Hey, guys!

I'm headed over to a neighbor's house tonight to look at a motor he has in his shed. He said it was either a 428 or 429. I didn't get a good close look because it was dark in there. It's 100 percent complete. He said he'll take 200 bucks for it. If it's a 428, I'll buy it outright because 428's are real hard to find. If it's a 429, should I buy it or pass on it? How common are 429's? What is the value of a complete 428 or 429?

Thanks!

 

428 (could be anything from a 352 to a 428 and you need to chek before you buy pull a head and measure bore and stroke) has 5 bolts holding the valve covers. The intake/head joint is under the valve cover.

429 (could be a 460, the stroke is the only difference) has seven bolt valve covers.

 

What about looking for the casting numbers covered by the starter? That'd tell you what it is and when it was made.......

Also, the guy is a good friend of mine and he wouldn't appreciate me taking it apart. Is it better to pull all the spark plugs and see which cylinder is at the bottom and measure the stroke?

If I recall correctly, the stroke for a 428 is 3.98, 3.78 for the 390, and 3.50 for the 360. I can't remember the 352's stroke.

I know the differences between the FE and 385 series. I couldn't see it good because it was real dark in the shed.

 

measuring the stroke might give you a 410, which is a 360/390 block with a 3.98 stroke crank. also buyer beware if the crank has been turned to .030 under already and if the block has any bores left in it as well. just curious, does the harmonic balancer have a balancing weight behind it like where the spacer is normally located? what does the crank look like where the flywheel bolts on? a half circle or a notch with a slight flat spot on the side of the flange, what? you almost have to pull a freeze plug and measure between the cylinders in the water jacket area with a drill bit shank to see if its a 428 block or capable of being one, there is an article on how to do this, I think dave shoe is the author on network54.com.

 

Also a 427 has a 3.78 stroke too. Without both bore and stroke you can't tell usually unless you know the engine has never been apart. If it's been apart only the builder know. A 352 also has a 3.50" stroke.

 

427 would have crossbolt mains. And the 352 has a 4.00 std bore. If the engine is a 66-70 428 you'll see a crude sandscratch "A" or "C" on the back of the block. There are also "S" 428 blocks. The "C" can be backwards in some cases. There are also 70's era service and industrial 428 blocks. If you see vertical ribs on the outside it's a later 70's block. The key is the foundry it was cast at. DIF (dearborn iron foundry) kept casting 427 and 428 blocks after the new MCC (michigan casting center) opened and was online mid 72. You can look for the foundry logo to see where it was cast. Also the date code below the oil fliter adapter pad. A 69 or later block will have 2 dots under the first number of the date code. Casting number on the block won't mean squat as they were generic for the most part. But it will help timeframe the block with the date code. It's still wise to take the advice given above. Check the stroke and measure the bore. Friend or no friend....if you don't buy it someone else will. And chances are they will want to see the same things. So it's to his advantage to properly ID what he has. You can also get the casting numbers off the heads and intake. That will tell if they are hipo or run of the mill parts.

Yep Dave Shoe's drill bit test will confirm what cyl wallcores the block was cast with. A 17/64" drill bit shank will fit between 352, 360, 390, 410 wall cores.
A 13/64" drill bit shank will fit between 406, 428, 428PI,CJ,SCJ wall cores.

G.

 

Not all 427s had cross bolted mains. The 1968 hydraulic cammed motor didn't and a lot of the marine engines didn't.

 

The 68 block most certainly had cross bolted mains. I've had one and seen lots of others. Some of the early 427's had 2 bolt mains and/or pressed in freeze plugs, but these are rare. The 428 blocks have a "428" cast into the cylinder cores inside the coolant passage behind the center freeze plugs..

 

FE casting numbers don't mean much for Identification purposes, many shared casting numbers in the late 60's till the end. Some don't even have casting numbers (68 360/390/410 blocks)

 

HUH??? The only non crossbolt 427's were the industrial engines. Badad is right on the C8 hyd blocks being crossbolted. And every marine 427 I've seen or parted out here on the crusty coast has been also.

BD that early 2 bolt 427 you saw I bet started life as a 406. Many of the 406's were cast with 427 cyl walls. And the C4AE-A 406 service block was for the most part an underbored 427. That could have been it as well.

Here's the 2 bolt 427 industrial...

http://www.ford428.com/427c7aea/

 

Some of the early ones till 63 do and are paticular to a specific block. By 64 you were seeing generic numbers.

 

Didn't you read my post? Like I said, it was too dark in the shed to look at it.

I'm the only one who knows about it. I know this because I was the first to ask him. So I'm not worried about others trying to beat me to the punch. The guy is a very quiet man and keeps to himself.

I didn't go because he called and said he had to take care of some things first (he's a farmer/rancher).

Don't worry, I'll check it out and get back to you with the news.

Thanks

 

FFR428--------I didn't see a non bolted early block in person, but have seen pics posted on them. There were so many variations on these blocks, that any combo is possible. The last 427 block I had was a side oiler casting like the one you linked to, but had screw in plugs and drilled as a top oiler. The 68 motor I had was thru and thru a cross bolted, side oiler 427 with the hydraulic galleries drilled. Now that you mention it, I've seen the later version of the 68 block non crossbolted in industrial and marine 1970's applications. I have a 64 390 block with thick walls and the cross bolt "knorbs" cast both sides like the 67 block you linked.