Boss 429
Although not many of you are going to be building a Boss 429 engine it is important for you to know a little something about this rare limited-production highperformance hemispherical-head engine. The Boss 429 began life as the Blue Crescent with iron cylinder heads during development. The Boss 429 was developed strictly for NASCAR competition as an answer to the Chrysler 426-ci Hemi, which had been beating the pants off the competition since 1964.
Ford’s ill-fated 427-ci FE SOHC was a significant setback for Ford when it attempted to compete with this unusual single overhead-cam big-block mill when NASCAR chief Bill France said no. France viewed the Ford SOHC as too powerful for NASCAR and gave it the thumbs down. The Boss 429 was a renewed attempt at the winner’s circle in stock car racing.
It is important to remember that Ford won five NASCAR championships in the 1960s, all with FE big-blocks. The 427 SOHC had more than a 100-hp advantage over the Chrysler hemi. NASCAR became afraid that the speeds attained by the cars powered by that engine would exceed the vehicle’s tire and suspension technology and would cause many deadly crashes. After the death of Fireball Roberts, NASCAR was very sensitive to this, and it is generally believed that this is the reason why the 427-ci SOHC was never permitted to run in NASCAR.
The Boss 429 was a purpose-built hemi-head racing engine developed specifically for NASCAR competition. In pure racing form the Boss 429 is a strong performer. To compete in NASCAR, Ford had to produce at least 500 streetable examples of the Boss 429 along with a corresponding number of Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II fastbacks. Short-term Ford President Semon E. “Bunkie” Knudsen felt that Ford could get more promotional mileage by building at least 500 Boss 429 Mustangs and at least 500 Torino Talladegas fitted with the 428 Cobra Jet, which were required for homologation of the aero packages. Cyclone Spoiler IIs were fitted with the 351W V-8 small-block.
A Legacy of Great Ford Big-Blocks
Ford can be credited with the development and mass production of some of the greatest big-block V-8s ever produced. No other North American automaker can claim that it went up against some of the most legendary automotive marques in the world at Le Mans and won with an American pushrod V-8 four times straight, handing Ferrari a defeat each time. Ford’s big-block story is about adversity, learning from it, practicing what was learned, and coming back with an even better engine than before. Ford’s reputation for durability and longevity comes from more than a century of research, development, and a commitment to refinement and engineering.
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL DATA AND SPECIFICATIONS
Ford’s FE Series big-block arrived in 1958 in three displacements: 332, 352, and 361 ci. The 332 ci had the shortest stroke of any FE Series big-block at 3.300 inches with a 4.000-inch bore. The 352 with the same 4.000-inch bore had a 3.500-inch stroke. In the beginning, the 332 and 352 were fitted with mechanical lifters with blocks void of oil galleys for hydraulic lifters. Throughout the 1958 model year 332/352 blocks were drilled for hydraulic lifters in order to meet higher passenger car standards of the period. Car buyers did not want the hassle of periodic valve adjustment in a marketplace full of V-8 engines with hydraulic lifters.
When you’re shopping for a 332/352 block, pay close attention to important elements such as hydraulic lifter oil galleys along the cam bore. Blocks designed for mechanical lifters cannot be upgraded to hydraulic lifters.
When the FE was introduced in 1958, the 292/312-ci Y-block V-8 (shown) was the Ford industry standard with its skirted block, mechanical tappets, stacked port heads, and simple design. The FE Series big-block dwarfed the Y-block even though it employed similar engineering.
360/361/390/410
The 360, 361, 390, and 410 engines are grouped together because they have the same 4.050-inch bore. The 361 was an Edsel engine option with a larger 4.050-inch bore and the 352’s 3.500-inch stroke. The 361 was also available as the Ford Police Interceptor for 1958 only. The 360, virtually the same displacement, was introduced strictly for pickup trucks from 1968 to 1976. FE production ended in 1976.
The 390, introduced in 1961, differs from the 332, 352, 360, and 361 in terms of stroke, which was greater at 3.780 inches. The increase in stroke made the 390 FE something of a powerhouse for its time. The 2- and 4-barrel versions of the 390 were most common followed by the 401-horse 6-barrel 390 High Performance V-8 made possible by a trio of Holley 2-barrel carburetors and a progressive throttle linkage. The 390 High Performance engine for 1961–1962 had mechanical lifters in a mechanical lifter block. The 390-6V was a flash in the pan because this engine was never as powerful again.
The Ford FE Series big-block was introduced in 1958 looking a lot like this custom-built 428-6V with Mallory ignition. This 428 demonstrates what you can do with the FE Series big-block given budget and imagination. In its most basic form the FE Series big-block was available with 2-barrel carburetion as a 332, 352, 360, and 390 ci.
There were many variations of the 390 produced in this engine’s 15-year production life, including the Police Interceptor, Thunderbird Special, and the 390 Special. There were also industrial, stationary, and marine versions, each being distinctive in its application. Some ran on natural gas while others were fired by propane instead of gasoline.
The 410 was a Mercury-only displacement available in 1966–1967, which was little more than the 428’s long-arm 3.980-inch-stroke crank in the 4.050-inch-bore 390 block. A soul mate to the 390 is the shorter stroke 360 truck engine, which is little more than a 390 4.050-inch-bore block destroked with the 352’s 3.500-inch crank.
406/427
The 406 and 427 are grouped together because they were purpose-built high-performance V-8s with many of the same nuances. The 406 sported the 390’s 3.780-inch stroke with a larger 4.130-inch bore, thicker main bearing webs, and larger oil galleys for improved oil volume to the main journals. Toward the end of the 1962 model year, Ford revisited the 406 block’s architecture and gave it cross-bolted main caps for bottom-end strength. You may never have heard of a cross-bolted 406 block but they were produced in low numbers toward the end of production in 1962–1963.
In its quest for power, Ford developed a new big-bore block casting with a 4.230-inch bore and the 406’s cross-bolted main caps to get 427 ci. The 427 was a big-bore FE like never before with a new approach to stress relief during the casting process, which came via a slower cool-down process at the Dearborn foundry.
Ford introduced the big-bore 427-ci FE in the Galaxie and Marauder as a midyear sales booster in the spring of 1963. The 427 arrived with Ford’s new Total Performance program ushering in a new era of excitement. Ford was back in racing and the 427 proved this out. This 1966 427 Side Oiler is fitted with pent-roof steel valvecovers.
When the casting process was complete, 427 blocks were machined and assembled on a 427-specific line at the Dearborn Engine Plant. Each 427 engine was hand-assembled with close attention to detail. The 427 block has a thicker deck to handle extreme compression ratios. Down under, much thicker main webs were employed to handle the power.
Despite the 427’s cross-bolted main caps and stress-relieving efforts, these engines still came apart at high RPM, scattering parts all over racetracks across the country. This