1969 Ford ThunderBird (429 ThunderJet)

I love the oldie but goodie cars. When I found this *cough* gem *cough* I couldn't help wanting it. I've talked to my freind and he informed me that the ThunderJet engine doesn't like high revving and having alot of horsepower thrown at it. I would like to know what the 2 bolt mains could take in terms of power and revving capabilities?

Here's the Ad. http://rochester.craigslist.org/car/425061635.html

Well, I don't know what kind of standards your 'friend' is using.
High revving compared to what, a Honda?

Seriously, for ordinary old school cast iron V8's, the 429 is one of the best.
It is a de-stroked 460. The big bore and short 3.59 inch stroke allow it to build revs quickly. It likes to rev and 5500 rpm is no problem even with the stock crank. The CJ and SCJ versions all ran with the same cast crank as the base model.

All base blocks and some CJ's came with 2 bolt mains. They are fine unless you are doing serious track work at high revs. Otherwise, they can take all the power the engine is capable of (except a big blower) so 400+++ hp is fine.

The 429 like the 460 has HUGE bearings and can accept lots of crank loads.

I have a '68 T-Bird with a 429 and I love it. It's a better engine than any other old-school l domestic V8 I have driven. It's too bad Ford did not install it in a decent handling car...........