Thread: 429 with dove heads

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Hey Every Body,
New guy here, I have a 1971 Tbird with 429 ThunderJet ,also
have a 53 F100 with same wheel base[ Tbird is 2" longer 3.5"
wider, I can make this work to my advantage]. I want to set F100
body on Tbird frame. My 429 has dove heads. When people found
this out they started offering to buy my engine [ or just the heads
if I would part with them] No I won't. my question to you all is
what is the diff. between reg. 429 and mine with the dove heads

the dove heads were the old style small chambered heads if memory serves me correctly they were 76cc. now be forwarned i don't believe this thing will run on todays pump gas it will ping like an sob.

hey chappy
thanks for the info,would stll like to know what makes these heads so special

What makes the DOVE-C heads so special is that they out-flow any other stock 429/460 head that Ford ever built.

exhaust still needs porting though it is the best flowing

chappy is correct, the exhaust flow on most any Ford head is the weak point.

this is unbelievable;
in a matter of a few hours I've learned more than in the year I've
owned the car

that is what we are here for. this is how i learned about specific engines.

I see the DOVE heads, how do the compare to the C9VE-A HEADS

http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod/engine3.html

Looks like they have the biggest valves of any of the production Lima heads, so they should be some dandies.....

Originally posted by gator6tracks
My 429 has dove heads. When people found
this out they started offering to buy my engine [or just the heads
if I would part with them]. my question to you all is
what is the diff. between reg. 429 and mine with the dove heads

The "D0VE-C" casting are cylinder head castings that had an engineering revision for the 1970 model year and are perhaps the most popular production head utilized in a performance application. On a stock 429 with flat top pistons, they will get you approximately 10.5:1 compression ratio.

How the D0VE-C heads (specifically) came to be such a popular head is a bit bewildering for me, in that the C8VE heads, the C9VE heads and the D0VE heads are all pretty much the same....meaning most 429's have nice heads on them. But I suppose the term "Dove" just stuck and is easy to remember, so these are the particalr castings people look for. (<----speculation.) All these heads mentioned above are referred to as "early castings," and all have the same valve sizes from the factory, the same port configuations and volumes, same combustion chamber sizes, etc. In fact, the are so damn-near identical that you may run a C8VE head on one cylinder bank and a D0VE head on the other and the motor won't know the difference.

All 429/460 production heads suffer from a turbulent exhaust port that requires grinding and reshaping to improve performance. Unported heads can offer up pretty good power in the right combo, but even that combo will benefit greatly by improving the flow characteristics of the iron heads. Larger valves may be fit into the heads as well.

In max effort applications, D0VE heads have supported over 700HP in naturally aspirated motrs. There are not too may iron passenger car heads of the era that can make this claim.

These heads make your 429 particular nice as an engine because any 429 that came with different heads (1972 & 1973 429's) have very low compression and dismal preformance as a result.

Cleaned and bare (unassembled) early style castings seem to sell on eBay from $200-$300 for a pair. I have about a dozen pair myself, if any of those prospective buyers are interested.

Paul

i have those heads on my 466.i spent 50 hours massaging them into shape.the nice thing about these heads is that they are easy to port.the exhaust does need work .there is a big hump in the center which can come down.these heads really breath when ported.the secret is to barrel hog um for the biggest valves and then blend in your grind back to the gasket where you scibe and gasket match.on the short side of the runner ,there is lots of room to get some diggin to make them longer and not such a sharp turn.you will know a dove head not just from there casting numbers but the big fat short old style tapered not washered spark plugs. they are a quench styled head with a 75cc chamber wwhich can be polished as well. you dont have to mill these heads to make compression,only if they are warped.the walls in the head between the water jackets have lots of meat and you can port pretty huge.the only thing is,they sure swallow fuel ,but like they are supposed to.