429 Thunderjet from 1969 T-bird. Good for cobra car?

[radtexas]

I was talking with a friend of mine and he has a 429 as described in title. Is this a good engine for a Cobra? He said he basically got her for nothing so might be a cheap buy if he will truely part from it?

Specs I found on a website:

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

I would of course need a rebuild and it has the C6 tranny with it but I prefer a stick. If this engine is a decent choice what tranny would be best. TKO 600? T-56?

I don't want to worry about running hot so I would try and keep her a mild build.

[Woodz428]

Basicly, that's a smaller version of the 460 engine. It should be as reliable and almost as strong as the 460. The nice thing about the earlier engine is that the head has screw in studs and not pedestal mount, that allows an easy swap to adjustable valvetrain. Those aren't known for overheating unless there is something amiss.

[Clois Harlan]

WoodZ is correct. In fact there are some 429's that are probably a lot stronger than the current 460 offering. TKO 600 by the way!

Clois

[427supr]

It is the same as a 460. The only difference is the stroke of the crank. You can buy a 460 crank and drop it in and you will than have a 460. I'm building a 460 now. The 385 series engine have a lot of horsepower and huge displacement potential. There are alot of aftermarket performance parts for these engines. The earlier 429/460 engine heads are better with 74 cc combustion chambers, but for a Cobra, I would buy performance aluminum heads.

[radtexas]

I was wondering about the weight distribution. How much more does the 429 weigh in stock form compared to a 302/351 SB? And how much can you shave off by going aluminum heads/intake? Are most of the performance upgrades costly compared to say those of the smaller 351's? Guess what I am asking here is what is cost difference to get 350 RWHP from a 351 and same for 429?

Also I guess since you have more motor to start with you can really do less to get more and keep it more streetable? I know there are lots whop have the BB's in Cobras but I would not want to take some of the fun out of driving it.

[radtexas]

Maybe a moderator could move this thread to 429/460 topic forum. Found it after I posted this thread. May get more attention there.

[fostereast]

429 in Cobra,

They came with 289's and (427's or 428's both FE series engines). The 429 is heavy. So is the 460. a 390FE can be built inexpensively and with plenty of power and would look period correct. You would also save several hundred pounds in the front.