In addition to FE's, what other engines/families do you dabble in?

[Bolted to Floor]

  I even ran the thing on a butane torch cylinder for a while, the throttle was the knob on the torch head.  Blown head gasket?  How about blowing a head right off a motor.  Ah, good times.

......and you still managed to make it into adulthood. 


I have one small block chevy and 4 FE's for a complete rebuild/assemble over the last 30+ years. Worked on most everything I've owned to keep it going.... lawn mowers, weed eaters, Ford, Chevy, Mazda, and a BMW. Always bought used cars and tried to pass them on while there was still life in them. Do dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers count??

[cjshaker]

After all no Chevy can lay claim to have won Le Mans 4 years in a row.

I've always thought that one of the most impressive things about the FE is that its won every major form of racing. Nascar championships, NHRA (from Top Fuel to Super Stock) and Road Racing. I can't think of any other engine that has that accomplishment.

[frnkeore]

I was born into Fords and racing. My dad was a mechanic at Meyer and Welch, when I was born. For those that don't know (1944 era) Meyer and Welch (Louie Meyer) owned the Novi Indy car and the engine was dynoed and maintained at the Veron, CA plant.

Edit:
 I forgot to say that Meyer and Welch, was the authorized Ford rebuilder for the LA area and my dad had ALWAYS been a Ford guy.

Regarding Pontiac, It may have been designed after the Lincoln 317/368 engine. It has almost the same bore centers and valve arrangement but a shorter deck and no skirt. Same bore centers as the FE, too. Maybe that's why Brent and other Ford guys like them

My first engine, was the FH (48 Merc Club Coupe), I worked on it when I was 14, when it was owned by my best friend and sold to me the next year. It was stock, other than bored 3/16, to 3 3/8.

I became a mechanic at 18 and had a 144 CI Falcon, I overhauled it and put at least 2 clutches in it and rebuilt the tramission twice (with my dads help). I bought a 58 Edsel, 410 MEL that year then 2 years later, I bought my '60 Galaxy, with a 223 and put a 300 HP 352 in it, with a cam and the Edsel Cruise-a-matic. The 6's 3.54 rear helped me beat more than one of the 389 GTO's with it.

In those years, as a Mechanic, I worked on all the 60's cars, including the aluminum Buick and Olds, as well as my best friends 324 Olds, with a 471 blower and a Herbert roller, in the chopped and channeled '32 Ford.

I was a mechanic in the Army, too and worked on everything from 5 Ton 600 CI turboed Multifuel's, to the 154? CI 4 cyl, Ford engined Jeeps.

I bought my first SBF, in '67, when I came back from VN (saved the money while there), a '64 Fairlane, Sport Coupe, factory 271 HP, top loader with 9" rear. Then after getting out, I later sold my '60 Ford and bought my LR, modified it with with with a Herbert cam and TRW, pop up pistons. Then a 65 1/2, 2+2 271 HP Mustang.

From there I bought my Brabham, Formula Atlantic car and rebuilt the Cosworth DOHC, several times, upgrading it. Learned cam timing with that.

In the 80's I sponsored a Open Comp, SBC. Although I didn't directly work on the engine, I modified  and built several things for it and sold a water pump that I made for SBC and front drive systems for both V belt and 3/8 pitch timing belts. So, I learned a lot about them and in those days, that's where the money was.

I've also done Nissan 240 SX (KA24E) engines, for myself. I like those cars, a lot.

But, now, I'm hooked on 302's. I'm building one 306, with a 4340 crank and two more, lower end 332's, with cams from 260 to 218 duration.

My focus has, since my Formula Car years, been HP per CI and HP per pound so, it's hard to beat a all out SBF.

I also collect tractors, for my own enjoyment and tractor pulls, not just Fords, either. I also have Ferguson, Allis Chalmers and Oliver but, I haven't rebuilt any of those engines. Not looking forward to it, either!

[blykins]

I was born into Fords and racing. My dad was a mechanic at Meyer and Welch, when I was born. For those that don't know (1944 era) Meyer and Welch (Louie Meyer) owned the Novi Indy car and the engine was dynoed and maintained at the Veron, CA plant.

