Happy 429 day!

All of you who worship 427s and 428s, you missed your chance. Today is 429 day! 

Apparently this means something to some Ford people, but Cadillac got there first.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Poking the bear with a stick........................I repsect that.

Cool car.

And the Lincoln guys are waiting for 4/30.

May have been first, but Ford is the Boss

Rumor (from unreliable sources) said it was supposed to 420 but it was late because of stops for snacks and other recreation. However, that rumor cannot be confirmed evidently because the participants have forgotten what happened. 

Back in the 60's, celebrating Hitler's birthday would have also been considered in poor taste.

In reply to llysgennad :

Well played, sir!

I liked LSwolvesf's theory, as well.

Someone from that world had to explain the whole 420 thing to me many many yr ago... I remember the gist of it, but not the why "420"

I did not know that was hitlers birthday. Still in poor taste. Especially since his play book is being followed so closely, now.

On May 30th, we can talk about happy 460 day.

I need to bring this back up, because I OWN ONE!! FINALLY!  Behold the ThunderJet.  10.5:1 360hp 480 tq

I can't touch it yet because then I won't stop

My 429 day.

llysgennad said:

I can't touch it yet because then I won't stop

This is wisdom that comes from experience.

Also, I am trying so hard not to make a joke.

I don't regret too many things in my life, but I do sort of regret wanting to be close to "downtown".  That means a small driveway, and a modest garage.  I should have compromised a bit, because my life feels less complete without a late 60s Cadillac sedan.

Hah! Woke mine up from its winter slumber today. Never would have occurred to me. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yes

Yes!!

Relevant question for you smart folks

Medium duty trucks of the 70/80/90s seemed to come with the smaller displacement 429 while the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks came with the 460. Why did the bigger truck get less displacement? (also true with GM using the 427 and 454 respectively)

buzzboy said:

Relevant question for you smart folks

Medium duty trucks of the 70/80/90s seemed to come with the smaller displacement 429 while the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks came with the 460. Why did the bigger truck get less displacement? (also true with GM using the 427 and 454 respectively)

A lot of medium duty trucks also had 370s, the other, little-known third member of the 385 family.

The bigger the truck, the more it is expected that the engine will be operated mostly at WOT (or, in a lot of cases, full governor) so smaller displacement in a large package meant that the cooling system and such could handle it.  Figure that a lot of those truck 427s were tall deck blocks!  More room for big tough heavy pistons.

My first car had a 429.  Low compression but the last year before they got choked with first generation emissions controls.  Big bore, very short stroke, and 2.77s could get me 24mpg in a 4800lb pig.  Apparently I got the only good Autolite 4300, too 

Just for funsies.  A 429 (the Ford) had a 4.36" bore and a 3.59" stroke.

That is a shorter stroke than, say, an LS1.  Or 5.3 for that matter. 

It is almost the same stroke as a 2.2l Honda S2000.  Or, for that matter, a 1.5l Fit.

The engine family was designed with a lot of crankcase room for growth, just like the Fairlane V8 started life at 221ci and eventially grew out to 302ci in its original deck height.  Unlike a BBC, you can easily take a 385 series engine out to well over 550ci with the stock deck height, without needing terrible rod/stroke ratios.  Ford had decided to start out with all the bore from the get-go and enlarge with stroke as necessary.  Then 1973 happened...

So do vintage Lincoln owners celebrate 4/30 day?