I have a 64' 429 Cadillac motor and know some basic info on them such as 340hp/490lbs tourque, Just wondering what the difference is from the 390's that came before it, are any parts interchangable like intake/waterpump/distibutor/pulleys anything!! haha.. Also if anyone has some pictures of some cleaned up nice lookin 429's i'd love that!!.. Thanks.. any opinions on pro's and cons too. I just wanted something other than a small block.. this is going in my 29 by the way and i want my frame to be about 7inches off the ground, have a 4inch superbell dropped axle with 600's, I'm going to put a reverse eyelid front spring but didn't know if a monoleaf would handle the weight, thinking about just putting in a low model a crossmember and a posies super slide spring, anyone know if I"ll need to notch the frame or should i be ok ???.... Thanks.. -Anthony
From '49-'62 the caddy motor is essentially the same block. It started life as a 331 and then was bored to 365 and finally got stroked to make it a 390. The '63 390 is a completely different animal than the earlier 390's. Your 429 is similar to the '63 390. These are still very nice motors and would run one any day over a small block chevy.
yup thats pretty much all i've been able to read as well.. I dont think i'm gonna find speed parts for this 429 or that 63' 390.. vintage speed sells a 2x2 adapter for the 4brl intake that will look cool, hopefully those 2barrels will be able to feed this monster!! Any other info would be appreciated guys! Thanks -Anthony
check these sites out..they may give you a little more info http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/ http://forums.500cid.com/
Thanks Suiside, Those sites are helpful.. still hoping to get some cool pics of caddy motors!! Thanks. -Anthony
Ok I wish I had my links to old posts regarding this motor...The 64 429 is based on the 63 390 BUT there are only certain parts that will interchange, the 65-67 429 is based on the 64 429, again a lot of stuff but not everything will interchange. The big issue with the 64 429 is that it is a one year only block and you have limited ****** choices unless you get an adaptor kit from Wilcap. The 64 429 came with two ****** choices: dual coupling hydro in series 62 (low end cars) and Turbo Hydro (not 400 or 350, but just Turbo Hydro!) for De-Ville cars. The Turbo Hydro has a unique valve body and has its own rebuild parts, inother words it does not share a lot of parts with the 65 & up Turbo Hydro 400. They are *****in motors, but are expensive to rebuild and source parts for. You can use intake manifolds from earlier 390's (Fenton, Edmunds etc...) and have them milled to fit the 429 as it has a narrower space between the heads but the ports line up. The exhaust ports have the same spacing as the earlier motors too so if you can find headers you should be able to run them. The 429 block is made of excellent stuff but can warp when rebored and the reality is if you put one of these is a hot rod you will not need to hop it up as it will have a maaayy more power than you may even want... The ****** is the **** *** part of the set up, the Turbo Hydro is a good ****** but the rebuild parts are a bit more than a normal Turbo Hydro 400, the dual coupling hydro? Bwahahahaha, good luck getting one of those rebuilt for less than 2K...Oh the Turbo Hydro flexplates like to fail too, ask me how I know, and they are ONE YEAR ONLY!!!!
Still working on mine... Anyone ever seen one with a Manual trans swapped onto it? I would go for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok pancakes, freakin awesome info!.. this motor is running, so i'm not going to be concerned about rebuilding it anytime soon (or until it blows!!).. when it does blow it'll be time for another mill, but i figured the motor wouldn't need to be hopped up. The intake was a big concern cause i want to run something other than a 4bbl, something cooler that is, so i'll try out the 2x2 adapter that bolts onto the stock intake manifold. Headers, i'll make my own weird loud pipes, i guess i'll be cleaning up the valve covers and getting them chromed, and sand/bead blasting alot of parts and trying to clean this motor up!!.. it looks *****in.. i guess no ones got pics of a cleaned up one.. once i've started on it, i'll post some pics!!.. I've got the TH trans does anyone know the gear ratios i'm dealing with ?? Probably 3:1, 2:1, 1:1 i'm guessing.. i'm hooking this up to a 60's mustang 8inch rear. We'll find out if it can handle the torque, radio joe a manual would eb nice.. I'd be in big trouble with that!!.. haha.. Post some pics of your motor pretty or ugly!! Thanks guys.. -Anthony
I do know that the TH400 top gear is 1:1. I'm just about finished replacing my stock rearend with a 2.73 from a '69 Impala. I'm hoping I can get some more freeway speeds out of my 425.
This 8inch i'm running should be about a 2:80 to 3:00 so i should be crusing 65mph at around 2,500.. hopefully.. i've got Universal 8.20's on the rear so maybe less.. they're pretty tall.. -Anthony
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