Regarding Pontiac, It may have been designed after the Lincoln 317/368 engine. It has almost the same bore centers and valve arrangement but a shorter deck and no skirt. Same bore centers as the FE, too. Maybe that's why Brent and other Ford guys like them

My first engine, was the FH (48 Merc Club Coupe), I worked on it when I was 14, when it was owned by my best friend and sold to me the next year. It was stock, other than bore 3/16, to 3 3/8.

I became a mechanic at 18 and had a 144 CI Falcon, I overhauled it and put at least 2 clutches in it and rebuilt the tramission twice (with my dads help). I bought a 58 Edsel, 410 MEL that year then 2 years later, I bought my '60 Galaxy, with a 223 and put a 300 HP 352 in it, with a cam and the Edsel Cruise-a-matic. The 6's 3.54 rear helped me beat more than one of the 389 GTO's with it.

In those years, as a Mechanic, I worked on all the 60's cars, including the aluminum Buick and Olds, as well as my best friends 324 Olds, with a 471 blower and a Herbert roller, in the chopped and channeled '32 Ford.

I was a mechanic in the Army, too and worked on everything from 5 Ton 600 CI turboed Multifuel's, to the 154? CI 4 cyl, Ford engined Jeeps.

I bought my first SBF, in '67, when I came back from VN (saved the money while there), a factory 271 HP, top loader with 9" rear. Then after getting out, I later sold my '60 Ford and bought my LR, modified it with with with a Herbert cam and TRW, pop up pistons. Then a 65 1/2, 2+2 271 HP Mustang.

From there I bought my Brabham, Formula Atlantic car and rebuilt the Cosworth 4 cam, several times, upgrading it. Learned cam timing with that.

In the 80's I sponsored a Open Comp, SBC. Although I didn't directly work on the engine, I modified  and built several things for it and sold a water pump I made I made for SBC and front drive systems for both V belt and 3/8 pitch timing belts. So, I learned a lot about them and in those days, that's where the money was.

I've also done Nissan 240 SX (KA24E) engines, for myself. I like those cars, a lot.

But, now, I'm hooked on 302's. I'm building one 306, with a 4340 crank and two more, lower end 332's, with cams from 260 to 218 duration.

My focus has, since my Formula Car years, been HP per CI and HP per pound so, it's hard to beat a all out SBF.

I also collect tractors, for my own enjoyment and tractor pulls, not just Fords, either. I also have Ferguson, Allis Chalmers and Oliver but, I haven't rebuilt any of those engines. Not looking forward to it, either!

You know, I think I like Pontiacs because all the cars are nice lookin and the engines run good, but they're not belly-button Chevys.  Seems like Pontiac gets a thumbs-up from almost any crowd you run into.  Yep, bore spacing is the same, the front cylinder is on the passenger side like a Ford, so you load the piston on the road with the rod chamfer facing the same way as a Ford, and the distributor turns the correct direction. 

[Heo]

LOL, I've worked on a total of one (1) 396 in the way-back.  I did a bunch of bolt ons and trans work on my 79 Trans Am to make the Olds 403 run better.  The aging mostly stock 302 in the Falcon would still run off and leave it in a drag race lol.  Done some bolt ons, tuning on an old VW in the way-back also.  But mostly Fords.  My first tune up was the family 292 in my moms 57 Fairlane, after dad passed.  So I'd been 11 at that time.  As a kid, I also did a bunch of hacking with lawn mower engines - there was a mower "junk yard" place across the tracks from my house and I'd score cheap cores of unknown motors, the mount them on the go cart.  "Honing" was 400 grit + WD-40, "shaving a head" was 220 and 400 on a table saw table top.  I even ran the thing on a butane torch cylinder for a while, the throttle was the knob on the torch head.  Blown head gasket?  How about blowing a head right off a motor.  Ah, good times.

