Good Midday everyone! I got some questions about a Ford FE build. I got quite a bit since I don't know anything about the FEs, only small blocks So while hanging out at the local dirt track I found out there is a historic racing series, and I'm now working to build a car to race in it (4 door Galaxie). Now to the real stuff, in terms of building a dirt track and asphalt FE....what go fast parts should I use?? (Heads, cam, etc). The cl*** is only limited to a 2bbl that is maximum 500cfm. Any information is good information, since I know next to nothing about FEs. Sorry so being so bleak, I just need all the information I can get. Thank you!
A little more info on the rules would help, maximum engine size, stock iron heads or?, cams, exhaust? Aluminum intake or stock iron, and can you run a 4 to 2 adapter plate? My buddy ran a couple Galaxies in Street Stock in the 70's and did very well
Does it say you can't run a 445 stroker with a main girdle, and some C1 or C4 heads with 2.09/1.65 valves, and a good intake with the 2V adapter? The 500 Holley has been raced for many years, can work well
Absolutely, rules for engine state " Engine Options – Shaft and roller rockers are OK. No electric water pumps are allowed. No dry sump systems. Unaltered OEM type harmonic balancer only. No aluminum cylinder heads. Whatever engine you decide to use must be ran past the administrator." As for exhaust "• Exhaust – Any manifolds, any headers. Exhaust must exit the vehicle under the car and away from the driver." and for carb "Carburetor – 500 Holley 2 barrel (4412) ONLY or smaller. Must fill gauges" Nothing about running a 2V adapter on a 4v intake, but im ***uming due to the nature of the cl***, it's 2bbl intakes only.
Maybe not... The 500 Holley is basically a race carb (it makes a truly terrible street carb) and there's power to be had with a open-plenum 4V intake and an adaptor. But FE intakes aren't easy to get right now and aren't cheap when you can...
Luckily in my area 360s and late 390s are dime a dozen (mainly 360s). About a year ago actually this guy had 2 360s, $50 each, and one turned out to be a 390 supposedly. I think getting a 390 would be nice to build upon, and I've been looking at Holman-Moody camshafts. Don't know what grind I'll be getting yet. I guess another question would be if running a C6 would be smart or not. The galaxie originally had a 352 and Cruise-O-Matic, so I ***ume it'd be easy putting an FE and C6 back in there. If it comes down to it, I'll buy a cheap FE, go to a bone yard and pull some early heads, and be on my way!
One of the biggest bottle necks on an FE is the stock log type exhaust manifolds. Remove all the oil gallery plugs and clean the gunk out. Tap those holes and threads in some plugs. There are 3 on the flywheel end 4 in the valley, and 4 on the pulley end. There is one hidden by the distributor hole if it's a HYD lifter block. Some say to restrict oil to the heads, but I'm not 100% on if that is good or not. Upgrade the oil pump hex drive shaft to a $25 ARP chromoly shaft. An aluminum intake will save at least 50 pounds, as well as an aluminum water pump. Some say these engines were designed with the biggest intake so that the iron heads could be run for racing rules, and an aluminum intake would save more weight. This is my FE I built 2 winters ago. Certainly not a race machine though.
FEs are great engines and can make some horsepower, but they are expensive. And go-fast parts are all on back order and OEM go- fast parts are also hard to come by and expensive. But, medium parts are available and can probably work , since you are limited to a two barrel. But remember the FE is not a SBC, it has it’s own quirks! Bones
@Boneyard51 What do you mean? It's a short piece of silicone heater hose, with 2 spring hose clamps and an aluminum fitting which I made on the lathe.
You need to talk to Barry ...He builds FE's to compete in engine masters http://survivalmotorsports.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/Survival427FE/videos http://survivalmotorsports.com/literatureandvideo.html
That answers my question! I kinda didn’t trust those drive in ******s either. The factory installed one were ok. Bones
I ran sprint cars for about 12 years. Every young guy trying to get a car put together was really into the horsepower thing (before most tracks went to wings on sprinters). My advise was always to build a good, dependable engine but don't spend a lot chasing HP. Spend your money on ch***is and tires. Find out what mods are allowed to the ch***is. Make it light, but stout enough to handle the dirt track. Make friends with some of the fast guys and see how their ch***is are setup. An FE even with a 2 bbl will have enough power to spin the tires. Going fast is about not spinning the tires, that's what you have to learn.
And gearing. Figuring out where your engine makes the best torque and getting the gears to keep it there as much and long as possible is what wins races. Make it turn, make it get traction, and gear it right.
