my first fe-your first fe

[fryedaddy]

i got my first fe when i was 15.my dad gave me his 63 1/2 galaxy.it had a rebuilt 390 thunder bird engine.i later put it in my 66 comet.great fe.between my dad driving it to work for years,and it was in my comet 8 years. it was raced,run hard too.i gave it to a friend who put it back in a 64 galaxy. it was a very long lasting engine. i have never been without a fe engine from 15 till now 54. what was your first fe?

[blykins]

A 428 that I built for my Cobra replica.  Early Edelbrock heads, Tunnel Wedge intake, solid roller camshaft. 

[GJCAT427]

My first was a 390 I bought for my 56 f100 back in 1970. Motor was a junkyard special that ran well. I traded it for a 428 CJ motor that a judge`s kid had in a Torino even up no less! That when I learned of the balance in the FE family. I went on to aquire my first 427 and haven't looked back. I still have 5 of the 6 427s I`ve acquired over the yrs and a whole passal of 352s,390s and FTs.

[rcodecj]

I think it was a white 4 door galaxie with red vinyl bench seat, nothing fancy but it had AC.
I bought it for in the $30 range because it had a soft plug out and the trans would not shift right.
A friend had a wrecked galaxie that he gave me the trans. I pulled the motor and trans together
because I thought it would be easier to put the soft plug in. In a few hours I had a running car.

Well now I've got to edit because I think I had my black merc before the white galaxie.
It was a 1966 mercury montery, premium fuel 2v 390, automatic.

[TJ]

My first FE is the original 352 that came in my '65 F250.  Bought it in 2004. I'm surprised how FE's accumulate. I now have 2 rebuildable (I think) 352's, a 390 with a big hole in it, and the 427 I'm running now.  It's as if they gather kinda like the Longaberger baskets that my cousin collects.  She has every shelf in her house full of them....nasty habit if you ask me.

[jayb]

I bought my 68 Shelby convertible in 1978.  It had a 428CJ from a 69 Torino installed; at least the third engine in the car.  Up to that point I'd been driving a 67 Mustang with a 289 and C4.  After driving the Shelby during the summer of 1978, I became an FE guy forever; that small block just couldn't compare.  I still have the engine (and the car); it stayed in the car until the mid 1990s, then later it was the 428CJ dyno mule used in my book, and now it resides in my 68 Mustang fastback.  I'm going to hop in and drive it to an appointment in just a few minutes 

[Lenz]

A Granny green '69 LTD more door complete with the required dark green interior and black vinyl top.  390 2v auto, beat the snot out of it, didn't break it.  Car eventually rotted out from under me.

[fe-starliner]

My first FE was in a '66 Fairlane GT that I ordered in Oct. '65.  Springtime yellow/black interior, no options but a 4 speed and radio!  Except for the period from 1972 (when I sold the GT) until 1979 (when I bought a R code '66 Fairlane) I've always had one or more FE powered cars to drive, including 406's, 427's, 428CJ's and even two barrel 352's.

[BruceS]

My first FE exposure was the 352 in my Mom's '58 T-Bird, her daily driver back in the day.  At 15 years old, I tried to change the plugs for her and broke most of them!     Later I had a '67 352 F-100 with oil bath air cleaner and a '67 Mustang GT 390 Toploader.  Oh yeah, there was a '63 Galaxie fastback with a T-10 and 390 PI.  Many 1000s of smiles later I wouldn't think of not having at least one FE around! 

Bruce

[Heo]

Bought my first FE (390) mid 80s in a -66 Fairlane XL.I Was driving a 65 Mustang with 289 and wanted some more power.
Bubba had installed that engine so a lot of work to get it functional

[Clark Coe]

"1968" - '62 Mercury Monterey 4 door HT 390 4bbl FMX. Handled great on gravel roads, low and wide.
"1970" - '68 390GT Mustang fastback 4 speed. Still have this one after 44 years.
"1974" - '65 F250 4X4 352....quickly fitted with fresh 390 (.060" over).
"1975" - '69 428CJ Mach I Mustang.
....plus several FE Galaxies and Torino parts cars.

[unclewill]

427 s.o. block bought for $600 - still have it, garage art right now!

