It had been a year since I started it and the I had forgotten a few things. First, it wouldn't start because forgot I had cut the fuel off and didn't notice that the fuel pump sound didn't change indicating the pressure never came up. Second, when it suddenly wouldn't stop cranking I didn't understand why low power would cause the relay to fail - thank you 70tp for explaining that. And last, I assumed the starter had failed because it made a really loud bang and stopped after I had charged the battery and touched the ground to the terminal.

I had forgotten that it will sometimes do that depending on where it is in the compression stroke when I try to crank it. The next crank has always turned the engine. The old Ford starter is working fine, and after I took out the relay and gave it a little smack it doesn't show a dead short anymore. Put a new one in anyway.

Looks lovely.

That would be 5,900 km or 3,666 miles (458 gallons, or about 40 fuel stops) in old yellow (not yellow anymore).

Of course, why stop there, there are three shows coming up in the next week on The Rock. How could you pass up Jake's Show and Shine Sept. 16th in Dunville? Make it to the most eastern show in NA without an asterisk, that would be the Geraldine Centre Car Show and Bingo (can't win if you don't play) in St. John's.

It is a 445 running about 10 to 1 compression in a '69 F100 4WD. I'm running Sanderson Shorty Headers, so I don't think I have an fitment problem. Was running a stock Starter for the past 18 years, and who knows before that because this is the starter that came on the old 360.

Tried to start it yesterday and I forgot to open the fuel cut off, so cranked it for 5 seconds, stopped, tried again and the starter stayed engaged. Pulled the ground off the battery to stop it. A friend and old Ford hand said he had seen that occasionally when the battery was low (mine was at around 12.3 v, but it would normally start at that level), so I charged it and when I put the ground back on it started trying to crank but it made a loud bang.

I'll pull it today, but it is time for a new starter.

Just had the video pop up in my Youtube recommended. Great video, love the work you and Jay do. Haven't been around the forum in a while but I've been watching your other videos. Fabulous work on the new heads and intakes.

Just bought a new property with the intention of building a new house, found a late 40's early 50's Flatty abandoned on the property. I'll have some fun tearing it apart to see if it can be salvaged. Not an FE but the Flatty is the engine that started all this madness, so I can't let it rot without a look.

Not an F250, but on my 4WD F100 I went from Hedman to Sanderson Shorty F427 headers. The change was necessary to accomodate the exhaust ports on the BBM heads I installed.

I have no useful insights into relative performance, but they fit well, seal completely, and look good in there.

It is true that it isn't super difficult to finish the build, especially with the help you have here on this forum. Having been in the exciting and somewhat nerve wracking place you are, I can relate. I have a couple of observations:

• If you are worried about anything, you should worry that the bottom end wasn't assembled properly. This becomes more significant the more power you want to build. If you have doubts, get it pulled apart, measured, and re-assembled. If you are confident in the help you had and it is going to be a moderate build you can consider plunging ahead.
• Buy Barry's "How to Build  Max-Performance Ford FE Engines" and Steve Christs "How to Rebuild Big Block Ford Engines". The give different perspectives, but will give you the basics including process, tools, and parts you will need. Also, if it has been a few years it will help you remember where all those parts go back.
• List everything you have and come up with what you think is a plan, and post it here. Listen to the feedback on your build plan (including what parts you plan including carb and intake, what kind of result you want).

It was the most fun I've had in years. One other point, getting it to run right can take more time than the build. It wasn't until I posted my problems here that this group put me on the path to success.

I was recently asked about an FE build and it seems there are no quality aluminium heads available. I tend not to recommend Edelbrock as their product is a little dated, but they aren't available anyway. Survival seems to be hiding the link to the FeLony head, and is pushing Blue Thunder, and BBM says they have assembled heads ready to ship, but they also say they are out of stock.

It really seems a wasteland out there for anyone trying to do a build. While we are at it, what is the situation with rotating assemblies?

Well, this didn't turn out well. I have had remarkable assistance on this forum from Ross, Brent, Barry, Howie (who seems to have vanished), Jay (how did I forget him in my first cut) and a few others. I've learned some interesting things from some others who know the history of some aspects of the FE and its development.

The value of having guys like the ones I mentioned share their experience and their experiments (like JJ) is huge. I don't see any of them promoting them selves EXCEPT by sharing what they know and do. I will be very sad if Brent has had enough of the sniping on here and decides to withdraw, any value he gets from promoting his business is dwarfed by the effort he puts into helping people like me. I've never bought a thing from him, I got my parts from Barry, but it didn't stop any of those guys from jumping in and helping me.

In the 16th century Sir Thomas Gresham coined his famous law "Bad money drives out good". It referred to the tendency of Kings to decrease the amount of gold or sliver in the coinage, after such a devaluation all the good money would disappear. We have the same problem on the internet. Debased "information" drives out good. We wind up with contributors with meaningful content driven out.