Generally speaking the revised rule does specify a maximum bore spacing, but does not ban any particular engine. Was it done to ban the 429; yes I think it was. And for what reason??? There could be very many, but could be safety issues or the lack of need. Since it's introduction, the power of the nitro powered mopar hemi has never been fully utilized; more power is not needed.
But, what about the possibility that Ford stepped in after being consulted by nhra and with the convincing power of $$$$$$ asked NHRA to provide the banning. Why would they do that????
Simple, the less the common folk learn about engines and their history, the better Ford likes it. If indeed the 429 should appear in TF/FC and the info appears that "at last" John Force is using a Ford engine in his Mustangs; there will no doubt be very many that would then realize they had been duped all these years and all the stuff would backfire.
And you must realize that FC is the ONLY thing in NHRA that Ford can brag about. And then what if the 429 didn't produce the expected results; you must know it was originally intended to dispel the Mopar HEMI(R), but failed and was forgotten as a TF/FC competitor.
And what about John Force himself working behind the scenes in all this. IF the 429 became a commonly used engine, then perhaps "away" goes his many millions from Ford to continue his long standing farce about the "Ford Mustang Engine" power.
So, it could very well be that the powers that be have decided that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie.
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'51 hemi & '55 sbc; a class of their own.
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Banning the Ford B-429 "semi" hemi
Moderator: scottm
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moparornocar
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Banning the Ford B-429 "semi" hemi
'51 Hemi & 55 SBC, a class of their own
An interesting point of view. However, nothing succeds like success & it's simply a matter of record Chrysler's Hemi has ruled the roost in drag racing. Now don't get me wrong, I love all makes (I actually race a Chevy in S/C 
) but the fact is wherever the Hemi showed up & was SERIOUSLY campaigned it won. Upper class Stock & S/S --Hemis. Pro Stock WITHOUT rules & weight breaks--Hemi. T/F & F/C--Hemi. An interview of Ronnie Sox once mentioned that an NHRA official admitted to skewing the rules so Chrysler couldn't win in P/S. AND if you look at other forms of racing most manufacturers try to use a hemi head design in their engine. So what's Ford's problem? Not being an engineer & never having personally raced a BBF, my guess would be the block itself. Whether it's poor casting,oiling or a relatively bad design I don't know but obviously someone does as very few people (comparitively speaking) are racing them any more. Ford did reasonably well with its SOHC in the 60's but like most of Ford's good ideas they abandoned it after a few years. Now IF Force could persuade Ford to reintroduce the SOHC with today's technology to solve its chain problem PERHAPS Ford would have a chance. But you're not going to get a manufacturer to produce a product for 1 individual when they alreadt have him on the payroll.
As an aside to all this it's funny you mention Force using aChrysler product under a Ford body--years ago Mopar had an ad announcing the very same thing & no one seemed to care.
) but the fact is wherever the Hemi showed up & was SERIOUSLY campaigned it won. Upper class Stock & S/S --Hemis. Pro Stock WITHOUT rules & weight breaks--Hemi. T/F & F/C--Hemi. An interview of Ronnie Sox once mentioned that an NHRA official admitted to skewing the rules so Chrysler couldn't win in P/S. AND if you look at other forms of racing most manufacturers try to use a hemi head design in their engine. So what's Ford's problem? Not being an engineer & never having personally raced a BBF, my guess would be the block itself. Whether it's poor casting,oiling or a relatively bad design I don't know but obviously someone does as very few people (comparitively speaking) are racing them any more. Ford did reasonably well with its SOHC in the 60's but like most of Ford's good ideas they abandoned it after a few years. Now IF Force could persuade Ford to reintroduce the SOHC with today's technology to solve its chain problem PERHAPS Ford would have a chance. But you're not going to get a manufacturer to produce a product for 1 individual when they alreadt have him on the payroll.As an aside to all this it's funny you mention Force using aChrysler product under a Ford body--years ago Mopar had an ad announcing the very same thing & no one seemed to care.
The Boss 429 was never intended to compete in drag racing, and neither was the 427 cammer. They were created to compete with the 426 hemi - an unstoppable force in NASCAR in the 60's. All of these engines made really big cars go really fast. NASCAR banned all of them/overregulated them out of competition eventually because they just made too much power. Drag racing's top classes still allowed them to run because the fans want speed. They were still banned from the lower classes to allow the 'others' to come out and play too. Ford had the foundation to compete in top fuel with their own powertrains. They just never chose to pursue it.
Aside from the Olds DRCE engine there never was an engine made FOR drag racing, Chrysler's Hemi included. That too, was a stockcar engine initially but proved its worth wherever it went. It would've been interesting to see what would've happened if NASCAR had allowed the SOHC motor & then eventually Mopar's DOHC Hemi to compete as they both probably would've pushed engineering years ahead which would've eventually trickled down to production car applications (hopefully) sooner than it did 