So how much is it worth?

Here's the scenario. Talking with a friend about some cars, and he was saying he was out of room in the garage. Said he had 4 motors on stands. Standard stuff, mostly. He then mentions one of them is a 429 Cobra Jet. Here's where it gets interesting. This particular Cobra Jet.... NEVER been in a car. It was (apparently) purchased new by his grandfather, who happened to work at the Ford plant where it was assembled. He pulled it off the line, factory sealed, full documentation. Still has the Ford crate plate, still sealed, the whole bit. He was going to drop it in a rat rod, figured it was worth less than 10k. I'm thinking it's worth significantly more than that. What say the GRM hive-mind?

If it's a Super Cobra Jet (4 bolt mains, etc), it's easily worth significantly more than $10K. A regular CJ 429 is tough to tell. What production year is it for? Either way, a restorer would want this way more than a rat rodder...

I know nothing!

But I'd guess its quite a bit more. No rat rod please!

Because I was curious.

Javelin wrote: If it's a Super Cobra Jet (4 bolt mains, etc), it's *easily* worth significantly more than $10K. A regular CJ 429 is tough to tell. What production year is it for? Either way, a restorer would want this way more than a rat rodder...

I'll have to ask him. He wasn't real keen on the details, and i didn't really look.

pinchvalve wrote:

Every time i see something like this, i find i have to cringe a little at the wiring work. Not that there's much of it because carb, but still... Ugh.

Shame it wasn't a 428SCJ........

Concerning value... an original 429CJ crate engine must be worth at least $7,000, and maybe $10,000+

The first thing is to confirm it's really a 429 Cobra Jet, and not just a garden variety passenger car 429. I don't know the cash value but it should go to someone restoring a CJ Mustang or Torino. Those guys are nuts about making sure they have the correct date codes, so he should get that information off the block before trying to sell it.

I know there are several people around Minnesota (friends of friends) who buy and sell high performance Ford parts, I can try to get contact information if you like.

This is probably like every 283 is a Corvette engine.

oldeskewltoy wrote: Shame it wasn't a 428SCJ........

Nah, shame it isn't this.......

stuart in mn wrote: The first thing is to confirm it's really a 429 Cobra Jet, and not just a garden variety passenger car 429. I don't know the cash value but it should go to someone restoring a CJ Mustang or Torino. Those guys are nuts about making sure they have the correct date codes, so he should get that information off the block before trying to sell it. I know there are several people around Minnesota (friends of friends) who buy and sell high performance Ford parts, I can try to get contact information if you like.

I'm not sure he's willing to sell, but in the event he is, I will get that from you. I'm still trying to figure out what he has.

Small update- 72 build date- as far as he knows, it's a regular CJ. He doesn't know if it has 2 or 4 bolt mains. I am unsure if the pan is on it or not, so I don't know if he can check.

In reply to mndsm:

I'm 95% certain the SCJ didn't make it to 72. Also note that a 72 build date has about a 40% chance of being for a 73 MY car.

So yeah, a smogger CJ, while not inherently valuable in and of itself, has some just because of the circumstances and condition (in the crate, fully documented, etc).

Gotcha.

Check the casting numbers just below the valvecover edge, above the exhaust manifolds.

It should be D0OE if it's a CJ.

Shawn