[Barry_R]

I think it was in 1974.  A black with gold C stripes '68 Torino fastback with a 390 and a 4 speed.

[scott foxwell]

The car I learned to drive in. 69 Ranchero with a factory 428 CJ/Ram Air, C6 (had an H Servo from the factory) and 3.89 posi. Bench seat, no power steering.  It was such a sleeper...it was Ivy Yellow with a black vinyl top. GT rims with plain center caps and Dunlop GT qualifiers on the back that got really sticky when you heated them up. Cruiesed Van Nuys Blvd in So Cal back in the late 70's...had many a street race. Lost one.
Now I have this to play with:

[preaction]

Barry was that the car at the reunion this year ?

[fryedaddy]

after giving it a little more thought,my dad had 13 56 fords back in the early 70s. they used one of them in the making of the movie coal miners daughter. they gave my dad 150 a day to borrow it.he gave me one that was two tone pink and white with a black diamond pleated int.it had a 352 3 speed in the floor.i had the holley 4 barrel rebuilt,put it back on,and when i tried to crank it it backfired so big that it blew the valvecovers loose,blew the oil cap and dipstick through the tree tops.that was my first fe experience

[Drew Pojedinec]

I thought FE stood for Farm Equipment until just a few years ago.

[Barry_R]

Barry was that the car at the reunion this year ?

No - the original one is long gone.

The notchback I brought to the reunion is a newer car - purchased it in 1981.

It is a rare original 6 cylinder automatic, white with a red interior.
Found it sitting on cinder blocks in back of a mobile home.
Paid $250 for it, in Jane Lew, West Virginia.
I should restore it someday...anybody know where I can find a proper date coded 250?

[KMcCullah]

Cool thread! I've enjoyed reading the stories. Here's mine...

I was fixin to start Jr high in 1981. I had spent the summer mowing yards and doing other odd jobs. I managed to save $200. Damn I thought I had reached the point of independent wealth. Lol Anyhow, mom sent me to Virgil's for a hair cut. Virgil was this cool old Barber that ran the same shop for 50+ years! He had a slick 1963 Galaxie that I had been secretly lusting over for a while. I remember my dad commenting about it too. It was a black 4dr box top with red interior. 352 with a COM. It had always sat behind Virgil's shop. Never moved. But the day I went for a haircut it had been moved around front and had a for sale sign in the window. Inquire within it said. Well, Virgil wasn't really wanting to sell the car. He was just hoping for a few guys to stop in so he could talk them into a quick haircut. He was quite the salesman. When I told him I REALLY wanted that Gal he said it had a miss to it. He couldn't figure it out and didn't feel right selling it as is. But after much teenage negotiating, it was mine. $200 and weekly lawn mows until winter was the deal. Lol After a fast buzz cut, I threw my Schwinn in the trunk and with instructions to drive home SLOWLY, I made the 5 miles home. I'm pretty sure flames shot out of my mom's eyes when I got home. Lol But dad smoothed everything over. I think he liked the car more than I did. We ended up pulling the worn 352 and found one of the cylinders had a big groove worn in it. A snap ring had came out letting the wrist pin drag a groove into the cylinder wall. The car never moved under its own power again.  I used the C1AE-6090-A heads from this 352 on the 416 I built last year for my Highboy. I sold the car in high school to help finance a 1975 Ranchero. Wish I still had that Galaxie. We all seem have that "one that got away".

[blykins]

Barry was that the car at the reunion this year ?

No - the original one is long gone.

The notchback I brought to the reunion is a newer car - purchased it in 1981.

It is a rare original 6 cylinder automatic, white with a red interior.
Found it sitting on cinder blocks in back of a mobile home.
Paid $250 for it, in Jane Lew, West Virginia.
I should restore it someday...anybody know where I can find a proper date coded 250?

What year?

[shady]

In '72 a'60 Ford country sedan wagon. 352 2 bbl. Second was a '64 Gal xl 390 4 speed blue on blue bought in '73. Third in '75 was a '71 Elcamino. What was I thinking, and I still have it, sheesh. Was kind of if you cant beat em, join em moment. 4th was back to another "64 gal xl with a 390 auto. Still have that one too. Then came a shower of Comets, Falcons, Mustangs, & Chevys with a Poncho thrown in just for diversity (loved that one too). Never a Mopar or AMC, but I did want a Rebel Machine badly at one time. Cars I wish I would have kept? My '73 yellow with white interior Mach1, '65 Comet convert with a Boss 302 4 gear, a cherry all original '64 Caliente 2 door ht. 260, '90 5.0 LX not much else.

