400 to 429

[Anonymous-0]

would the bellhousing and fly wheel from a 400 fit a 429

 

[Billy ky]

bellhousing will fit, not sure about flywheel, but probably...

 

[mtflat]

bellhousing yes

flywheel no - as I recall

429 and 460 are the same and 460s should be easy to find in a salvage yard.

 

[cole in mo.]

yes the bellhousing will fit and work, the flywheel is all togather different. You can find flywheels for the 429, 460 at salvage yards, but you will need the same year fly wheel, as the engine is.

 

[Jon Hagen]

Housing yes, flywheel no.

400 has a smallblock flywheel bolt circle.
429-460 have the larger FE flywheel pattern like a 390.
I went through the flywheel thing when repowering my 74 IH pickup with a 75 Ford 460.
The 460's changed external balance in 75 ? so that means that you can't interchange early or late 460 flywheels because of the balance difference.

 

[Anonymous-0]

the 429 is in a 1970 mercury . so i would have to get a fly wheel from an early 460 obviously . what year of 460 could i go up to? or would i have better luck getting a 390 flywheel?

 

[Jon Hagen]

I used a 390 flywheel on my 75 model 460.

I learned that during a post race bull session maybe 25 years ago from a fellow Ford racer.
At the time he told me to move the 390 ring gear slightly for use on a 429-460, from the engine side ledge to flush with the transmission side of the flywheel(about 1/16-1/8 of an inch.

His advice was good, as I replaced the starter drive this week and specifically looked to see if tooth mesh was correct on the old drive.
It was using the full width of the flywheel ring gear without contacting the drive housing, so I was good to go with that ring gear location.