Does anyone here any information or experience to share regarding 428s? (It's share night) I've had one and it was a beast. It was a former CHP Mercury Monterey 1970. These were built to CJ specs. As a factory "stock" engine I was really impressed by it. I have nothing Ford-like these days but would make room for one someday. They aren't getting any cheaper to build but I'm interested in what anyone has to say that I haven't heard. The latest stuff I have is probably Pat Ganahl's Ford book.
Don't have a 428 myself.......hard to find......but did the next best thing......390 block with 428 crank..............410 cid............with heads close to CJ specs.........I LOVE IT..........saveing up for a pair of alm heads and to rebuild the tricarb setup i have........
I've got a 390 in my bird that I'm giong to be rebuilding. There's one site in particular that came up that has a lot of info about those FE series big blocks, www.fordfe.com They're all pretty rare, the worst two being the 428 and even rarer, the 427. You can get new 427 blocks if you have the coin, but be prepared to drop about 3 grand for a bare 427 iron block and 5+ for a bare 427 aluminum block. 390's seem to be the most plentiful though, they even used them into the 70' s in trucks. Having said that about the rarity, there seems to be a decent aftermarket for them thanks to the 427 race motors, you even have your choice of models a****st manufacturers. Edlebrock comes to mind as having the widest variety, but I could be wrong.
The Ford FE Police Interceptor motors were not built to CJ specs. If you had a 1970 PI car (or any 1970 and up mid or full size big block FoMoCo it was not an FE, it would have been a 429. (429/460s are completely different than the FE series) 429 PI and 429 CJ/SCJ motor differed from each other as well. So what are you interested in hearing about FEs? FE's are all the rage right now just behind the Mopar hemi. You can get brand new blocks (iron or aluminum), modern aluminum heads, high zoot cranks, rods and all the internals. Several new intake manifolds have come along that are the best yet to be offered...there are some EFI retrofits as well. Stroker kits are out there to build 500 plus inch FE motors when combined with an aftermarket block. All the cam companies have modern grinds (including street oriented roller cams) and the sky's the limit in valve train upgrades. The new HotRod magazine has a '69 Mach I with a high dollar big cube FE in it that was one of the winners in its 2005 Drag Shootout. The car ran consistent and reliable 10.60/125mph 1/4 mile p***es, drove 1500 street miles and hit 5 tracks in five days. I'm sure that car weighs a good 3500lbs with driver so its making decent power. -Bigchief.
.__________________ Hey Chief, You don't know everything there is to know about CHP history. These were not the run of the mill police car model. They were purpose built Interceptor types with 428s built to CJ specs. Only available to law enforcement. Some other agencies may have got a few but these were built specificly to particular CHP standards because Mercury had won the bid that year. Sacramento was aware that Dodge had a lock on the business and wanted to avoid the look of impropriety so there is this brief period of merc cruisers. (CHP also tried out Olds Delmonts in 1967) At least 500 were built for the CHP and there may have been a second order of a few hundred more. They stayed in service for about 2 years. They were expensive to run, they burned more fuel than the Dodge 440's. They also had some problems with cracks in front suspension or steering. Mine had 62,000 miles on it when I got it and had been sitting a few years. I gave it fresh plugs, oil, a carb rebuild and a new fuel pump and it came alive. These were the last cars with 428's. I sold the car a few years ago but I have a bunch of paperwork, the CHP specifications sheet, ***embly line photos and a couple of in service photos. These cars are do***ented in the "Ford Police Car" book put out by Motorbooks. This car was a lot of fun to drive even though they were spec'ed without power steering. Talk about an arm load. They all came with airconditioning and the first time I turned it on I was blasted in the face with a bunch of Pall-Mall ****s. My scanner is ****ped out right now so here is the only scanned pic I have at the moment. That would be my son and I goofing for the camera. I welcome the questions. These are rare beasts and I'm thrilled to have owned it and of course sorry I sold it. Just like always.
I drive a 429 Thunderjet and it has enough power for me. I went for a ride in a '69 428 CJ Mach 1 once though, and holy **** was it fast. It would kick right down and start pulling if you floored it on the highway, and it did the craziest burnout I have ever seen. One cool thing about FE mills is that they did make 6x2 intakes for them. My biggest mistake was p***ing up a pair of 427 side oilers from a boat about 2 years ago -Dean
Actually 428s are not that hard to come by and if you have to rebuild anyway (I don't believe in junkyard motors unless you're just in a pinch) it doesn't really cost that much more to build 'em to CJ spec. Parts is parts. A lot of the high end Galaxies and LTDs had 428s in 'em. Now 427s are an entirely different story, I know where there are a couple of those but if they were cast in gold they couldn't be any more expensive.
