Technical 429 in a 1955 Mercury?

Hey guys. I'm working on a '55 Mercury Montclair. I put a 302/C4 into it a year or so ago, and was just about to remove it to reseal it/paint it when a 429 powered '69 TBird fell into my lap. In an effort to make things as complicated as I can, I am looking to yank the 302 in favor of the 429. Anyone ever done something similar? My main concern is it looks like the driver's side manifold will interfere royally with the steering box. Any expertise would be greatly appreciated!

 

Kinda depends on what you really want. Two vastly different powerplants so to speak. Are you happy with the 302/C4 setup? If so, sell off the big block and related parts and put it towards something else in the car. But if you want the brute power and sound of a kickass bigblock, and the 429 is one of the best ever, then get to work. Not real familiar with a '55 Merc but I would think you would have plenty of room for that motor.

 

I would talk to these guys since the Merc is not that far a jump from the Ford stuff they have.
http://www.critesperformanceparts.com/

 

Thanks guys. Bob, I actually found Crites last night, what a great line of stuff they have! Unfortunately, I have a 58 Tudor as well, and although it has much less underhood space, it seems to have the right space in the right spots.

Cj, I'm happy with the 302, it's got a Dana 44 with 3.15s so it should cruise nice, I just love fast customs. Figure as it's apart for bodywork, it's either speak now or forever hold it. I already spent the money repowering it the first time (driveshaft/rad/bs)...I plan to swing the 429 in tonight and get a gander. If it looks like a beating I'll put it in the garage for another car, no sweat.


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Doing a trial fit would also be my suggestion. You will quickly see if the exhaust manifold clears and if not, will another from a different body fit better? Perhaps even from a truck?
Also, don't be afraid of shifting the engine and trans toward the passenger side to gain clearance. MotherMopar did this in just about every car in the 60's and 70's. You hardly even notice a 2" offset!
The other obvious parts include: the oil pan sump location, oil filter location, clearance for the harmonic balancer if it is close to the crossmember.

...somebody must have already done this swap...

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I talked to the owner of a '56 Ford with a 429 in it this weekend. The engine was a tight fit, but by far the worst area was the header to steering box clearance. That car was built with header tubes that could be taken out individually as that was the only way to get them or anything else in the area in and out. It was truly a pit of snakes to get those big tubes around the steering box area. Sorry, no pics. Good Luck.

 

Surprisingly, I got it in. It was a struggle, but it's in. I have to check out heights and steering clearance when there is daylight as the car is in my driveway. Everything just barely fits. And I mean barely.


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Well take it from someone who knows about tight fits, the 428 SCJ in my '69 Mach 1 is about a tight of fit as they came from the factory, especially with the smog tubes and such. Its absolutely NO FUN at all to do any maintenance on it. I'd opt for the spare room if it was me.

 

Had a 69 T-Bird with the 429 back in the early 70's, if I remember right it was rated 360 hp, with the 4 barrel carb. If it will fit, you will love the power.

 

Commish, that's exactly what I pilfered! 360hp/476lb/torque. 10.5:1 compression. I have a Dana 44 in the car now, should I take that out? The Mercury came with it, non posi 3.15 gear. I have a neighbor who has a 9" I can buy, if needed.


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A Dana 44 and small bearing 9 inch will be pretty similar in torque capacity and weight rating. Unless it is a special 9 inch or you plan on doing some hard drag race type launches, the Dana 44 should work fine for you. Of course there is infinite amount of aftermarket support for the 9 inch, but the 44 is pretty well covered to.

 

Cool! Thanks! I might just keep that Dana in. It's already mounted, don't want to lay on my back for a lateral move ya know? I'll keep my eyes out for a better rear (I would like to run it at the track a few times) but I've got an identical 3.15 Dana out of a 56 I parted a few years ago should I have a kaboom.


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If the Exploder 8.8 is same/similar width then it would also be a good choice.

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I've had a 72 T-Bird donor car with the 4barrel 429 standing by for many years. Does anyone know if it has the same 360 hp engine as the 69 or if the smog engineers have had their way with it.

 

1972 was the start of the detuning. 8.5 compression, net hp rating instead of gross. 212hp @ 4600 rpm.

 

I've heard that cam runs retarded for emissions on the later engines, and the earlier timing set is a big improvement.

 

72 429's also had open chamber heads, the only year. Really prone to detonation, avoid them for any performance build.


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Thanks guys, it'll probably continue to wait for a home.

 

Fabber you got me nervous so 5:45 this morning I went out and checked my numbers. I thought what if someone swapped a mid 70's turd in there and I spent the energy swapping that in? Lol. But the heads are 69, I'm sure the rest is. My friend is going to give me a hand lifting off the nose tomorrow morning so I can get to making mounts. I pulled the spindles as they look awfully similar to my '55 so with any luck I can extract discs out of the ol' bird while the front end is naked. I'll take some pictures.


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Considering the crappy gas we have 8.5 with a non-retarded timing set may be better than 10.5. And the drop in HP wasn't as great as it seems where they went from gross HP to a more realistic net HP.

 

I'd have to agree with George, open chamber heads might not be a bad thing in this day and age.

 

No. The '72 open chambers suck. They only used them one year for a reason. The '73-up heads have larger closed chambers for low compression, but still have a quench area for detonation resistance and swirl. Very common, and a better choice.

 

A friend came to help me muscle off the nose this morning. Payback for going to his garage last night and helping to get the brakes working on his 51 Merc. Even took the maiden voyage around the shop in his car! There's a thread here I started years ago...it's a 4 door we swapped to a coupe and chopped. I'll resurrect it when I get some new pics and video.

Anyway much like my rambling in this thread, this 55 was to be a "quick" project. lol. Found some rot in the rockers and lower extremities, guess I'll be cutting too. Hoping an evening or two this week and I'll have it mounted in, maybe I'll just keep adding to this thread as I go.


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The 429 will add a huge grin factor to your drive! The 429 in my avatar came out of my '70 T-Bird. If I remember correctly your block will have a C9VE (or similar) near the right rear pan rail. This would confirm that the block and heads are of the same vintage.
Back in the '80s a friend dropped a 390 and C-6 in to his '55 Montclair. Man would that car fly! Subscribed.

 

Hell ya! Shoe horn it in there if you have to!

 

Well that be all. She's in there! I modified the tbird mounts and made a frame side to bolt in, welded it all up and it bolts through the original crossmember. Two bolts out of four for the 292/302, I opted to use all four bolt holes here. It's right under there but everything clears and I didn't really have to shift it over. The discs from the bird fit the Merc too, but I need to buy or make a little sleeve for the lower ball joint. The bird had a thicker joint than the Merc.


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*tight under there. Stupid iPhone.


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Most excellent!

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You mentioned that you also have a 58 Ford for parts. The steering gearbox on the 58 should be a recirculating ball type, much easier to steer. Before you weld up mounts now, see if that 58 gearbox will fit. It should be almost like power steering. Otherwise, a stock power steering or one from Mustang/Granada can be made to work. Also, some tri five Ford owners are talking about a Toyota truck gearbox conversion. Just trying to put ideas in your head. I like the P/S on my 55. It makes the car a joy to drive.