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