And now the dramatic conclusion…
(If you didn’t read part one, scroll down a bit)
8. Supercharged 429. I ran across an ebay auction for a brand new BDS 8-71 setup for a BBF. It was a polished kit that included everything for $2600.
Advantages: Blower Motor (Need I say more?)
Disadvantages: No one makes an on the shelf forged low compression piston for a 429 so here comes a set of custom pistons ($$$). The engine is now a very heavy package even with aluminum heads (My poor engine stand!). Two carbs are needed instead of one (Goodbye respectable gas mileage as gallon per mile not miles per gallon is now the more effective fuel consumption measurement rate). A 4 speed Toploader can no longer handle the extra power plus blower motors don’t like the quick engine RPM changes that are normally seen in manual transmission equipped cars so an automatic transmission is now needed.
Blower motors make awesome low end torque so to take advantage of it a low RPM stall speed torque converter is needed, which needs to be custom built ($$$). Ford 8.8 rear end is no longer able to handle the power so a Ford 9 inch rear is needed (slightly less efficient in terms of power delivery but bulletproof, ohh and $$$). Bigger tires are now needed because the tires that can fit in a stock wheel well and a blown BBF just looks plain stupid (Mini-tub showing up on the radar for the first time). 4 bolt block, H-beam rods and custom cam now needed (Can you see this is when the speed bug really started to kick in?). Ohh did I mention all this costs money?
Bonus Info: This kits sells for $4345.50 direct from BDS.
WesleyJ Tip: Do NOT buy a supercharger off ebay without looking at it first!! The only reason why I bought this kit was because the seller was 30 minutes from me and I verified that the kit was indeed brand new BEFORE I bid on it.
9. Supercharged 429 but with a TH400 setup.
Advantages: Built proof transmission and fairly cheap.
Disadvantages: See 454 Chevy entry.
10. Supercharged 429 but with fully rollerized TCI Full Competition C6 automatic transmission. I got this for a great price off the www.460ford.com site.
Advantages: Easily able to handle the power.
Disadvantage: Heavy transmission, and sucks down more HP to run an automatic transmission compared to a manual transmission (although being a fully rollerized transmission this does cut down on the inefficiency a bit).
11. Supercharged 429 but with TFS Street heads. For the amount of money needed to get the A429 Cobra Jets up to par, I’d have a similar amount of money into some fully assembled TFS street heads.
Advantages: Same $$$ output but TFS heads flow are better.
Disadvantages: I don’t know what kind of valves, springs, retainers come on assembled heads and there are horror stories on the internet about the parts that come on those assembled heads.
12. Supercharged 429 but back to the A429 heads. I decided it’s best to stick with the heads I have and outfit them with the best valves, springs and retainers possible. Ported A429's are good heads, but it’s easy to get draw into the head flow numbers game.
Advantages: Solid heads + great parts = (hopefully) motor stays together.
Disadvantages: Not the latest and greatest head out there.
Bonus Info: Ported A429 heads are capable of taking a 460 in a fox mustang deep into the nines, so it’s a greed thing at this point.
13: Supercharged 429 but with the new Jon Kasse “affordable” Boss 429 heads coming out. All of the power of the Boss 429 heads but with updates to eliminate oiling issues, funky rocker arm designs and crazy pistons. Plus they will be “affordable” compared to full out race heads.
Advantages: Nothing says valve cover power like Boss 429 does!
Disadvantages: Not released yet, Pricey, no blower intakes, already bought custom piston (which could be used but would need new valve cutouts), plus Boss 429 in a Fairmont just doesn’t make sense.
14: Supercharged 429. Back to entry 12 and I’m sticking with it.
So what I’ve ended up with is a super expensive engine that will be “somewhat” reliable at best, while knocking down the absolute worse gas mileage that I could have ever dreamed of. Actually that’s not 100% true but I’ll save that for a different entry. The turning point was that I decided this car would be a limited use street car and not something I would drive to Ohio or work everyday. Plus I got bitten by the blower motor bug. I’ve been told by other guys who run blowers on the street is that the low end torque will ruin driving a naturally aspired street engine for you.
The point of this story is that it’s normal and a good thing to toss around a few different engine combo’s before you decide on one. Half of the fun is in deciding on what to build anyway.
Plus after I get sick of the all the inefficiencies seen in the Roots blower, the short block will easily be able to handle the duties of a 2 massive turbochargers…..
Peace
WesleyJ
Zephaniah 3:16
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