Engine no. XE626-414-1-15
In the 1970's, American car makers were looking for ways to maintain performance while trying to build economy. Ford was at the forefront of coming up with new avenues to pursue these end goals and the Pre-Chamber engine was one of those products that was created and tested, then quietly put to rest.
The Pre-Chamber engine was based on the 427ci "Wedge" V8 block, but everything else was unique. According to our consignor, this was effectively a 5-stroke engine. Starting with the compression stroke this and the next two strokes were the same as a conventional 4-stroke engine: Compression, Ignition-Power and Exhaust. Difference was that a small jet of distilled water would be sprayed onto the top of the hot piston, which would turn to steam and act as a power-assist while also bringing in a fuel-air mixture during the intake stroke. To date we have not been able to find any test results or public records about this motor.
Our consignor says he believe that as many as 50 of these engines were created for testing. This particular example had been sent for Ford's "X-Garage" at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. After its testing was completed it was most likely scheduled to be destroyed. This engine was acquired from the estate of Mr. Henderson of El Mira, New York, who had been an engineer at the testing facilities of Ford's "X-Garage". As with a number of items sent for testing, on occasion an item might be set aside to be disposed of and eventually was forgotten and written off. Such is the case of this unique engine.
Our consignor related this story to us: "This engine was manufacturer around 1971-2. I acquired this one and a turbocharged version in the mid 1990's. I loaned them to a friend who was going to restored them. However, he lost his shop and before I could get to them, the turbocharged version was sold for scrap in the late 1990's. This engine had been pretty badly abused including the carburetor which is why it is still like that today."
Our inspection showed a number of components with casting numbers carrying a prefix of "XE" which is understood to mean "Experimental Engineering". There are no exhaust ports out the sides of the engines, but there is an outlet at the rear of the engine under the intake manifold. This is a very interesting powerplant and could well be the only survivor of one of Ford's "Better Ideas" that just didn't cut the mustard.
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https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/25220/lot/187/1974-ford-427ci-pre-chamber-experimental-v8-engine-no-xe626-414-1-15/
