FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: Chrisss31 on September 17, 2020, 09:27:29 PM
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A while back I bought a complete 390 for the block to use as a place holder. The other day I picked up another nice block and started looking into the casting numbers. Nothing special about the recent block C6ME-A. The block I have in the car for mock up has no casting number on it. Date code 4c27, it has extra webbing around the main journals, bosses cast in the block for cross bolts and two bolt engine mounts. Any ideas on what this may be? Just a regular 390 block?
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I would suggest that you also do a drill or allen wrench test between the cylinder walls and a sonic test, that will tell you just what you can do with it.
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A while back I bought a complete 390 for the block to use as a place holder. The other day I picked up another nice block and started looking into the casting numbers. Nothing special about the recent block C6ME-A. The block I have in the car for mock up has no casting number on it. Date code 4c27, it has extra webbing around the main journals, bosses cast in the block for cross bolts and two bolt engine mounts. Any ideas on what this may be? Just a regular 390 block?
What's the bore size?
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4.050", measured on the top edge with calipers. Assuming it should be 4.052" if it were clean and measured with something more appropriate.
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I don't know about the extra webbing but it isn't too uncommon for 390 blocks to have the cross bolt bosses. Just had to do with what pattern was used I think.
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cross bolt bosses seem to be a 64 thing. I've only seen them in 64 blocks.
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Maybe it's not even a 390. Some bore charts list a 361 with 4.047" bore, could be that? What's the deal with the two bolt engine mounts?
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Like Shady said, sounds like a C4 390 block. The extra webbing and crossbolt nubs are fairly common for that year. The 64 390 I took out of a Mercury Marauder was that way. It's a great foundation for solid 445 build.
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Good to know. Appears to be a solid block for a project but nothing to get too excited about.
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I have my personal (read not definitive) notes from a bare block 390 with webbing and crossbolt bosses. It was described as a "1963 390 hi performance block" and had "3J25". I didn't pursue it any further. Only saw pictures but the deck showed small water jackets (triangles) so probably not enough meat to turn into a 428 bore. Early blocks such as this have two bolt motor mounts. It might mandate solid lifters too not that it's a bad thing.
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C4 390 Police Interceptor blocks have the 3 rib "crowfoot" crank webbing and are usually cast for crossbolts. If it passes a cylinder and deck sonic test and has minimal core shift it is a good block to build.
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My 64 PI block (C4AE-A) cast in 63 dont remember month is that way, not bored for hydraulic lifters. It got a P stamped in front, on pasenger side just abow the pan
dont know if that have somthing to do with being a PI engine. Seen a couple more 64 blocks the same but bored for hydraulics no P Stamped
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When I originally bought my '63 Effie ICB, it had had a '64 PI engine swapped into it. The cam was changed, and it had long '63-'64 iron 427 exhaust manifolds. It also had a 406 triple carb set-up on it.
It was quite tired, so I pulled it and put a vanilla parts 390 in that I put together from garage corner parts. When I tore the PI engine down, it had a C4AE-A block with the webbed main bulkheads and cross-bolt knobs and was through-drilled for 'juice' lifters. However, the passages in the tower in the back of the valley were not drilled, so it was, in effect, a solid-lifter block.
I went through it pretty completely, putting in cross-bolted mains and opening up the tower passages to supply the squirters to oil the rollers for the Comp solid roller cam. I also bored out the cam tunnel to install roller cam bearings and regrooved behind the bearing shells to supply the mains without any loss at the cam bearings.
With Ross pistons, and bores capped with Dove 'D5' heads, we saw 500 horsepower at 7200 on the first pull after 15 minutes of break-in on the dyno, using a Dove spider and a dyno 850 carb
I believe the C4AE-A is as good a factory 390 block as was cast. It was on the border of being 'iffy' if I took it out to 4.13 so I compromised at 4.080.
KS