big ,med, or small block

[fryedaddy]

i have heard them called big blocks over the years,but really what is the FE.big,med,or small block.it needs to be one or the other.

[GerryP]

It doesn't matter.  If you are trying to distinguish the engine from other varieties, it's an FE.  But if you had to, it is a big block.  That is only because Ford made other engines with a more compact architecture.  Some, like Pontiac, used the same basic architecture from their smallest displacement V8 to the largest 455CI, and in that regard, it becomes harder to call define what makes a 350 and small block and a 389 a big block.  But, again, it's just a meaningless name.

[frnkeore]

The FE arrived in the '58 MY along with the big block MEL (383,410,430). All MEL's were bigger engines than the '58 FE's 361 Edsel. As a matter of fact, the FE never exceeded the MEL's displacement of 430 and latter 462.

The Y block, came in '54 at 239 and stretched to 312 in '56 so, in '58 it became a small block.

There was one more OHV V8, that came in '52, the Lincoln Y block, with the same bore centers as the FE but, it's last year was '57. It would have been a big block, between '54 and '57.

[Joe-JDC]

Term "Small Block" didn't arrive at Ford until the 221-260-289 thin wall casting nomenclature.  The Ford Y Block has never been anything other than a Y Block in terms of engine family.  The Ford Y included the 239-256-272-292-312.  Most folks didn't start calling anything Ford Big Block until the 429-460 came on the scene. The SBF continued to include the 302-302B-351W-351C/Boss.  The difficulty came with the 351M/400 due to their deck height and most folks called them a medium block.  Most folks now just use SBF, FE, MEL, 335, 385, for different engine classes before the modular and all their different valve/camshaft variables. 2v-3v-4v to include the V-10.  Joe-JDC

[frnkeore]

Good point, Joe.

In my day '60's - '70's, the term FE & MEL, weren't used, at at all. The engines were just called by their CID, i.e. 292, 352, 430 ect. You had no trouble at the parts counter when asking for parts by just saying I need a part for a 390.

Now the Y block was always call a Y block, because that was the way that it was advertised, by Ford, from the start.

[frnkeore]

Let me add, that in the days I mention, the experienced, parts counter guys, knew almost everything about almost all cars and what would interchange. For the most part, they didn't even need the parts books.

Those days are long gone!! It's very frustrating to go to a parts store and know more than the guy behind the counter!

[thatdarncat]

Here is an actual 1968 Ford Motor Company publication. All the parts & tech inside are for the FE engine. That should settle the discussion.

[Joe-JDC]

And that was printed just before the new 429/460s came out.  As one who owned a '56 Fairlane with Y Block, then bought a new 1966 Mustang, I never heard a FE called a "Big Block" Ford. Every body bragged on their 352HP, 390/401, 406, 410, 428 or 427 by engine size.  It was not until the 429 came along in the Thunderbird/LTD/Torinos that the Big Block designation stuck.  Just saying.   Joe-JDC

[frnkeore]

I suppose you could get away with saying the FE was a BB in the Ford line only, IF they hadn't put the MEL in the 58 - 60 T-Birds.

What do you call the MEL, A non engine? It has bore centers and displacement larger than any factory FE.

The FE is about history and you can't change history, you have to accept it and should embrace it.

[fekbmax]

All those so called bad ass 327's and 350's that always picked a fight with me back in the day always said my 69 4 speed 390 mustang was a big block and that was OK by me.  Also I'm pretty sure even the smallest  fe always had the big block suspension setup. Call It what you want, no reason to haggle. It's our beloved FE..

[fryedaddy]

Here is an actual 1968 Ford Motor Company publication. All the parts & tech inside are for the FE engine. That should settle the discussion.

I have that same book and a couple different ones  i bought off of bob cook  back in the early 80s

[jayb]

Ford always referred to the FE as a big block back in the 1960s.  They were facing advertising from competitors which called their engines big blocks, and if they started calling the FE a "medium block", they would have looked like they weren't keeping up with the competition.  Pontiac called their engines big blocks and they are dimensionally very similar to an FE.  Calling an FE a medium block is stupid, IMO.

Also, despite what people may or may not have heard, Ford was referring to the engine as an FE back in the early 1960s.  See the Ford memo below - Jay

[frnkeore]

Jay, yes, internal Ford memo's would call it a FE, as that was the designed designation, just as MEL was but, I was a mechanic between '62 and '70 and not once did I hear FE or MEL used to describe any of the engine series, even at the Ford dealers parts counter.   

As good as the counter men were at old old parts stores, if you would have walked in a as for a FE part, they would want to know what you were talking about.

Here's a Shop Tips, listing all FoMoCo cars for '68, there is not one reference to a FE or MEL engine. All engines are listed by their CID.

[Mark Bliss]

Would have been interesting if Ford had stuck more closely to the plan outlined in that memo.

[Lowrider]

Worked at Ford dealers over 40yrs. and never heard them referred to as FE's. In fact we never called them by their model lines (FE's, 335's, 385's). We always  called them by their cubic inches or later on liters. It was in the 90's when I heard the about the different model lines from a retired Ford employee that came to work as car porter.