When were 428 cranks first put in 427 blocks?

[plovett]

When were 428 cranks first put in 427 blocks?

Did that happen in the 60's?  If so, how were pistons obtained?   Surely, it was happening in the 70's?   I would say that up until about 15-20 years ago or so, custom pistons were considered prohibitively expensive for most hobbyists.   What about 50 years ago?

thanks,

paulie

[SSdynosaur]

I know a few NHRA SuperStock racers from the late 60's who sleeved-down 427 blocks for use as "cross bolted 428s", utilizing LeMans rods and 1U cranks with after market 428 pistons. NHRA Tech seldom pulled pans back then and cross bolts were creatively hidden from view from the exterior of the engine.

[fryedaddy]

i remember back in 1982 i used to bracket race we tried to get in the 6's with our 428 and never could.a guy came up from knoxville one night with a 427 with a 428 crank.he ran 6's no problem.that was the first time i ever saw a 454 ford engine.-427 with 428 crank

[jayb]

Custom pistons have been around for many, many years paulie.  I bought a set of custom Venolia pistons for a 460 stroker I built back in 1984.  They were a whopping $370 for the set of 8 back then...

[Joe-JDC]

Another common practice was to cut the 427 piston down .100" for a flat top.  Was easy with the forged pistons of the day.  Just had to watch that the valve reliefs were not less than .180" so the piston didn't collapse.  You could run ~12.5:1 that way without custom pistons.  Joe-JDC

[plovett]

Custom pistons have been around for many, many years paulie.  I bought a set of custom Venolia pistons for a 460 stroker I built back in 1984.  They were a whopping $370 for the set of 8 back then...

I bought custom pistons for my 428 about 20 years ago.  They were JE's made using "SBC" blanks at 4.155".  That's a 0.030 over 400 SBC blank, but with different height, pin holes, and everything else.    I remember at the time most people, including some engine builders acted like that was crazy.  I don't remember the cost.  It was more than $370.  I think it was in the $500-$600 range.

Anyway, I was wondering more about "back in the day".  What about in the 60's?  Or the 70's? 

paulie

edit:  Well, 1984 was a long time ago. Certainly "back in the day", as well.   I was dreaming of getting one of the amazing new 175 hp Mustang GT's then!   

[plovett]

Another common practice was to cut the 427 piston down .100" for a flat top.  Was easy with the forged pistons of the day.  Just had to watch that the valve reliefs were not less than .180" so the piston didn't collapse.  You could run ~12.5:1 that way without custom pistons.  Joe-JDC

That is very interesting!

I think a 427 piston cut down 0.100" in flat top form would make around 10.6:1 compression in a 427 block with a 428 crank and stock rods.

An engine Ford could have easily made?   A 448 dual quad solid lifter Medium Riser would have been SO cool.

paulie

edit:  Hold on.  I am not sure about the Medium Riser chamber volume.  Was it around 88cc?

[Cyclone03]

An engine Ford could have easily made?   A 448 dual quad solid lifter Medium Riser would have been SO cool.

paulie
[/quote
If it became an option we might have thick wall 4.23 blocks in the junkyard....

[fe-starliner]

Paulie, back in 1967 I had a friend (older guy than me) who was a line mechanic at the only Ford dealer in our small town (population 20,000 or so).  He put a 428 crank in a 427 and installed it in his '64 Galaxie with 4 speed, Schnieder cam and 6V induction.  I rode in it and was impressed how fast that heavy car could accelerate.  So I'm sure others were doing it in that time frame.

[427John]

FE strokers can hardly be considered a recent development.Neither can custom pistons whether they be made to order or modified from another application.As early as 1962 Ford was testing a 482 cubic inch 427 waiting to see if Nascar set an engine displacement limit.Back then there were even instances where guys took a block and bored the cylinders completely out and furnace brazed in sleeves in the quest of more displacement,I would think its safe to say that someone has been there and done that.

[Blueoval77]

I have a set of those old Venolias here under the bench still on the Lemans rods . I believe the Swede got the rest of it and that was a drag car from way back over here on the east coast.

[427mach1]

I put my 454 together back in '83 using TRW L-2298 stroker pistons.  It previousl had the flat top pistons with two "knorbs" or bumps which literature at the time said could be used as stroker pistons for medium-performance applications.

[oldiron.fe]

  west central wis. stroker 427 fairly common by very early 70s - by far best sound 454 tunnel port winding out on our local 5/8 mi paved echo off back straight  concrete wall !!   turn three once picked up damper/hachet& 1/2 crank!! very hot chunk of iron!!  raced same track when dirt before the NAM in 60s  still good fast track   -- all cookie cut stuff not the old school fun-- on dirt once pulled lugs on right front wheel out turn three -- pit out side turn  cyclone fence laid down  tire bouncing through pit I can close my eyes and remember well laughing like h--- guys running to get away!!!

[Stangman]

I put my 428 crank in my 427 in 1986 and had pistons made by Venolia. Matter of fact I still have them. Got my car down to 11.69 in 1996. Just a good set up 11.5 to 1 lunatic solid cam F-427 manifold stock c3-H heads 850 Holley c-6 3000 stall 4.11s little 9 inch slicks. Very fun car. The last time I raced was at Englishtown there was over a hundred cars in my class I redlighted in the semis at 9 at night, racing started at 10:30.

[Henrysnephew]

  TRW L2298 forged "stroker" piston was a standard warehouse item starting in the early-mid '70s.  If you milled the dome off you'd be at about 10:5cr or so.
   A cheaper alternative was the OE dished marine piston, which was forged (by TRW) as well.  All that was necessary was to mill .100" off the top "ring" surrounding the dish - presto, a 10:1 stroker piston.  The 2298s used 1/16,1/16/,1/8 rings while the boat pistons used the standard thicker lo-riser rings.  I've still got a set of the boat pistons on the shelf looking for a standard bore block (I know, good luck with that).  Randy M