71 J Code 429 Water Pump Date Code?

[kna4977]

Looked at what appeared to be a mostly original unrestored 71 with a 429. Date code of the engine is in line with the production date of the vehicle. However the water pump appears to be dated 7A14. How would this be possible? I didn’t think the 429/460 came out until 1968. Will other Ford engine water pumps say from an FE motor work on the 429/460s? Attached is a photo of the water pump and engine date code.

 

[c9zx]

1977 replacement pump from a 460. Chuck

 

[kna4977]

1977 replacement pump from a 460. Chuck

Thanks you’re likely right. Didn’t think forward only backwards.

 

[basstrix]

I'm preparing to put the big block I built back in 1987 back into service and am have done some research on water pumps. It turns out, there were 2 different pumps in use back then. The 68-69 t-birds and lincolns had a shorter "snout" (drive flange to mounting surface) than the C, N, and J code 429's. What's interesting is the shorter snout was also used on the Boss 429. My engine, a '68 429, was pulled from a 74 cougar, and was a mixture of lincoln and t-bird drive components. I traded a nearly new 3310-2 holley for the car, drove it home.

The other part of this, which is relevant to this post, is that the long snout version was carried forward and is readily available but the short snout is a rare pump and harder to find. Getting the proper date code for a concours restore may also be challenging for the long snout....that I don't know.