Common FE Technical Questions

[jayb]

Thanks, but I'm just looking for which engines were crossbolted from the factory.  Not sure if any 406 engines came without crossbolts, or if any early 390 performance engines came with them.

[machoneman]

Correct: 1976 for the FE's last year.....it was the FT that went to 1978.

On the 406, I found same on Page 2 of my now truly ancient FE Series Engine, Building an 'Off Highway" FE Series Engine guide.

Quote: Most notable is the "cross-bolted" main caps used on 406 and 427 engines.

But in usual Ford fashion (!) a drawing just below the above text showing the main caps, it states:  "Used on late 1963, 1963-1964 427-8V and 1965-66-67 427-4V and 8V". 

It's the words "late 1963" that make me pause as early 406's IMHO did not have cross bolts. Further, a footnote states that 406 service replacement blocks are cast for " cross bolt" provision, but the special bosses are not drilled.

Leave it to Ford to muck up  what should be a straightforward issue!     

p.s Jay: I'd fax you the page in the a.m. if you'd like....gimme a fax number as I don't have  scanner, darn it! .

[jayb]

Thanks for the offer Bob, but I don't need the fax.  Good to hear that my memory on FE history isn't completely shot LOL!

[WConley]

Cross bolted 406's are extremely rare, but a few did leave the factory at the end of the production run in '63.  There's an SAE paper somewhere that describes the NASCAR 406 engine block cracking problem and the ultimate cross bolt solution.  They got a few cross bolt 406 engines out before the switch to the 427.

[manofmerc]

Why dont you mention that just that a 352 block has a 4" bore and can be bored to 4.050" which is std. bore 390 .So many 352s have went to the scrap pile because of ignorance .Doug

[jayb]

Cross bolted 406's are extremely rare, but a few did leave the factory at the end of the production run in '63.  There's an SAE paper somewhere that describes the NASCAR 406 engine block cracking problem and the ultimate cross bolt solution.  They got a few cross bolt 406 engines out before the switch to the 427.

Thanks Bill, that helps - Jay

[jayb]

Why dont you mention that just that a 352 block has a 4" bore and can be bored to 4.050" which is std. bore 390 .So many 352s have went to the scrap pile because of ignorance .Doug

I'd like to mention stuff like that, but it doesn't really fall within the boundaries of the brief overview that they are looking for.  If I started including all that detail I could probably write a book ( )

[BruceS]

Jay, Barry R in his book sez that FEs were available in pickups thru 1976 and commercial vehicles (I.e. U-Hauls) thru 1978.  FEs were not available in Passenger vehicles after 1970.  A nice 20 year run!

[DEANs427]

Jay,
i think the "352" cast in the drivers frt side of the block is a point of major confusion to the average car show observer.

[hotrodfeguy]

I think it should be brought up that H heads are not a performance head just cause they came on 390 GT cars. It should be pointed out that A,G,and R heads are the cheap performance iron heads to look for.

[jayb]

What it really sounds like is we need our own thread here, maybe a sticky, to address some of these common technical questions that come up when you start delving into the details of FE builds.  Maybe even a separate board just dedicated to various topics in this area.  I'll have to think about that...

[AlanCasida]

Jay, Barry R in his book sez that FEs were available in pickups thru 1976 and commercial vehicles (I.e. U-Hauls) thru 1978.  FEs were not available in Passenger vehicles after 1970.  A nice 20 year run!

Actually 390s were available in 1971 in passenger cars. We had a '71 Galaxie with a 390 when I was a kid. The car was two years old at the time so no swappin' had occured.

[Bullitt]

The FT was available in 1979 U-Hauls as the 330XD.  It was discontinued in 1980 due to the new chassis design.

Josh

[jayb]

And, here it is:

http://hotrodenginetech.com/ford-fe-engine-power-secrets/

[BruceS]

Jay, excellent article!  Very informative with great photos too. You look very proud of that Hi Riser, as you should!  It's amazing what you've been able to accomplish.