I bought a complete '61 T-bird, just to get the 390 FE out of it. First year for the 390, it has very thick cylinder walls that will take a .100" overbore. Will easily bore out to 428 bore size and then some- while leaving .130" nominal walls even after that. BUT... turns out the blocks are thin in the lifter valley- this one was cracked there and then repaired by a previous owner- unsuccessfully, as it was seeping when I got it. Also there's no nickel in the 1960's Ford FE blocks- which makes them very soft and prone to fast bore wear. There were "high nickel" 427's made, usually called "racing" or "service" blocks- and the FE truck blocks of the 1970's 360/390 "supposedly" have nickel in them. This 390 is soft as clay. I slipped with a wrench and nicked it, it made a dull thud noise and made a much bigger nick than it should have. This is the one that had 2 huge ridges in each cylinder- I hit it with a hand hone on a drill, and it took .013" out of it in no time ! I could have bored it .030" with my Black and Decker drill and Sears precision hone... that's how soft it is Just something to be aware of- before tossing big bucks into an FE build. I'd shop around and use a later truck block.
Here we go again!! If you read up on the FordFE site, all of the Experts say few if any FE blocks had nickel. I ran a 390 for about 8 years. I rebuilt it in the beginning when I had grandpas old 66 Galaxie 500. It was in my 66 Fairlane until this spring. with 3 cam swaps, 2 sets of heads, a single cyl. hone because I scratched it, and numerous carbs and intakes. In the Fairlane it ran 12.98@104 with a basically stock rebuild and cast pistons. It still ran strong with good oil pressure, which suprises me because I beat the snot out of it. When I pulled the heads off it there was barely any ridge on the cylinders. I put together a 427 side oiler (488cid) with 10.5 compression, .600 lift solid cam, **** crank, dual carbs...etc.etc. It runs like hell!! But, as stated earlier, it's a worthless old motor. I wish everybody would stop building these and give them all to me. I just love the old junk FE.
What he said but with one addition if you are planning on boring a FE block take and have the cylinder walls sonic checked. These engines was cast with a thin wall design and there was some problems with core shifting during casting the blocks and it is easy to overbore one with out knowing it. Not all truck blocks will go to a 428 bore easily not even the later ones. Dawg
T-Birds had a 428 available in 68-70 I know for sure(having had one of each and them little pig darters will run for fun.LOL Mr.Mac can tell you a little about FE motors having run them for several years. T.OUT
Actually, 66-68/69 for the T-birds By 70 they went to the 429. Also some Galaxies 66- came with 428'a also, commonly known as a 7 litre. Not to mention Mustangs, Torinos, Cougars and Lincolns
nte I had a '69 Mach I w/428 SCJ R-code, 4-speed, & 4.30 gears. It had every available dealer-installed option like FMS cam, dual-point dizzy, intake/pan windage/splash trays, 7qt oil pan, etc. From a standing start on dry pavement, I could smoke the tires in 4th gear! Going 60 or so on the highway, if I backed out of it & jammed the throttle, it would break loose. I had absolutely no traction off the line. It got 7mpg in town & 9mpg on the road. I was in college & sold it...wish I never had, but I sold it for $1K more than I bought it for, so couldn't complain too much. It was a good solid original car too...folks that bought it did a paint-daub/chalk-mark restoration on it & sold it for big bucks - this was back in '89-90 when they had just started to appreciate after Shelby's heart attack... EDITED TO CORRECT TYPO - it was a 428, not a 427
i have a 70 429 going into my 5o ford convert but have not taken a hard look at it inwhile.still have to finish the body,that will be one fast ride.can't wait
can anyone post a pic to me of 430 engine ?when the hemi blew in the coupe I have it was replaced with a 430 merc mill at roughly 1500 lbs it turned its best time of 138.8 10.32 in the quarter I'd like to find a running engine and 3 speed trans to put in it during restoration car ran A/Altered between 1960-70 also looking for patch pieces for cowl and rear quarters ahead of wheelwells i will post a pic of this car on its maiden trip to Ct.Dragway in 60 the car is a 1933 chevy 5 window coupe thanks
