About as HAMB friendly as the Rat and the 440 Mopar......I think anything with potential to roast anything you bolt on it for tires is cool in my book. Here's a typical 500hp budget build-up. http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0602_big_block_ford_engine_build/index.html -Bigchief.
On mine I thought the water pump/front cover was ugly. I trimed the water pump part off of the front cover so that all I had left was the timing chain cover. I used a remote pump. Thought it looked a lot better. Did the same thing later to a Pontiac.
I don't think I've ever seen one in a small hoodless hot rod, but I see your point. Due too its length, it would just look too long there. Shame they're so long & heavy! Flat Ernie - Yeah, the Nailhead is one cool looking mill ! Tagman has a nicely dressed one in his 55 Buick. I guess its the straight up valve covers that I like the best. I tend to lean towards the differant and unusual anyways !
For me it's just cheap horsepower in a street car. It's in a 57 Ranchero. With a hood. A lot less money than the 427's that were in it for yrs.(at the track)
I built one, a '68 429 bored and stroked to 506ci, steel crank, rods, fotged pistons, 10:1 cr, .589/.615 solid lifter cam, vintage Buddy Bar dual quad setup, M/T valve covers, headers, Stelling Helings Cobra air cleaners... makes about 550hp and 585 ft lbs and looks period correct, like an old FE 406 or 427 for half the price. -Dean
Thunderjet V8-429 7.0L VIN N 4-Barrel Motorcraft Carburetor/Dual Exhaust System Bore and stroke: 4.36 x 3.59 inches (110.74 x 91.19 mm) Compression ration: 10.5:1 BHP (Gross) 360 @ 4600 Torque: 480 lbft @ 2800 More bang for the buck than any other engine, IMO. Everything is good enough to make power that the typical late `50's hot rodder only dream about. I tell you what you massage the exhaust ports and intake and exhaust valve pockets. Add performance ignition and carb and you won't believe how good that mutha will run.
"The 429 and 460 make up the '385' engine family (also known as the "Lima" engine, as they were made in the Lima, Ohio engine plant). The '385' engines were technologically much more advanced than the FE engines, as they were lighter and stronger, due to better casting techniques, more durable and had greater combustion chamber efficiencies. They were designed to produce more power with lower emissions than their contemporaries." Above statement is correct save for the weight aspect. The 385's are precision cast for the best ratio of minimal weight and max strength as are all thinwall Ford V8's. It's simply a matter of the wide bore spacing and the tall decks that make the big Ford's a little heavy. more...... http://www.highflowdynamics.com/
Ford took the BBC and made it better (I'm gonna catch hell for that),but Mickey Thompson used BBC valve covers and narrowed them an inch on some of his 429's look at the bolt pattern and the other simularities and how many BBC parts fit the Ol' LIMA. On that note, I had a chopped 52 F-1 in high school (83) with a bone stock 1969 429 Thunder Jet and it ran 13.00 seconds flat on street tires thru the exhuast and got around 18 MPG. Let's go to 1998, my old A coupe had a 76 truck 460 with an early timming chain set and it ran a best time of 12.32, not bad for a junk yard motor that got around 18 MPG as well. When I sold my coupe to the dentist he put the blown LIMA in it and it did'nt look too ugly, but maybe a little cartoonish! Here's a few pics. I love the LIMA's. Got one in the 51 Studegasser cause there cheap and make good tire smokin torque!
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