[e philpott]

1979 for me , traded a "over heated " ( never run without fan belt on a air cooled engine )VW Beetle for a 65 T Bird 390 , the guy wanted the Beetle for a Baja Bug conversion  , the Bird needed a water pump gasket so we traded even , He had over sized jugs on the VEE WEE before I could get a water pump gasket on the Bird , lol

[FElony]

Barry was that the car at the reunion this year ?

No - the original one is long gone.

The notchback I brought to the reunion is a newer car - purchased it in 1981.

It is a rare original 6 cylinder automatic, white with a red interior.
Found it sitting on cinder blocks in back of a mobile home.
Paid $250 for it, in Jane Lew, West Virginia.
I should restore it someday...anybody know where I can find a proper date coded 250?

What year?

No 250 in 1968, so I'm guessing 1969. Like this one:  https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/pts/d/ford-inline-250-straight-six/6239841388.html

[chilly460]

'76 F250 4x4 I bought when I graduated college in 1998, had Edelbrock headed 390 in it that's now in my '63 Merc. 

[Joe-JDC]

First exposure was 60 Thunderbird with 352 HP my uncle bought, first driven was new '64 Galaxie 500 HT 4 speed,  '66 Fairlane GT 390 driven in college, and while in college tried to buy new 7 Litre Galaxie 4 speed, but had to settle for new '66 Mustang 289,  and first bought new: '69 Fairlane Cobra HT with 4 speed then my '70 Shelby GT-500 I bought new, which I still own .  Joe-JDC

[MeanMofakee]

First FE was a 66 Galaxy 2-door, 390 4 barrel 4 speed with factory bench seat. Loved it. Didn't know what it had for goodies but had pretty good steam for a 16 year old kid. A couple of clutches and a few rear ends, finally blew the motor. I remember changing third members in it, just get another one from the junkyard not concerned about gears, just wanted something tall because 130+ was what I wanted. Jack the car up high enough to put a couple 55 gal drums under it. About 3/4 of the way there the rear quarters would buckle and make a hell of a sound. Knew I was almost high enough. Get it back together, start letting down, kerplunk the quarters would pop back out no damage like nothing happened. The life of a dumb assed kid!
For some of the honorable mentions, 67 Galaxy 289 3 speed, 70 Challenger slant six, 67 Chevy II 327 3 speed, 69 Gran Prix SJ 400 ci (probably best cruising car out of the bunch), 71 Thunderbird 2-door 429, another high speed roller. Makes a grown man kind of sick knowing now what he didn't know then! If it burnt rubber and went really fast, what else was there. Of the first 15 or so cars I had I think I only sold 2. The rest ended up in the boneyard. Last 2 I owned before my 14 F-150, 350,000 mile Maxima(sold it) and my 99 Explorer 280,000 miles(still own it). My how things have changed!

[mike7570]

Took my drivers test when I was 16 in my parents '64 Galaxy 390 country squire wagon. Bought my first car on graduation day from high school 1974, a '67 Mustang 390GT fastback deluxe interior.
Like Scott cruised Van Nuys and Whittier in SoCal many Friday and Saturday nights.

[ToddK]

My first FE ownership was a rusty 1961 Mercury Monterey powered by the Marauder 390. Up till that point, I had driven only small blocks and Clevelands. I was hooked on the torque from the standard engine, plus the knowledge that the FE was THE Ford performance engine of the '60s.

[Royce]

1969 I inherited a 63 Gal 4dr from mom and Dad. .Champagne with red interior. Had a bad 352 in it and my brother and I did an engine transplant with almost no tools. Outside on the grass by the machine shed.. Took us all summer...Then my brother hit a bridge with it...LOL   I have had many since then

[Richard F]

1969 Cobra Torino (Fairlane on the NC title).  Bone stock.  I was hooked.....

[turbohunter]

My first one is in the picture. One of my present ones is behind the pic. Mustang before that.
My first intro to FEs was my dads 1965 F250 camper special. I remember that engine would ping like nobodies business. Wish I knew then what I know now. Darn I wish I knew where that truck was/is.

