I'm debating between sticking a 390 in my '56 Tudor Mainline or going with a 351w. The Windsor shouldn't be a big deal, but has anyone done an FE swap and have any advice as to the swap? I do not see a lot of info on the FE swap, though I did find a link to a set of headers for the swap.
For starters, mount the radiator forward a'la the I-6 and be prepared to hammer the firewall to fit if you don't. This swap is as HAMB-period-friendly as you can get without installing a later-model/OT 5.0/5.4L Windsor.
Hmm we put a 352 in a 54, didn't have to beat the firewall or move the radiator.. But that was 40 plus years ago too.
Just click on this,it should keep you busy for a while http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search/5834907/?q=FE+swap&o=relevance&c[***le_only]=1
Tex.. it was a 239,, Seems we had to flip motor mounts, put a diff pilot bearing in the flywheel and reroute some exhaust a bit.. She was tight but went in,, Under a tree in the driveway and on one afternoon.. Later on he put a T-10 behind it.
Not sure if we ran a fan.. Back then, we felt they were only necessary for stop and go traffic which we rarely did, so no fan was not a big issue to us.
IF you are going to go through the front suspension and replace all joints and upgrade to disc brakes your about the same cost as getting a stub built and put in. I did the FE swap with T1o, upgraded the brakes and totally went through the front end. I am happy with what I have but looking at the cost and time put into it, changing the front stub to Mustang II would be the easy route. I also installed a rack for power steering. Making the joint connections for steering shaft was do able but tight with the Z bar and headers there. Also installed electric fan which mounts on front side of radiator as no room for fan on engine side. Motor mounts are the Y-block mounts flipped from p***enger side to driver side. Headers were made by Crities. Fit right in, just had to make new third pipe on drivers side because of rack that i installed.
I have an upgraded T5 lurking under a work bench... I figured it would back up the FE. I also snagged a Craigslist 9" out of a '58 Ford today. Now all that's left is an engine. A friend has a freebie unknown vintage 390 out of a truck that needs going through, he said it probably needs a crank, so I may drop the coin to build a 410 with an aluminum intake. Oh, and everything needs redone on the front end... So disk brakes are going to happen along with the new bushings. Tell me more about the rack swap... I don't recall reading about it in The Sticky (I feel it deserves a ***le, so it will become a proper noun from here out!).
About the rack swap wurthitdesigns.com had a fantastic site with pictures but turns out they are probably belly up and there are some fairly hateful posts out there regarding their relationships with consumers.But there are always two sides to the story: http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=5191.0
Rack is out of late 80's early 90's cavalier. You will need to make brackets for mounting to the frame and for mounting the the stock inner tie rods to the rack. You will also have to either modify your steering column or buy a new one, then make connection to the rack. When I called wurthit he only wanted to sell his whole kit not just parts from it. Since I am in the snow belt i have to wait till late spring to see how this set-up works.
Just as a side note,your turning radius is more with the rack than the stock steering.I know that as fact since I also own a Cavalier which is usually the donor of choice.
quote: "About the rack swap wurthitdesigns.com had a fantastic site with pictures but turns out they are probably belly up". Actually he is. Not sure about the company...last we heard he was working alone and trying to straighten out years of problems. Rick p***ed away earlier this year.
I bought all the brackets including the center bracket for your tire rods from Fatman. Their kit is better then four hundred dollars but half of that is the joints to hook up your steering column. They will just sell the brackets for around $200.00. That and a $40.00 R&P out of a 90 Cavalier, a $15.00 rag joint, steering shaft and joints combo out of a early 2000 front wheel drive Buick, hooked every thing up for me. All the brackets from Fatman were just made from 1/4" plate and 1/2" square tubing. The end bracket to mount the rack even I could have made but the center bracket has a bend in it which would have been hard for me to do. But with the pump and hoses, I spent a quarter of what Wurthitdesigns wanted. they were still in business when I did my R&P. Ralph
gee, wonder what happened to my question..?????? lol Roy, going to buy 74 Ford truck with 390-4speed, on sunday...
I have a buddy with a 428 and a T-10 in his 56. Radiator is in stock V8 position and he runs a stock mechanical fan. Front mounts were simply rotated 180 degrees. I think the ****** mount had to have a bracket added. He runs cast iron exhaust manifolds and the stock clutch linkage. Things are tight around the upper A arms but there was no firewall bashing required.
I had a 55 vicky with 390 4speed. it was tight between exhaust manifold and stock steering box. FE'S look right in these cars.
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