Can you put a 460 crank and rods in a 429 block and turn it into a 460, do you use 460 pistons also? Does this change the compression ratio any, will the valves hit the pistons? I plan on putting in an edelbrock performer RPM cam and intake and 750 carb. Thanks for any help

 

Yes it will work and gain an instant 31 cubes. Just make sure you use the 460 pistons with the 460 cranshaft and you should be fine. The connecting rods are the same for the 429-460.

BB79RANCH

 

Are the harmonic dampers the same for the 429 and 460? or do I need to use the one for the 460, also, what about flexplates, are they the same also?

 

Yes the dampers are essentially the same for both the 429 & 460, so you could use a 429 balancer with a 460 crank and vice/versa. This can also be said for the flexplate. If you want to use a 460 balancer and flexplate, make certain of the year of the crankshaft, because beginning in '79 they switched from internally balancing a 460 to external balance. Ford used a different type of harmonic balancer and flexplate than were used previously. '68-'78 460 cranks start with the number 2 as in 2Y, 2YA, 2YAB, 2YABC. '79 and later cranks start with the number 3 as in 3Y and so on. The casting #'s are on the side of the front crankshaft "throw". I hope this helps.
BB79RANCH

 

Whats the story on the 460/429 piston differences? Are there different pin heights?
I'm about order the Motorsport 514 stroker kit from my '70 Boss 429 but want to retain the existing pistons. They are custom forged pop-ups for my bore size.
Thanks

 

The pistons are different for a 429 & a 460. The piston compression heights (the distance between the piston pin center line and the top of the piston) are the difference. The 429's distance is 1.890 and the 460's is 1.756. They will interchange on the same con rod, but you would have either a piston that is sticking up above the deck height (using a 460 piston with a 429 crank) or a real low compression motor (using a 429 piston with a 460 crank).
I believe you won't be able to use the pistons you already have for two reasons.
They overbore your engine block to 4.440 inches (.080" over, Ya better have it sonic checked) and they offset grind a 460's crankshaft on the con rod journals in order to increase the stroke (4.150 compared to a stock 429 at 3.59 or a 460 at 3.85) to accept big block Chevy style rods, but there are other combinations out there as well. I know it's been said that a 429-460 block can safely be bored to only .030" over , but I've seen a few BBF's built with larger over bores than .030" and haven't had any problems. I hope this helps in any way.
BB79RANCH

 

Please excuse the wording error on my last e-mail, it should have read that if you use a 460 piston with a 429's crankshaft then you would have a low compression engine and if you used a 429's piston with a 460 crankshaft the piston would be above deck height. I'm sorry about the error!!!
BB79RANCH

 

Has anyone ever used the crank kits from PAW? They come with crank, rods, pistons, rings and bearings, I was thinking about using one of these, any luck with them?

 

ric,

do you know how rare boss 429 is? don't ruin it by boring it. instead, find a 460 and put your stroker kit in it. you'll get about the same amount of power and save a valuable motor.