1968 THUNDERBIRD 429 SERIES
The 385 series shared its 4.900-inch bore spacing with the MEL family, but otherwise it was an all-new engine. Under development for six years, the 385 was designed to replace two existing Ford big-block passenger-car engine families, the FE and the MEL, which each suffered some built-in limitations in architecture. The Boss 429 story actually begins here, with Ford’s 385 engine series, also known as the Lima V8, introduced for the 1968 model year. And while the Mustang Boss 429 was produced for only two years, the engine’s performance career has continued on for half a century. But somehow the label that stuck was Boss 429-the same name as the only factory production car that ever used the engine. When the Ford Motor Company unveiled its latest racing engine to the public in the autumn of 1968, a number of prospective names were offered up, including Blue Racer, Blue Crescent, Shotgun engine, and Twisted Hemi. So just in passing he said that he would sell it for what he paid for it 10 years ago and I was the first call my friend made so I promptly unloaded it from him before he could look up the NADA value of it.The Boss 429 V8 was offered in a production car for only two years, but its impact on the Ford performance scene has continued for decades. The PO is an uncle to my best friend and was just talking to my friend about needing to 'thin the herd' to make room for his 65 mustang frame-off restoration. And this car has a volt meter not an ammeter, thanks for that advice too! I was able to get down to 19 in/hg when tuning the carb (spec is 15-20). No rust in the trunk or frame, only slight surface rust on the underbody.Īnd LUCKILY everything that is oddly powered with engine vacuum and hydraulics from the power steering pump works the way it should. The odometer shows a little over 60k miles and I believe its that and not 160k with the condition of the rest of the car. The PO bought this car around 10 years ago basically in the same shape as its in right now and put less than 500 miles on it per year in those 10 years. The PO said that the interior and vinyl top are original I believe him about the interior but the vinyl top seems Really nice to be original, either way I'm not complaining, lol.
It has been repainted at some point as I can knock on it and hear some bondo in some spots, but everything points to it being paint matched to the original color. So this car has not been 'Restored' as the normal term would be, Its just been well taken care of. Good luck with your project, I love those Birds! With so much going on inside if you have a bad ground they'll find their own path to complete the circuit I'm sure your 68 is different in a lot of these means of operation but, Ford did some weird things back then. This was when I lived in Milwaukee, the winters killed that thing! I'd go through a starter and alternator each year too. I fixed that by grounding the lights up front and under the dash. I had an intermittent bad ground on the headlights where they would go dim until I hit the hood hard, LOL. The steering column slid towards the center of the cabin when in park but that was broken so I could be driving down the road and almost hand the steering wheel to the passenger. The emergency brake release was vacuum also. The sequential turn signals were driven by a motor in the trunk. The power steering pump also drove the windshield wipers (infinite speeds ha ha). Under the hood was what looked like a V-8 tomato juice can painted black for the vacuum accumulator. The selector switches were just valves to direct the vacuum. It had vacuum actuated door locks, convenience center (A/C, defrost, heat) actuators. Click to expand.My guess would be a bad/weak ground? Years ago I had a 66 T-Bird with the 428.
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