There is a lot of conflicting info here both with the 428 and the 429. I have both a 69 t-bird and a 70 t-bird. Both came with Thunderjet 429s. The 70 has the excellent D0OE and D0VE goodies. This 70 also came with the extremely rare Rochester 4 barrel and matching intake. The rochester and intake will make great swap meet items. The High compression heads are destined to return to its original block after I finish the rebuild. It should squeeze nicely into my 47 stude pick up. ....As far as Ford p***enger car production goes, All the Manuals/tech articles and cross reference books I've read/researched, State that the 428 was last used in the 68 model year t-bird. 69 up used the 429. But thats not to say that somebody couldn't swap a 428 into a later model tbird - it would have been an easy swap since all the parts were readily available. Mustang offered 3 different 428s for 69 and 70 Mercury p***enger car production is not as well do***ented. It was Cal Yarborough in a 69 Mercury Cyclone the won the 1970 Daytona. So 428s were in production in Mercs in 69. A 1970 Merc Cyclone ran in the 71 Daytona with a 429.... the cougar eliminaters could be ordered with a 428 in 1970. So Mercury still offered the 428 as late as 1970. moe...... ___________________ http://spaces.msn.com/members/MOES-GARAGE/
Leon, The 430 was a Lincoln engine (was also used in edsels I think) and was last offered in the 65 Lincoln. There were also a few 65 Lincolns that were installed with the 462 but they are rare. A Google search for these old Lincolns will garner lots of info. as well as check out..... http://www.suicidelincolns.com/ moe....... _____________________ http://spaces.msn.com/members/MOES-GARAGE/
Your right. I learned all I needed to know about the CHP from Ponch and Jon on "CHiP's". I had a '91 Crown-Vic police car for a winter rat, however, so that must count for something, eh? .......Damn I miss that car. As far as FE usage in the full size cars, I was off the beam a little as well. The 429 had top billing but 390's were available until at least '71 in full size barges. They are hard to find, however.....as most mid and full size cars I've seen over the years and in the junkyards today were either 302, 351W or 429 powered. When you get those do***ents scanned in I'd love to seen them. I'd like to see what they did to these that was so unique. The exhaust manifolds from a full size car won't bolt on to a 428CJ head because of the bolt pattern and port size differences.....so I speculate that they're using standard 428PI motors (as apposed to CJ/SCJ motors) with a larger carb (like the CJ's 735 Holley) and a good dual exhaust and some tuning tweeks. -Bigchief.
The Cyclones are mid size Mercs made on the same platform as the Ford Torino. The big block powered Torino/Montego/Cyclones up to 1969 were FE powered. In 1970 they all went to the 429. (Available in standard, CJ and SCJ flavors) I agree that all I've seen over the years about 428's is that (as far as full size cars and Thunderbricks go) they were all done dancing in '68......but you never know with Ford. I'm waiting to see the paperwork Benzine has. It'll be interesting to check out. If your going by race car (and NASCAR) engines in the late 60's and early '70s you can't go by what was under the race car hood. They didn't necessarily compare to what was available under the hood at your local dealer. The Boss 429 (hemi) is what was used in many '68 and '69 Ford/Mercury NASCAR cars.....available on the street only in Mustangs. Before that the roundy round guys were using 427 Tunnel Port motors. When NASCAR castrated the Boss 429 with restricter plates (because the Mopar and Chevy pussies were whining because they couldn't keep up) most of the Ford racers switched back to the 427TP motor. As far as I know 428s were not used in any serious roundy round cars (because the stroke is too long creating excessive piston speeds which kills the motors during 500 mile races at 8000RPM)....they typically used 390, 406, 427 and 429's before they all went to small blocks in the early 1970's. -Bigchief.
FEs ? We put em in 50 Merc 4 drs with 4 speeds. This is a new genesis 427 sideoiler with the stroker crank and rods. 482 cu in. You cant step on it at all in first. It does 180s in second and third if ya powershift it. And will bust em loose in 4th. It was a bunch more than We bargained for. FEDER
thanks i've got a lincoln specialty shop near me in Putnam Ct. Bakers Automotive they have a few hundred there but they always want huge money for parts there 150-200$ for an arm rest
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