I just got a 72 429 with the D2VE AA heads on it, what kind of compression did this motor have from the factory, how much Horsepower/torque? How rare are these heads, I heard they are very good heads.
Thanks

 

hey, the '72 429 is a very good engine. unfortunatly it was made right after the all the changes happened to the big three auto makers. but it's still a very good engine. as for compression it's right at 8.5:1. and the horse power is rated at about 212 at 4400 r.p.m.'s,, and torque is at 327 lb. ft. at 2600 r.p.m. these numbers are out of chilton's manual but i do feel that they are a bite off. as for the D2VE-AA heads you have,they are a very rare set of heads this was the ONLY year that ford made and open chamber head. as for '73 D3VE-A2A they went back to a closed chamber design.

 

The heads you have aren't rare at all. The only difference between them and a set of D3VE-AA or A2A is that the exhaust air pump channel hasn't been tapped (Good news, you can take out exhaust bump with a die grinder and gain 15-20 h.p. and about 25ft.lbs. torque). They have 91.4cc combustion chambers, 2.08 intake & 1.65 exhaust valves. They are "decent" heads.
BB79RANCH

 

BB79RANCH what are you talking about when you say "exhaust bump"? I'm just about to take my 77-460 apart. I've already had to plug the holes in the ends of the heads with a 1/4 npt. Are you talking about something in the compression chamber?
Thud

Speed aint all that important, there were Snails on board the Ark, along with the Cheetas!

 

Hello Thudpucker,
When you take off your exhaust manifolds look into exhaust port and you'll see what I mean. Just take a die grinder and smooth out "bump" and you will gain in the H.P. & torque catagories. Aren't those air injection pump holes a b*#(# to plug up, especially the back ones.
BB79RANCH

 

Oh yeah Buddie. I took the steering column out to fix the drivers side, but on the passenger side I cut a hole in the firewall. I patched the hole with a piece of Galvanized tin and Pop rivets.
The Front left side burned out while I was on a long trip. It caused the fuel line to melt and caught the engine on fire. All I had was a shake cup for water to put out the fire. Frantic duty there for awhile.

 

hey bb79ranch, a note for ya. there is a difference between the D3VE heads, and the D2VE heads, other than the exhaust air pump channel in the head. do you know the diffenence between open chamber and closed chamber. i'm not worried about combustion chamber volume ,or screw in studs etc. and like i said these are rare heads they were cast for 1 year ONLY. go to scrap yard and just try to find a pair of these in rebuildable cond. i bet you will look for a while to find them. don't always say someone doesn't know what they are talking about until you have all the facts.... i don't like folks trying to tell me what they don't know.

 

OK Cobrajet I realize they only made these heads one year, Do you know the reason why???? This was the first year they used 14mm spark plugs in production 429-460 heads other than CJ or SCJ heads. They have the exact same combustion chamber size, same intake and exhaust valve size, rocker arm style, intake & exhaust port size as the garden variety D3VE head. The only difference in these heads is the EGR port in the heads. If you don't believe me that is fine but if you go and get a genuine FORD parts book like I have you'll see what I mean.
The heads you may be referring to are the D3VE heads, these are POLICE INTERCEPTOR heads and are really rare. They have smaller 89cc combustion chambers and bigger ports as well as a bigger intake valve 2.19 compared to 2.08 in base model heads. If I am wrong about any of these details then FORD the makers of this manual should consult you with specifications on there equipment.
BB79RANCH

 

I must apologize for a mistake I made, the Police Interceptor heads have casting # D2OE, not D3VE. I hope you can forgive me for the brain fart.
BB79RANCH