Did I get lucky? FE motor gurus step right up.

My apologies if I've posted this in the wrong section.

I worked at a shop for two years as trade work. As my end of the stick began to shorten I bought the shops '65 Marauder and quit. I assumed it had a 390 under the hood. At first glance the motor looked like it had been used as an anchor for the last 40 years so I planned on dropping a Y block in there. Long story short I got it home and pulled the valve covers and saw something that caught my eye, clean, fresh metal. So I started pulling numbers and became even more intrigued. Heads and intake are '68, block is '67. If anyone has any info on this motor I'd like to hear it, I'm not too keen on FEs. I would have checked stroke but I haven't gotten it to rotate so I'll measure that once I tear into it.

 

Forgot this pic, sorry.

 

All the stock F.E.big block Fords I've ever worked on have an Aluminum Tag attached to the ignition coil with numbers stamped in it. The tag would show the date of manufacture and the displacement of the engine. That car should have come from factory with a 390.

 

Sure does look like the oil stayed on the inside! Bore and stroke are the only ways I know on the FE's.

 

Yes should have been a 390 but that motor is a piece together and swap. So the tag would not really mean much.

If you don't have to beat the pistons out of the bores you may have a good foundation to work with.

 

C7ME-A could be a 67-70 428 CJ, or a 330 from a medium duty truck, needs more investigation bore would tell, or crank casting number if pan is off

 

i think its a 428

 

Can you tell somthing about it if it has a counter weight on the crank behind the balancer?

 

I just went out and was able to rotate the crank. I measured the stroke and got ~3.75 in. I checked the stroke for the 330 and its 3.5 in. As far as my understanding goes the only motors offered with hydraulic lifters were; 428, 427, and '50s 332 and 352. Mine has hydraulic lifters and a stroke of a 428, as well as a casting code possibility of a 428.

The real clincher in this story? How much would you have paid for this car? I basically stole it at the price I paid...

 

Hmm, I'm just going to have to tear it down JUST to measure the bore. The suspense is killing me. Even though it was rebuilt, very shortly before being parked.

 

I just went out and was able to rotate the crank. I measured the stroke and got ~3.75 in. I checked the stroke for the 330 and its 3.5 in. As far as my understanding goes the only motors offered with hydraulic lifters were; 428, 427, and '50s 332 and 352. Mine has hydraulic lifters and a stroke of a 428, as well as a casting code possibility of a 428.

First a 390, 427 and the 406 (earlier than your block) have a 3.78" stroke. and the 428 and Merc 410 have a 3.98" stroke. So yours seems to be a 390.


Your intake is a 1968 casting 390 GT type (S on the runner) which is nothing special.

Almost all of the different FE's in some version had a hydraulic cam. Yours has the non-adjustable rockers so it's most likely hyd. Check for a casting code between the two center exhaust bosses near the plug to get an idea what heads you have

Movin/on

 

Not to be a downer but I doubt you have a 428 especially when you say it has a 3.75 stroke. I would be willing to bet money it is a run of the mill 390. Casting numbers really don't mean much on an FE. The only thing that matters are the numbers on the crank. That will tell you for certain what you have.

<table class="wikitable"><tbody><tr><th>Displacement</th> <th>Bore</th> <th>Stroke</th> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>332 cu in (5.4 L)</td> <td>4.000 in (101.6 mm)</td> <td>3.300 in (83.8 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>352 cu in (5.8 L)</td> <td>4.002 in (101.7 mm)</td> <td>3.500 in (88.9 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>360 cu in (5.9 L)</td> <td>4.052 in (102.9 mm)</td> <td>3.500 in (88.9 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>361 cu in (5.9 L)</td> <td>4.047 in (102.8 mm)</td> <td>3.500 in (88.9 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>390 cu in (6.4 L)</td> <td>4.052 in (102.9 mm)</td> <td>3.784 in (96.1 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>391 cu in (6.4 L)</td> <td>4.052 in (102.9 mm)</td> <td>3.784 in (96.1 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>406 cu in (6.7 L)</td> <td>4.130 in (104.9 mm)</td> <td>3.784 in (96.1 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: v;"> <td>410 cu in (6.7 L)</td> <td>4.054 in (103.0 mm)</td> <td>3.980 in (101.1 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>427 cu in (7.0 L)</td> <td>4.232 in (107.5 mm)</td> <td>3.784 in (96.1 mm)</td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: left;"> <td>428 cu in (7.0 L)</td> <td>4.132 in (105.0 mm)</td> <td>3.980 in (101.1 mm)</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Really?? The Ford FE is an awesome engine with high-performance and racing heritage swirling all around it. IMO, it is one of the best looking engines ever....and I'm primary a Chevrolet guy.
The FE is the only way to go in this car, IMO.