Not blew the head of the engine but....Me and a friend built a car/ go cart with a 2 stroke 2 cyl Archimedes engine with the flywheel where you had a knot on a rope and twisted it around the flywheel to pull start it. we could not find the carb to the engine so we put on a Norton  Dominator carb with velocity stack and all . It would not start so we searched for some starting fluid to spray in the carb no luck...
Aha why not use the gaswelder bright idea I sat in car, held the throttle open. Friend gave it a good dose of oxy/acetylene and pulled the rope. when he was halfway through the pull,, KABOOOMM it backfired so hard.  It pulled in the rope, friend flew over the engine a flame shoot out of the velocitystack,probably contained most of the fuel we had pulled in the crankcase trying to start it earlier. Burned my face , curled my hair, blew out the crankseals was dark at night so all i could see for a while was a great ball of fire

[garyv]

First engine I ever built from scratch was a 460 for my 78 F-150 that I bought new and still have.  Used an engine out of a Lincoln and kept the block, crank, and rods. Junked the rest. Had a set of early 69 429 heads that I used. Friend of mine was a machinist at a local shop and guided my thru it. 0.030 over with TRW flat tops, comp cams 260H cam. adjustable rockers, rebuilt NAPA duraspark. Assembled it in my dad's outbuilding with his help and hauled it in a lawn cart to the driveway, that was scary, and had an engine hoist I rented and installed it myself.  It's still running today and has way more power than what I ever dreamed it would.

I love FE's because of the history and have a 511TP for my 66 Fairlane and several other 427's. 
Right now I have a 48 Ford F3 I am into. It has a 226H flathead 6. I recently built a set of headers for it and also installed a Ford Model 94 2 barrel on it.  It's a sweet running engine.
Also have some 385 stuff, bunch of Cleveland's, ford flathead V8, got rid of my Y block-gave to friend for his truck and recently sold my willy's GPW stuff to a guy for his jeep collection, also have some Ford Modular 4.6 parts, ported heads, kellog 3.8 stroker crank and bunch of high end parts for it. My garage is basically fully of engine parts.
I'm a Ford guy but I like other stuff too. I think an old hemi would be cool to build and put in a rat rod.  I have my eye on a 1949 Pontiac straight eight right now. Just needs to get cheaper for me to bother with it.  I just love messing with old engines.  Maybe it's a disease 

garyv

[frnkeore]

I've always though a 322 Buick, straight 8, would be a awesome build in a T-Bucket, with a 37, floor shift trans.

The early Hemi's are great. I had a 271 DeSoto engine, that My dad threw away when I was in the Army. The 330 and 341 DeSoto's would have been fun to play with. They were about 100 lb lighter than the 331 - 392's Chryslers. Gotta bore em out, too

[475fetoploader]

I almost forgot, I have a Stihl 036 Pro chainsaw. I’m putting an 044 cylinder, a 038 super piston, to make basically an 044 that’s several pounds lighter. Silly, but it shows if you’re a hot rodder at heart, it spills into everything.

[RustyCrankshaft]

Everything.

I've had everything from a Brigs and ScrapIron to EMD's here (my neighbors love me!). I perfer Fords, they are what I work on the least because they seem to work pretty well LoL at least for automotive stuff.

Currently I've got a low buck 390 I'm slowly putting together for one of my pickups with a 360 that's loosing a cam lobe. Also have a 12v 5.9 Cummins for my 77 CrewCab. A F162 Continential, A L10 Cummins that's being hot rodded a little and a KTA Cummins that I'm waiting to get the crank back for. Waiting for space is a 489 Chevy, 2 3406 Cats and a "special" 8v92 project for a land speed truck and a Lycoming O435.

I work on whatever shows up, some things I try to avoid like a Duramax. I'd rather go to my real job than work on one of those.

Special place in my heart for an FE as I have my Dad's HiBoy pickup which was one of the first things I really got to work on or drive. I also like stuff that is a little different and/or takes a little thought to make work and an FE is both of those.