[chris401]

My dad handed down his dad's 1965 F-100 when I was 13. He had a .060 over 360 (371) from another truck that had the correct pistons. Some times after school it was too far for my mom to take me to dad's job sites. That gave me time to figure out how to put that engine in the truck. Had it ever since.

[bsprowl]

In '61 my drivers license driving my God father's '58 Edsel Ranger with a 361 FE.

Bought a '58 Ford 332 Station Wagon in  '67 that needed a camshaft according to the seller.  Adjusted the valves and it ran OK.  Did a valve job and it ran fine.

In '69 when I came back from Viet Nam i bought my first '66 Galaxie 7 Litre. 

Bob

[cjshaker]

My first FE car is my current '69 R-code Mach, which I bought when I was 15. But it had a 351W/C4 in it at the time.
My first FE powered car was a bone stock 390 '67 Fairlane, when I was 17. I only had it a short while, fixed it up and sold it so I could get the money to concentrate on getting an FE in my Mustang.
My 2nd FE powered car was my Mustang (see above) . It has been FE powered every since.

Since I grew up around cars, and my Dad and all his friends were Ford NUTS, I had plenty of exposure to Fords of all kinds. From Model A's to '60s muscle cars. As a small kid of about 6 or 7, in the '70s, one of my favorites of all my Dads friends was a '56 Ford Crown Vic that had a 427 High Riser in it. That car was just freakin awesome, beautiful and mean! It's actually still around and the same guy still owns it. I've always loved that car, and whenever we visited his house, it was nothing but black marks leaving his driveway. I think he's mellowed just a bit since then..lol

[gregb]

69 Mach 1.  R code, but had a 351C when I got it in 83.  In 89 it got the FE that's in it now.  First FE ride was at 15 in a friends 66 Cyclone GT, which was also the first FE car I drove. 

[AlanCasida]

My first FE powered was also my first car, a black 1966 Galaxie 500(what else!) 2dr hardtop with a 352/cruis-o-matic. I bought in august of 1974 and owned it until 1985. If I'd kept hold of it just two more years I would have it now instead of my green one, which I bought in 1989. 

[thatdarncat]

After I graduated from high school in 1978 I wanted to build a drag car / hot street car. My regular car was a '68 Cougar with 289 2V my parents had bought new and I bought from them when I graduated, but I realized even then was too rusty to make a good project. I figured I'd be looking for another car. I also gave some thought to what engine I wanted to build. I was totally Ford blue and growing up in the '60's a 427 always seemed like the ultimate. Even at that time Ford 427's weren't easy to find. Eventually I got a tip from a salvage yard I used to frequent on someone who had some. When I did meet up with him it turned out he not only had a 427 for sale, but oodles of 427 Cammers as well. The Cammers were unfortunately out of my price range even then, and that's another story for another time, but I made a deal on a 427 side oiler short block with a NASCAR crank & rods and TRW pop up forged pistons and Crane solid lifter cam. I also bought a pair of 428CJ heads, the most I could afford after buying the short block. The 427 short block was basically ready go, I had to round up the rest of the stuff to go with it. I also had to find a car to put it in lol. At first I bought a 1966 Cyclone GT that had belonged to a friend in high school, but another friend and his brothers had got to it first and the 390 GT drive line and some other parts were already gone. Although pretty solid, it also had rusty floors and eventually I decided it too was going to need more work than I could handle at the time. At that time a friend who ran a body shop / used car lot told me about a 1968 Torino GT 390 car he had taken in on trade. The Torino was complete and had come from Seattle and was rust free. Someone had done a poor paint job on it, and the C6 was going to need a rebuild, but otherwise looked like a good buy for $400. Ultimately, with a lot of help from my friends I did get the 427 together and into the Torino. I bracket raced the Torino for 5 years, and it was a pretty good race car. I learned a lot on that build, and tried lots of different things. The Torino ran a best of high 11.90's a few times. I still have the Torino, the Cyclone and the 427. Here's a few old pictures. 

