I am looking at a 429 CJ a guy has. He says that its bored 30 over ported polished heads, 588 lift cam, dual plane intake with a 4 barrel, and headers. I have a few questions.

1. What kind of power do you think it is making?
2. Does a cam with that lift make good torque and where at?
3. He says he can revs it upto 7000 rpms, is that good for a 429?
4. It tends to bend pushrods, what could cause this?

hope I am not asking too many ?'s at once.

 

1. Don't know - not enough info.

2. Again, don't know. Lift is only one of many aspects of cam performance. Need all the specs, or at least the manufacturer and part number.

3. 7000? On stock parts, I doubt it. Stock rods, even CJ rods, are not long for this world past 6000 rpm. Regular trips to 7000 is a pipe dream unless he's put some serious money in machine work and parts.

4. Poor valvetrain parts selection, poor build, and 7000 rpm.

I don't trust anyone who claims they have a CJ until I can verify it with casting numbers (heads). A lot of misinformed people think that any 429 is a "Cobra Jet", which is untrue. The CJ is a CJ specifically because of the head design, which can be confirmed with a casting number.

Brad

 

Brad is right, all 429s are CJs when they are for sale. If all it bent was push rods at 7000 then he was lucky. I get the feeling this motor has been thrash real hard and will probably need a rebuild now or real soon.

 

If he is bending pushrods something is hitting something it shouldn't like valves to pistons, or valve springs that can't handle that much lift without binding. Either of those situations is a bad thing, and will probably not be a cheap fix as your gonna need to replace a bunch of parts so personally I say run, and run fast.
and both of the other guys are right Boss, SCJ, and CJ engines are different than other 429s actually seen a guy list a Boss 429, and it had a 2bbl carb on it let alone it had standard 385 series heads. I have also seen guys list CJs with 2bbl carbs and no that was never an option on them. adn if it has a aftermarket intake no it doesn't make it a CJ.
from your description I can't say it enough stay away from that engine unless you can verify it has a DOOE-R casting on the heads then I wouldn't give over $700 for it personally.
And for reference my big block race engine is built specifically for high rpms, with custom pistons, crank, and rods balanced etc etc, and I shift at 7100 and most people can't believe I turn a big block that hard although with the bottem end I am not scared of 8500rpm I have a radical roller cam to get me into the 7k mark with a victor style intake aftermarket heads, and a dominator carb sorry he is full of it.

 

Thanks for the replies. This guy was trying to talk his truck up the other night. I figured he was full of it, but I just wanted to check. I don't like to be a jerk, but sometimes you have to put people in their place.