FE engine C2ae

[rotax670]

I have an FE engine with C2AE cast on the front of the block and heads with C3ae 6090 c on them. The heads look just like the 406 heads but have 1.55 exhaust valves instead of 1.65. It is a solid lifter block and the number on the side is c1ae. Can anyone help with identifying what it is?  New to the site, my first post. Thanks in advance for any help, Michael.

[Tom Gahman]

Hi Michael, I cant help with the numbers, but around 1969 or 1970 I bought a 390 with solid lifters and a cast iron 4 bbl. It was hooked to a cruso. Had a holly on it and it was an early engine with the bendix drive starter.
Was supposedly a cop car engine. It also had groved main bearing journels on the crankshaft.
Ialso had a solid lifter 390 in my galaxie,but I have no idea what casting numbers were on them or what the vin codes were. Good luck.
Regards, Tom.

[BruceS]

Rotax,
Suggest you get a copy of Barry R's book, which can be ordered from the Survival Motorsports website. It goes thru a number of ways to identify FEs... The drill bit test is a well accepted way to determine original displacement, for example.  The C2 or C3 engineering numbers may not mean anything specific, but may help you identify by exclusion.  Being its a solid lifter block, it could possibly be a 390 PI, or even a 352 or 390 Hi-Po...

Good luck!
Bruce

[BH107]

First off, where is the C2AE cast? The C3AE-C heads with small valves are just a standard 390 head. The solid lifter block is a good find though.

[rotax670]

C2ae is cast where 352 usually is on the front of the engine right below the head surface. C1ae 6015 without the last digits is cast on the side of the block. The heads have the same closed chamber as the 406 for higher compression. I do not have the original intake, it has the 427 medium riser on it now. C6AE9424/j.  Thanks for the info, Michael.

[BH107]

I would guess if you measure the combustion chamber volume that it is the same as standard 390 heads. There are three heads with that casting number and chamber shape, but only the heads with 1.65 exhaust valves will have the smaller 406 combustion chambers.