1971 Torino 500 2 door hardtop

[Rory McNeil]

There are actually 3 different versions of the 429 4 barrel engine available in a 70 Torino. The base "Thunder jet" has the Autolite 4300 carb and standard heads , the Cobra Jet has a bigger hyd. cam, bigger valves and ports, and a Rochester Quadrajet (REALLY!), and the Super Cobra Jet has a solid lifter cam , the big heads, and a Holley 780. All the 4 barrel 429s had pretty high compression, and NHRA rolled the HP below factory a while back. A number of 71 Mustang Stockers are using the 429 SCJ engine, see no reason why the larger and heavier Torino couldn`t work too. But the 70-71 Torino is a pretty heavy car, I did not look at the Classification Guide, but a factory 429 70 Torino my buddy used to have was well over 4000 pounds with a skinny driver behind the wheel. The 351 Cleveland 4 barrel engine was also available, but he 70 had a smaller cam, and unless things have changed, are not able to use the big Holley carb the 71-72 351 C 4 barrel is allowed to run. With a 302 2 barrel, I doubt you could get the Torino light enough to get near the top of U/SA, let alone T.