ford 429 thunderjet '68 questions

[68thunderjet]

i know a lot of people think its pointless to ad performance parts to a 429 but i am aiming to keep the car as original as posible but with a little personalization.

but i would like to get it to 400+ HP

what would the cheapest but quality way to do this.

i plan on putting a new Edelbrock carb for better fuel economy.

air scoop air cleaner.

and new exhaust system, i would like to get a cherry bomb exhaust system but i'm having some trouble figuring out what type a system i need.

i also would like to dress the engine up a little as well with some chrome or chrome like look.


i would also like to let you know that i know nothing about engines what so ever, but i figured a older ford engine would be quite simple and easy to learn on. lol

 

[Ken(Ark)]

The 429 is a great mechanical design .

A 68 429 has a respectable 360 Hp & 480 lb torque with 10 1/2 : 1 compression . In 72 they dropped to 200 hp .

An aluminum intake is nice and the shoebox 4100 autolite carb is probably the most efficient 4v ever made . The 4100's have a crisp response and atomize fuel better than your average Holley or Edelbrock . Plus it is already paid for . Spend the $400 on exhaust work .

A mild cam , 3 angle valve job , and free flowing exhaust will be your best bang for the buck .

The cam swap is some work but you will replace all of those old gaskets in the cooling system while your there . Could save a lot of head aches in the future , especially since you will be doing some hot rodding , he he .

I'll bet the stock timing chain and gears are well worn too . You will probably not notice any difference between a cheaper stock timing chain and gear set and an expensive double roller set up . That's $50 difference in price that you wont notice on this application .

A pair of 2 1/2" inlet and 2 1/2" oval mufflers will do wonders without making the exhaust sound cheap , you know like the little bumble bee imports running around today.

 

[68thunderjet]

hey ken thanks for the reply!.

so after google'n the 4100 carb i figured out it was the stock carb. :smilelol
i did some research about the 4100 and it seems to me that its the best carb ever made. but on this page (Carburetor, Carburetors, Carbs, Carb Parts. Pony Carburetors - Your Ford Carburetor Restoration and Part Sales Specialist) it mentioned its good till dirt gets in it and this concerns me because the car looks as though it hasent had a air filter in quite some time, there are spider webs and dead bugs in the air filter case, and keep in mind its quite dusty in good ol hot az. and i'm not sure how long i has been since it has had one. how much is it usually to have it cleaned and re done or will it be fine.

as far as the intake, is there a specific brand that will do well with 4100?

and if you can some reference sites would be awesome so i can ad these things to my list of parts so i don't get lost on this journey lol.

thanks again ken.
alex.

 

[Ken(Ark)]

as far as the intake, is there a specific brand that will do well with 4100?


Generally a dual plane intake is better for low end rpm on a bigger heavy car .

In this application any normal aluminum intake would work just fine , ie , no tunnel rams or exotic performance units .

The weight savings will probably have more impact than the actual design .

Personally I would fine a good used one from ebay . Don't get impatient and over bid , there will be more next week and the weeks after . They will probably be listed to fit the 460 cid sister engine.

This is just my opinion and I would welcome anybody elses opinion .

 

[68thunderjet]

wold any of these do the job?
INTAKE MANIFOLD: 429 460 Single Plane Victor Jr - CJ Pony Parts, Inc.
YearOne Online Shopping

also you mentioned a cam swap in your other post. would the lunati voodoo hyd cam work or is that a waist of time?

 

[Ken(Ark)]

wold any of these do the job?
INTAKE MANIFOLD: 429 460 Single Plane Victor Jr - CJ Pony Parts, Inc.
YearOne Online Shopping

also you mentioned a cam swap in your other post. would the lunati voodoo hyd cam work or is that a waist of time?

Something more like ,

Edelbrock 2166 - Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifolds - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Summit Racing SUM-3501 - Summit Racing® Camshafts - Overview - SummitRacing.com

With stock components a 650 lift cam would actually lose you power , that is if you didnt bend the valves . With the lift and overlap a voodoo cam would hold both valves open too long and you would lose a couple points of compression . The stock valve springs would float the valves open about the time a voodoo cam actually started doing some good .

An aluminum intake , mild cam , and some exhaust work will make you bird peppy . T Birds are sporty fun cars but not what you want for racing .

 

[68thunderjet]

cool thanks ken, yeah i don't plan on racing the car lol.