[My427stang]

I'll have to find a picture somewhere, but my first family FE was a 68 short bed 4x4 F100.  Dad owned it, and one of his employees drag raced a hot Fairlane.  He got all kinds of leftover CJ parts and built a pretty stock, but stout "390 CJ" out of it to replace the 360, and with headers, dual 2.5 inch exhaust, and old school glasspacks (even had sidepipes at one point in the 70s)  It was real strong, and as a little 4000 lb 4x4, with L78 tires and 3.50 gears, would surprise everyone.  That truck had 400K miles on it when our shop burned in 1984, approx 20 vehicles lost, and I have to assume it'd still be in the family today if the garage didn't burn

My first was a 67 F250.  Given to me before I had my license, someone swapped in a solid lifter 390, C-6, complete with shifter on the floor.  In the early 80s, you could still find good stuff, so despite it being a rusty junker, I had Lemans valve covers on it and a set of blue glasspacks and would burn rubber around the garage parking lot.  Ended up selling it to fund a 389 Lemans, and ran the Pontiac route for a while.

In 1984, I got the 1971 F100 I still have today, originally small block powered 2WD bought new by my grandfather, it got it's first FE in 1987 when I put 4 wheel drive under it, a 360, then later a 390, then a better 390, nitrous, Predator carb for a while, and all sorts of crazy ideas with big tires and lift kits.  Now 445, the date on my title is January 1987, and the only reason for the 3 year delay is because we used to have "repair"plates at the shop, much like dealer plates, so I didn't register it until I had to!

The picture below was likely 1987, and probably 390 Predator Carbed, but not nitrous as I had the tank mounted on the roll bar and you could see the valve.

 

[stroked67]

I've allways been a ford guy, but my first Fe wasn't until august of last year, when I bought a 67 galaxie 500 with a 428/463 stroker. bought it and within 5 miles of driving it, it developed a nasty rocker tick (some of you guys may remember me asking what could cause this, actually the reason I joined this forum to begin with!)  well anyways needless to say I wasn't that impressed with the Ford fe at that point, I pulled the intake only to find that one of the rollers had snapped off the lifters and munched the cam up pretty good.  Got her rebuilt with new bearings, oil pump, cam and lifters.  Boy I tell you guys what, I will never own another hot rod without a Fe in it again other then the ones I own now, HA!  Nothing sounds like a Fe in my opinion, and I have owned a couple of Bada$$ fords, 70 torino with a hot little 302 and traded it for a 94 mustang with a carbureted 347 stroker that I built, 04 supercharged lightning, all those are gone now but own a 71 torino with a 429CJ, 71 mach 1 that is a Cleveland car, 67 mustang with a wicked little 289.  And none of those compare to that 463 Fe!!!!

[wowens]

1st was a 66 Fairlane 500 hardtop. Bought new late 65 while in service. 390, 3 on tree, bench seat, white, red interior. Local terror at 30 on for 1/2 mile. Last was a 67 Mustang F/B with a .017 over Tunnelport with 428 crank, toploader, HM 882 cam, dykes ring piston, two 715 cfm carbs, a all around local terror. Damn I had a lot of fun in the day.

[Tommy-T]

I'll bite.

I was kind'a born into FE Ford's. My Uncle Jack bought a new Fairlane 352/360 and did quite with it at San Fernando, Fontana , and Colton drag strips. His brother, my Uncle Leon had famed Bonneville racer and family friend Tom Beatty put a 390/375 in his '56 T-Bird in late '61.
My dad bought a new F100 in '62 complete with a 6 cylinder and three-on-the-tree. Next summer he and my mom built a camper in the back yard and put it on the truck. The summer after that the '62 got a 390/Cruzo combination. When it got around that my dad had done the FE swap into the earlier pickups, he started doing them pretty regularly, especially on '53 to '56's.

My first car was actually a '57 Nomad bought from a friend from my folks church when I was 14. I sold it before I had a license to by my '67 Mustang 2+2 with a 390 which I still have.

