I installed a set of rare 429 Cobra-Jet exhaust manifolds, along with a free flowing dual exhaust. It has a big bore, short stroke with decent heads, hence the power and rev-happy characteristics. A rebuild, along with new points, plugs, wires, condenser had the engine working perfectly.Īnd what an engine! The 429 V8 is astonishing, super-powerful, builds revs very, very fast for a big V8, and it hurls this 3800 lb car down the highway astonishingly fast. A bit of trimming, 2 hose clamps and a short section of exhaust pipe allowed me to reshape the hose for a good fit.ġ7 years of storage had rusted the gas tank, which I had professionally cleaned and coated. I could not find an original lower rad hose to fit, so I bought one from a late '70s Ford truck with a 460 and adapted it. Changed the heater core too, due to a slight leak, from age. The radiator was leaking so I replaced it with a good used one from a Ford Torino of that era. The car still had the factory original belts and hoses, which I replaced. I replaced the center section with a 9' rear from a '67 Thunderbird. The retaining pin on the spider-gear shaft had sheared, allowing the shaft to slide around, creating random clicking noises. This car has a super-strong 9 3/8' rear end, with factory 2.80 gears. A local welding shop ingeniously designed, fabricated and installed 2 new frame sections using box-section steel. The floor and sheet metal of my car was pristine, but some of the frame rusted away to nothing. I installed a generic coil and it ran fine.įords of this era were notorious for frame rust due to improperly processed 'recycled' steel used in the manufacture. Maybe their mechanic could not diagnose the problem so it was parked. Turns out the ignition coil was failing, creating random stalling. The original owner drove the car for 4 years until 1972, then parked it in their garage until they passed away in 1989. I drove it for a bit in the late 90's, but stopped simply because I wanted to keep it in low mileage original condition. This is a super low mileage, well preserved car. I bought this car 25 years ago and have only put on 3000 miles.

68 t bird