I need some help. I have been doing some research and am more confused than ever. I recently bought a 79 F-250 which I was told had a 429 police Interceptor Engine. And also have a 77 which i was told had the same engine. I think I have been fed a bunch of Bull but hopefully you's can clear this up for me.

79-
Block D1VE-A2B
Intake D4VE-C18
Head 08VE-E

77-
Block D1VE-A2B
Intake D3VE-A1B
Head D3VE-A2A

 

you are correct. neither one of those have the desirable police interceptor heads. the head number would have to be D20E for the police interceptor heads.

the problem lies in that those heads were only used on some years of police interceptor models. the later model police interceptor engines used the same heads as the regular engines (D3VE) and they were 460 engines also. the later police interceptor engines were basically the same engine as the regular production engines except they usually had oil coolers and no smog equipment on them and dual exhuast.

what you have are an early head (C8VE) and later head (D3VE) on either engine. unforetunatly you can't externally tell the difference between a 429 or 460 as they shared the same block. only way to confirm if you really do have a 429 is to either check the stroke or check the casting number on the crank. i would venture to guess that you have 460's instead of 429's.

the early head has smaller combustion chambers at 77cc than the later heads at 95cc, so the compression is probably higher on the C8 engine then the D3 engine if stock pistons are used.

looks like someone was feeding you some bull. that is the bad thing about the Ford engines and sellers. everyone thinks that they have a 429 cobra jst under the hood or a police interceptor engine also whan they usually just have the plain jane 429 or 460. nothing wrong with the base 429 or 460, just not a cora jet or PI motor.

hope this helps

rgds
Mike

 

So is this engine any good? My truck(78) has a one-ton front end out of a new super duty under it and I was planning on putting my 38's under it. It sat for 3 years now so I guess I better pull it apart but is it worth the trouble or should I find another one. The guy I bought it from swore it was a PI( which I now know it isn't) and said he put in new rods( because it kept bending them), an RV cam, and new timing gears/chain.

 

it is hard to say without knowing what shape or what parts are inside of it but there is nothing wrong with either motor. both are good starting points for a build. both are quite capable of with minimal effort of producing 400hp and gobs of torque and if you want to go a little more (either a good port job of either head along with larger valves) or even aftermarket heads, little better cam, etc, 500 - 600hp is not out of the question using those engines as a starting point.

if it was me i would start with the engine with the C8 heads as they are a little easier to modify and flow slightly better than the later heads. just watch piston selection so you don't raise compression into the race gas territory.

check out last weeks Horsepower TV show for what they did to basically a stock 460 to get close to 400hp out of. and in reality all they did was stab in a better cam and freshen up the motor. they didn't do anything to the D3 heads as far as larger valves or porting just a good valve job and new springs and even used the stock replacement pistons, so they were only getting around 8.5:1 compression. just shows how choked these engines are from the factory and how underrated they are.

either motor is good, just pick the one that is in better shape.

rgds
Mike

 

There were TWO different 460 engines used in 1979, there is no serial number break as this was a running change.

D1VE-6015-AB2: This engine does not use a weighted crankshaft spacer.

The harmonic balancer and flexplate are not the same as used on...

D9TE-6015-AB because this engine uses a weighted crankshaft spacer.
------------------------------------------------------------
The D1VE block was used in 1971/73 passenger cars with 429's / 1971/78 passenger cars with 460's / 1973/79 F100/350's and 1975/79 Econolines with 460's.

The D9TE block was used on: 1979 F100/350's / 1979/86 Econolines / 1983/86 F250's/350's.

 

Thanks alot for your help. I just found 2 77's for $1500. one has a NP 205, 4 SP, Dana 44 front, Dana rear and a supposed 429. other has 460, dana 60 rear, ford front axle and 4 sp. both 4x4s and run and drive fine. good buy?

also bought a 79 with mint interior, dana 60 front and rears and 351, NP 205, 4 SP for $ 400 yesterday. have 6 trucks now. 1-76, 3-77's, 1-78, 2-79-s

haha lots of work ahead of me. was in a bad car crash and just spent 4 months in hospital, cant work for the next year so on a mission to finish my trucks.

Also anyone who has a decent 300-6 for sale I'm interested. mine was stolen crate and all after I finished rebuilding it.

Thanks Guys.....

 

I have a 300-6 for sale ($100) BUT, I am in VA. It came out of a 79 f-250 4WD, ran good when I took it out. Let me know.

 

Ive got a 429 I pulled out of a 73 police station wagon. 73 was the last year of the 429 but even though this is a "police" motor it is not an interceptor since Ford was using 460's for persuit cars in 73. I think people very loosely use the term "interceptor". If someone told me they had an interceptor motor it wouldnt mean jack to me nor should it increase the value of the motor. Receipts for parts and work done holds more value than a 40 year old motor that hasnt had anything done to it.