[RJP]

My 1st FE powered car was a 57 Ford 2 door hardtop. It had a 292 Y-block in it before I pulled it and swapped a rebuilt 352 that I bought from a neighbor. That was in 1966. In 1967 I bought my 1st OEM FE, a 60 Starliner, 360 HP/352 that was not running, missing a few small parts and had a blown head gasket. Got the tired 352 running and drove it for close to a year before I swapped it for a rebuilt 390. Still have the 60 'Liner to this day, however not FE powered.

[sixty9cobra]

My first FE is my current mustang that I bought in 1974 for 400 bucks. A 69 mach1 390 4 speed, already had headers and bald G60s on American 5 spokes. It had drum brakes all around and manual steering.

[Rory428]

I recently turned 60, which means I turned 16 and got my drivers license in 1973. First car was a 57 Ford Sedan Delivery (272 Y block 3 speed), made my first 1/4 pass in that car in 1974 (17.5 @78 MPH!)then a 273/235HP 4 speed 65 Valiant,then a 2nd 57 Sedan Delivery, also 272 3 speed. In 1975, I bought a 390 core engine from a high school friends 63 Mercury. I origionally planned on building up the 390, and putting it in Sedan Delivery #2, but a local Ford racer ( 69 428CJ Super Stock/G stick Mustang) was doing my engine, and suggested finding a Mustang or Fairlane to put it in. I had already had a 1970 Mustang Sportsroof, factory M code 351C 4 barrel with Shaker hood, but didn`t really feel like doing that much work to my 6 year old daily driver. A buddy had bought a black 66 Fairlane GTA the year before, then broke the 390.  I traded him a nice running 57 Ford 4 door sedan for the Fairlane, and put my new 390 in it. (Also found out about early 2 bolt motor mount FE blocks in later cars, as well as how the 390 GT Cyclone headers did not line up with my 428 CJ heads. With the CJ heads, a General Kinetics hyd cam, a newly released Edelbrock Streetmaster, and Holley 780 vac, the Fairlane ran a best of 12.62 @ 110 MPH, thru the Thrush mufflers, on 9" slicks, with a 4.57 Detroit Locker, and a C6 with a crappy local :high stall" 2200 RPM convertor. Many other FE vehicles followed, including a 64 Falcon, 5 R codes (2 69 Mach 1s, 70 Mach 1, and 2 69 Cobra fastbacks), couple of trucks, and of course my 78 Fairmont, that I have owned since 1986. Hers a few shots of some of my FE stuff.

[Rory428]

By the way, my 2nd 57 Sedan Delivery did get a FE in 1978, a 72 360 from a buddys F250, with a CJ cam , a 62 3x2 barrel setup, and a C6. Never raced it with the 3x2, it did go 16.2@ 84 MPH with a iron 4 barrel intake and 600 Holley.
My 64  Falcon ran a best of 11.65 with the Fairlanes 390,the black 69 Mach 1 ran a best of 11.92@115 , the 70 Mach 1 ran a best of 12.47@111 MPH.
I only ran 1 of the 69 Cobras, bone stock with 3.00 gears, C6 (A/C car) at 4050 pounds (with me in it), ran best of 14.26 @96 MPH

[winr1]

Bought my 65 352 F100 from my Uncle Robbie in 76, still have it

First FE I helped on was my Brothers 67 S code 390 he bought in 69

Got my license in 69, but was into Mopars then



Ricky.

[Bolted to Floor]

Bought my 390 Mustang in the fall of 88 from a kid I went to school with. He was a Chevy guy and playing around with Mustang till the motor seized. I got it for $650 and a 12 pack of Budweiser. I still haven't moved that car under it own power, but it should in the next month or so.

The first one I could drive was in the F250 I bought from Pop in 1991. 360, 2 barrel, and a 4 speed. I put about 70k miles on that truck at 8.5 MPG. I'm glad gas was a lot cheaper then.

[fryedaddy]

i forgot to mention that the first car i bought with my on money was my 66 comet caliente,390,4 speed,buckets, for 200 dollars in 1982.

[steinauge]

My first FE car was a 60 ford custom when I was 16 ( 1966).When I got  it it was a 6cyl stick car.I broke the 6 and put a junkyard 390 in it and found out just how thoroughly you can break a 3 speed trans! Turns out winding the engine up and sidestepping the clutch in first gear was different with  the 390 than with the 6 .That was a good time car!