I have both, the 429 is sitting in a 79 f150 4x4 and the 460 is sitting in a 77 f150 2x4, I assume both are original, but havent checked. I am toying with the idea of building a radical sounding motor for the 2wd. I would love to build a proper high hp motor, but just dont have the money nor the know-how, but I do love the irratic lopes of race engines, so to make a long post short, I want to know which motor is better in the long run for race type situations, second, how to get that big lope sound with out flooding the engine too bad with a very limited budget. if you need more info, I will be glad to provide it, thanks in advance for any and all help

 

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Bigger displacement will always be out perform the smaller 429 with the same parts installed in my opinion. There are a few things you can do to increase the performance with a limited budget. The cam shaft and valve train will make all the difference in the world as long as you match them with what you have. No sense in having a .750 lift cam with stock pistons, intake, and heads. Headers will also help in the long run. Recurving your distributor for the cam and power ranges also gives a few more ponies. Replacing the timing set will also give some performance back as well since most post '71 engines came from the factory with a 4 degree retarded crank gear. You can self port the heads as well saving some cash. There are a bunch of threads on how to do this if you search for them.

I would start off with a realistic goal in mind for the money you have to put into it before you break the first bolt loose. Too many people have bought "good deals" to find out it wasn't the right part for what they were trying to do. So come up with a game plan first then research it until you are positive you know what you want to do. In the mean time you will be able to scrap a little more cash together. Remember you don't have to have bullet proof/trick parts if you plan on staying reasonable with the power output. Too big of a motor with cause you to spend more cash in other areas as well.

 

No Ford pickups trucks ever came stock from the factory with a 429. The 460 is the only "385 Series" engine in the small trucks.

 

the big lope is a big cam, so all youd need to do is swap out the cam, lifters, springs, retainers, and locks and possibly the pushrods to get the lope... total of about 850 in parts if you include the new head gaskets, intake gaskets, and cam bearings to do it properly... and if you go too much lift on the cam youll need to check valve to piston clearance... and if you do that stuff to the 429 itll sound more agressive because the more displacement an engine has the smaller the cam acts

 

thanks everyone for their replies, talking about the cam, what is big enough for the lope but not too big for a relatively stock engine? strange questions I know, but in my strange mind I have reasons

 

ok... this cam has some lope but its about as much as you can get with stock heads... but you will need to change the valve springs and retainers and locks... and since youre after more lope put it in the 429. summitracing.com part #crn-354561 for $110 and springs to match part #crn-96881-16 for $157, plus some retainers and locks and new lifters, and youll need a stick shift or a 3000 rpm stall converter.

a side note- when you put in the cam and assorted parts dont expect to do much for real work because you wont have crap for low end power... and without porting the heads or getting aftermarket ones you wont have crap for top end either because the stock heads are really restrictive... and if youre still running the stock motorcrap carb youll be restricted there too... and the intake will be restrictive... just a big snowball effect- change one part and everything else needs to be changed to make that one part work properly

 

thanks darrin, a edelbrock performer carb and intake was on the truck all ready, after looking up the part numbers on the carb I found it to be a 650 cmf, I really want the lope, but I might tone it down some to keep some power too, I guess these are too good of engines to just sound good and not perform as good as they sound

 

well... its all in the application and parts you want to put in... if youve got 6000 dollars to put into an engine you can build a nice 521 stroker and run it on pump gas... or if you were just going 1/4 mile you could build a 545 and run race gas... its all in the money youre willing to put in and the intended use