4.10 & an auto tranny
just loose steam going down the track .

Your gas mileage will suck ...
do ya wanna PULL or Cruise around ?

Agree on the 460 crank .
Get the connecting rods from a 460 from a truck motor also .
If you plan on big bore , make sure the shop checks for wall thickness . Some 460s had some bad core shift problems .
I look at the oil pressure sensor hole , if the hole looks centered with the area cast for it , it should be good to go .
If it is not centered , watch your bore size ( I pass on ones that look off ... most of the " off " cranks are cast marked as MCC ( M over the 2 Cs ) .. this stands for Michigan Casting Center ( Michigan Cast Crap according to my shop :-) )

dP


dP

 

Duh !!

That should be Blocks , not cranks that I am talking about
coreshifts and MCC markings ... sorry ...

dP

 

I was told that you should only spin a 460 to 5000rpm and a 429 will go to 6500rpm. The way that the eliminater is set up around here is at about 250 feet it will trip and drop the front of the skid which has chains and spikes on it down and lift the rear up. Even the mods really bogged down. Its all about wheel speed and with 6500 over 5000 i will have more speed. I figured i would buy a slightly stroked crank from scat and punch it out all the way. It will also get wound up tight when i am with my friends on friday night so it needs to be durable.

 

The weak link in the 429/460 is the rods. The crank on either motor is reliable up to 6500+. The problem people run into is using stock rods and stock bolts from a 460. Lot's of those rods have the sqare headed bolts and thus less material at a very critical point in the rod. If you use D0OE rods (from a 429 CJ/SCJ or 460 truck engine) and put in some good ARP bolts they are good to at least 6000+. If you are going to buy a stroker crank then get some really good rods to go with it. If you are trying to go budget, then just use a stock 460 crank and get some D0OE or good aftermarket rods. You'll be fine.

 

The truck rods, and CJ rods are going to be the same pieces. they both have the football shaped bolt head. So if you have a 460 block from a truck you might be lucky on the rods, if not time to start hunting. It took me awhile to find a good price on some truck/cj rods. Ended up getting them of a guy in California, for the price I was looking for. And he had a warranty too.

chris
79 F-150 Ranger Lariat, 2wd, RC, LB, 460 (intake, headers, cam), C-6(shift kit).

79 mustang (work in progress...its just slow progress)
98 Chevy 4x4 (work truck)
95 Lexus SC300 (wife's baby)

 

Correct! They are both D0OE rods. Identical castings. The difference is not the bolts, but rather the castings with football heads have more material in the corners making the rod stronger. I always replace rod bolts with ARP's. My preference. I just rebuilt the 460 out of a 75 F-150. It had the good rods.

 

Hi Classic ,

What was a "good" price for the good rods ?
I have 2 sets , but they came with motors , so I
have no idea what a set would/should cost .

dP

 

After you get the good rods , have the rods
checked for cracks and then the fun begins ...

you get to grind the beam seam smooth and
polish the sides real purty ... takes awhile,
but , you get to play with a grinder .

dP

 

Hi Mistro ,

I think the 5000RPM limit is for a stock " car " 460 .
With the good rods , you ought to be able to turn
6 - 6500 for a short blast .

The cam I'm running should give me around 460 HP at 5500
( track speed 22 MPH )and 500 ft/lb torque at around
3400 RPM . It will run over 400 ft/lbs from 2900
all the way up to close to 5000 . Nice flat "curve" .

If you are limited to a 482 inch limit , a punched block
with a 460 crank will get you close .

Are you limited to cast intake & headers ?

dP

 

I see a guy has a set of truck rods on ebay .
The auction ends Friday ....

just enter 429 cj on the search ....

These are not mine and I do not know the seller , just a heads up

dP