unless its going to be in car , pass and do a 460, and quicklook, the only ford from that era that had hemi style heads were the 427 sohcs, the 385 series did not

 

Interesting idea but I too think i would go witht he tried and true 460.

 

What I would do is graft 460 EFI heads, intake, wiring, sensors and a 460 speed density EEC onto the 429 block and run it as-is.

1 - (429/460) = approx 7% differential well within the EEC's capability of adaption.

It will run like a pig the first time you power it up after installing the EEC, until it warms up enough to reach closed loop mode. After that the EEC will adjust itself enough and perform just fine.

The 460 offers 31 more cubes than the 429, and has a longer stroke making it a little more suitable for a truck motor - longer rods generally means more torque lower in the RPM band due to the pistons sitting at TDC longer - which means the ignited fuel can apply more pressure during that miniscule window while the piston sits at TDC.

I don't know of any OEM 460 blocks with 4-bolt mains, but I thought there were at least one 429 OEM 4-bolt main block? I'm not up on my 385 series enough to know for sure but maybe someone can chime in. As we all know, one can't have enough bolts on their main caps for a higher power application.

 

Thats just plain wrong....


http://www.nzmustang.com/History/BOSS429.htm


Googled: Ford+Boss+429+Hemi & this was the first thing that came up, pretty accurate.

 

The Hemi design was ahead of it's time, and offered more efficient fuel burning and better airflow as compared to the flathead engines of the day. Chrysler did it, Ford did it briefly, even Mitsubishi did it for Chrysler with the 2.6L. Believe it or not K-cars could have the japanese-made hemi 2.6L as an option. But there are drawbacks - because of the piston/chamber shapes you can't really create a more efficient 4-valve system - the valve angles would be absolutely nuts. The biggest factor I think is the amount of surface area in the chamber to absorb heat into the heads and pistons. A 4" diameter dome has more surface area than a 4" flat slug. Heat absorbed by the block, heads and pistons is heat not providing horsepower. This also affects emissions, which we all know is one of the significant driving factors in engine design for new cars.

The new Dodge Hemi Magnums have two spark plugs which cause a more complete burn which in turn helps the "new" hemi design pass emissions.

Like everything else it's all about tradeoffs.

 

No doubt & no argument there. I just had to challenge the statement about no 385 series ford hemis. Ford overcame some of the design deficiencies you mentioned with the canted valves. And I can understand the complexities of a 4-valve set up.

Tip o' the hat to Bunkie Knudeson.

Another guy who came over from the dark side.

 

For closed loop operation, yes. Even then, there will be some tip in/out issues.

 

I wouldn't go with a 460 because it's too heavy and I'd have to do and spend too much money to switch over from a small block.

I'd just like to have a 429 because it's no where near stock...a 460 is sorta stock just simply that it wouldn't have been in an F-150.

But unfortunately, the 429 would still require a lot of changes and expenses to work. There is the possibiliy of using MAF EFI on the 429 but it would require a lot of planning and tweaking to make it function.

My 393 had to come out because it wasn't running right and I couldn't get the bugs out of it. I didn't want to ruin it and I pulled it to put a good stock 351 in its place. I have a couple of modifications on it but it's still basically stock. I still have problems with the way this engine runs but it's getting better.

Then I tore the 393 apart and found that the bearings are shot and that the cylinder walls were damaged. It's been taken apart and is sitting in my basement. It would cost about $500-$800 to restore the shortblock to good condition. The other issue is having the money to build the top end on it and that will require a good chunk of change I don't have.


What will probably happen is that I will pick up a good low mileage 351 and tear it down in my garage. I can put a lot of the new parts I have on it including a set of performance heads. I could get about 350 hp out of it with what I have and it would only cost me about $500. Then when I'm ready I could yank the other 351 out of the truck and switch them.

 

The 429 is the same motor as the 460. Unless someone mesures the crank stroke, and piston pin to deck hight you would not know the difference. its the same motor.

 

Out of curiosity, how do you suppose that happened and for how long was it running??

 

I know but a 429 still isn't a 460. If I'm asked what motor it is, it's not a 460.

If I were to do a 429, I'd obviously still have the same issues like weight and parts. I'm not going to do a 429, but it would be cool if I did.


I'm still not exactly sure but I know detonation was a problem. It ran for about 5000mi.

 

Oil pressure maybe? Or some other oiling problem?

 

ok, so i was off i forgot about that one , but to the the point, we are not dealing with a boss 9 here

 

I believe the 429 was available in several of the larger class of trucks including school busses. I have seen 370s in many and a few 429s. Most were manual but a few of the busses had Allision 545 auto trans. Wonder if that would fit!
regards
rikard

 

A stock 460 weighs roughly 125lbs more than a stock 351w...not that much of an increase in weight.