[Joe-JDC]

I bought a '69 AMX 390 4 speed, Big Bad Blue, and thought they were really cool cars until I found out how useless that back area was without a seat or even a good flat spot to carry packages.  Almost bought another one used several years later to install a Boss 302 in, but decided against that as well.  Everything else has been Ford until they messed me over with my 2005 F150 Super Crew.  The one car I wish I could get back would be my 69 Fairlane Cobra with ram air, 4 speed, and my '56 Fairlane Victoria.  A fellow has it in Tennessee and has completely restored it and added a continental kit.  Yuk.  Joe-JDC

[70tp]

Small lawn engines.  Honda motorcycle. Sbc, bbc, bbf, IH,sbf,some Corvair,  Detroit diesel, continental , straight sixes, ford diesel, jd, whatever it takes from doing well digging, 55yrs old now    Need to do a boss nine to replace the tunnelport in the 70 Mach now.   Just need time and $$.  Fabrication part is not an issue.   About forgot the Waukesha and moline.   I’m sure there’s more that I’m forgetting

[Royce]

I have built all of the Ford V-8 families with the exception of the 337 flathead and the Super Duty line. Add in a V-12 Lincoln Flathead. Now, I have just dipped my toe into the Mod world with a 5.4 4 cam that is getting the retro treatment, carb and points ignition.  Have helped on a couple of Deere 2cyl.. Involved with a 354 Hemi.. There are a few bucket list engines:  308 Hudson, That 337 Lincoln Flathead,V-8 60..215 all Aluminum Olds. Wisconsin air cooled V-4 (just cause they sound cool under load).  Ultimate would be a Ford Indy 4 cam or a Foyt Coyote. Cosworth DFV. 4 cyl Offy

[GJCAT427]

I`ve had a 70 Pontiac GTO since 1973, I bought it with 30,000 miles on it. 2nd owner. I ran the hell out of that 400, even had the engine rebuilt by Pontiac under warranty and put a 421 4bbl Quadrajet in it with the 400 heads and the ram air IV cam in 75. Its still in it. Runs as good as when I built it. 4spd car 3.50 posi, ram air exhausts and cherry bomb mufflers. Still gets up and goes. Have never replaced the rear brakes but on the 3rd set of frt discs at 110,00 miles. I learned to shift the motor as the brake from my dad still do in all my standard shift vehicles. 

[FirstEliminator]

In addition to FE, the engines I have around are 385 and 335 series. MEL, FT and 351w. Currently working on a 460 to 545 mild build for a 79 F-350 crew cab. Also a 351w for a 69 Cougar Eliminator. On my list of things to do in the near future is an 8v71 for a 71 MCI MC7. Then eventually, a Waukesha diesel in an Oliver back hoe, Mack 673 in a B series.
    Back in the day, a few friends had Pontiacs. We used to fool around with them a bit. I had a Buick 350 in a 72 Skylark. Not sure what was wrong with the oil pump pick-up screen or how lock washers ended up in the oil pan. After 4 hours of driving on the highway the engine would stall and a big backfire would happen. Then coast over to the breakdown lane and clear out a piece of washer from the oil pump gears which are accessible from the timing cover. Put a new roll pin in the distributor and drive for another 4 hours. I try to avoid engine with rear distributors. Though, I'll make an exception for Pontiac. Today I had the pleasure of terminating the ends of a set of Taylor wires on a 72 Chevy K10. I'm still in pain from laying over the engine and not sure why I agreed to doing something beyond transmission.

[FrozenMerc]

Besides a handful of FE's, I have built a few flatheads, a couple of Windsors, a rather fun 300 Six, a 325 ci Dodge Hemi, a 266 IH V8 (nearly as expensive as a Flathead for the same amount of power), and am responsible for keeping an all original (un-opened) Packard 327 Straight 8 in proper running order. 

I am currently playing with forced induction on a MEL and a 6.9 IDI.  I also have a 332 Lincoln Y out of a '60 C-600 that I would like to do something with, not sure what yet, but it is stewing in the back of my mind. 

I have an odd itch to build a gnarly 392 IH just to do something different.  Did someone say torque-rise?