 

You got it right, guessing it is a late 67 block and they changed to 68 parts at end of model year. If stuck, I use mix of half auto trans fluid and half laqueor thinner. fill spark holes and wait a few days--usually 2..rock balancer back and forth slowly and then fill again.

used this to break loose one that had heads off and was real rusted-didn't even break the rings of ring guides.

 

I would be so tempted to finish checking it over and getting it to a point where it could be started....

Bob

 

Thank you very much. Like I said I have limited knowledge on FE motors. I've only rebuilt 3 or 4 of them. I won't complain about a 390. The heads are C8AE-H. I only considered a Y block initially for price and availability (I had one available for $200 running). I'm looking forward to hearing this 390 fire up. Can't beat a complete '65 for $500.

 

That's pretty much where I'm at. I woke up at 5am to start tearing it down. I'm optimistic in the thought that I could have it fired by the end of the month.

 

Any progress?

 

While we are waiting to hear back from him, I have a question about 390's. My Son has a 390 out of a (I think) 65 T Bird. He is saving it for a someday project. It has a few ribs cast into the sides of the block, as you can see in these pictures. I have never seen these on an FE block before, but I am far from an expert on them.

Is this common or what does it mean ?

Don

 

The later blocks had those reinforcement ribs. I don't think it's the original block to a 1965 TBird. Those ribs started appearing somewhere around 1970 or newer.

 

Hmmm, interesting. Thanks.

Don

 

Those ribs were also common on the 361 and 391 FT truck blocks. But since Ford often mixed and matched cores on the casting line, they ended up in other configurations as well. This is why casting numbers mean so little with Ford products.

 

May want to get this: http://www.mre-books.com/interchange/index.html and this:http://www.mre-books.com/port/hipobigblock.html

 

Those books will just confuse you more! There are no known books that cover the FE casting numbers with any accuracy when it comes to blocks and heads. Ford reused casting numbers in the mid sixties with very little rhyme or reason. The only way to really know what you have is to measure bore and stroke.

My guess is that the op has a regular old 390 in that Merc. Nothing to throw rocks at, but nothing to get too excited about either.

 

The 390 GT heads have a unique exhaust manifold bolt pattern, almost like the 428 CJ, which are different still. I had a few of these years ago. Only the SCJ uses the counterweight behind the balancer because they have the capscrew (LeMans rods)

 

Doesnt necessarily mean much, but I have a 390 block with the ribs that has VERY thick cylinder walls, like thick enough to go to 4.16. Will be the replacement for the FE in my Falcon.

 

A Y block? WTF?

 

The ribbed blocks are often called "service" blocks as they were generally replacement blocks.
They were notorious for core shift and should be sonic tested prior to boring.
The truck 390 blocks sometimes have the numbers 105 cast on the front of the block. Not all but some of them have been found to have thicker cylinder walls then the passenger car blocks.

 

EVERY FE should be sonic tested prior to boring...

 

Just love these threads, seems more propaganda get spread/ regurgitated about FE engines than any other. A few winners- Ford did not "reuse" casting numbers, a new casting number was issued when a change was made in a basic casting to designate the changed/ improved casting. In this case, a C7ME-A block would be the first block designed for and the changes paid for by the Mercury division (M) for 1967 model cars. The casting number is for the outside shell, cylinder cores define the size potential- could be most anything except a 427. Does not designate what "year" the block is, only the model year it was designed for- the casting number would carry on until a change was made. Date code by the oil filter adapter will tell you when it was cast. C8AE-H heads can be GT or not, depending on how many of the exhaust bolt holes were drilled- 8 for standard, 14 for GT, and they will have the "low" exhaust port, about 1/4" lower then the earlier heads, so hopefully your manifolds match up. Date codes on the heads are inside the valve cover. As at least one of your heads and your intake have matching 7M12 dates (Dec 12 67), if the date on the block is close to that it is probably a matching original early '68 engine, and probably a 390-4V if your stroke measuring is close. Also date codes on the dizzys etc. Looks like it got an engine swap at some time, probably just a newer take-out