I see your 21 and new here, tell us a little about yourself if you don't mind. We love new blood here. Keeps the hotrodding going. Lippy
"Whatever engine you decide to use must be ran past the administrator." In other words if you pick anything but a Chebbie that might be compe***ive, we'll punish/ disadvantage you as necessary. Don't bother trying to tell me that doesn't happen, pretty standard unofficial procedure. Could be worse, you could have picked a Cleveland lol If you wanted to stay inexpensive (and the 445 deal isn't that much) you could do a 416 with a 360/390/410 block and some good rods, and get some real aftermarket pistons to get the quench right. I would go flattops and then some small chamber cleaned up 406 heads (you can use race gas, right?) and a Port-O-Sonic intake, or a Streetmaster, with the plenum worked to draw from the 4v-2v adapter. As much as I like the old ****nasty Holman and Moody cams for scaring grammas and small animals, they are very old 60s-70s grinds, and more modern stuff would be in order- didn't see where you couldn't run a solid roller? Cam it for high velocity, and headers around 1-7/8 to 2" max. That setup should draw pretty hard on that 500 Holley, and be a bear off the corners. Just so happens I have all those parts on the shelf
Yep, I'm betting the whole field is 355 Chevy. Had a friend had only Ford up front and they were always giving him a h***le. Modified cl***. Joe
Yep, for the last few years we were running the only compe***ive Ford against a fleet of Chevies! Sure felt good coming in first out of 23 Chevies and one Ford! Bones
I ran in a claimer cl***, previous years you'd be able to claim an entire car... then it went to just the engine. So we built a 429 Ford and later a 460. I'd probably prefer the 429/460 over a FE. We got torn down and puffed almost on a weekly basis. The tech guys thought they had us when they saw the Holley sticking out under the air cleaner... aha... no Holley 4 barrels. But this was a 2 barrel. The rules were instantly amended, no Holleys. The car was just as fast with a rebuilt Autolite. See what others are running for an overall gear ratio. Ours was between a 6.75 and a 7, meaning the transmission gear of choice x the rear end ratio. Is there a cam lift rule? This was years ago, we had Chet Herbert grind us up cheater cams.
No doubt the FE was built for the race circuit back in the late 50s and into the 60s. Many go-fast parts are interchangeable but they are expensive compared to newer stuff. This isn't an LS..... Ford really did dominate back then, and the other big 2 did catch up eventually. I grew up in thr 90s whith many Chevy guys and they always thought GM dominated the world.... History tells us otherwise. Great compe***ion throughout the years has made many great cars and great engines.
If you're going lowball build, use the 352 in the car or pick up an early 390 for higher compression. The 360 is a great truck engine but not for performance. You need all the compression you can get if you can swap to a hot cam. Joe
I'm not directly responding to anyone due to the almost overwhelming responses, which goes to show how great this place is already. You guys are all great, and thanks for the information everyone! The ch***is rule specifically say "OEM suspension, steering, and must be at least 3,000 lbs". I've talked to a few guys, and one guy runs a Torino with a 351 Cleveland. Some people of course run 350 chevys. Theres also a thunderbird that has a 430 MEL i think (wtf?!). I want to go with a 5.13 gear, there are plenty of 9 inch 3rd members around here cheap with that ge****t, many racers in my area. As for engine, I want to build a relatively cheap engine (yeah....cheap and FE...) with quite a bit of torque that'll sustain higher rpms. Sure I could've gone with a 385 series, but I've come to love the torque of a mildly built 390. We got a few laying around, but I'm not sure if they're good candidates. We have a 428, probably going to save it A 389 FT engine.... And 360s are plentiful in my area. I'd like to go with a C6 transmission. I've been looking at stroke/bore combos also. Has anyone thrown a 332 HD crank in a 406 block (math comes to around 354 cubic inches) with long rods? I'd imagine that would Rev to the moon and back, but probably wouldn't have the torque of a 390. No rules on max cam lift. As a matter of fact, the only "strict" engine rule is 2bbl Holley 500s or smaller carbs only, so yeah, run to the hills with that... Thanks everyone for being awesome people and giving me a bunch of information!
Build the highest compression engine you can get your hands on. Lock in the distributor and dump in the 101. Joe
Do you think using the more stout 389 with flat tops and smaller CC heads would be a good idea? Whatever engine I go with, I'm tearing down and putting a better oil pump and ARP bolts in it
The FT engines have a strong bottom end for racing but I'm not sure on deck height. Maybe someone can chime in on this. But yeah, if you can zero deck the block, go flat-tops and early heads, that's a good combination. Joe
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