Spinning by hand? Might get lucky. Not holding my breath. That thing has been sitting out there for years, but hey you never know. 'Ill give it a shot this weekend.
Its a drum brake truck so its before 1973. If its a 65 or 66 its probably a 352 if its later its probably a 360. The fe ended in light trucks in 1976. Both 352 and 360 have a shorter stroke than other FE's and can be pretty torquey engines when built right. Don't build it for high rpm's and it will carry a hot rod plenty quick. Lose the intake and exhaust manifolds and drop about 120 lbs.
........a load of s****! Junk that ****! -I like it when people call them junk, I just get cores for free then. The FE is a very versatile engine, some are still holding national records in drag racing...- Thank you Bill! I hate to see um called s**** iron. Phil
It is definitely drum brakes. I was out looking f100 wheel set ups so I can run spokers. I was out with the old man. He showed me a 72 grand torino first. We were headed back to the house and I was looking at brake drums as I was walking back. That is when I noticed the motor.
also gotta remember that in 1964 the 427 comets were the beginnings of the funny car. all had fe motors, but then those that were able to get the 427 SOHC mtrs were a different story.
Having built, owned and personally LIKE the FE Ford engines, let me ad my 2 cents worth. I think that they are great engines as far as work horses go. They are like Clydesdales (the horses that pull the Budweiser wagon) They are big, beautiful, heavy and strong. Now if BBHS is what you have in mind for your engine build in your model "A", go for it. They are also NOT cheap to build and mosat certainly not cheap to build "right". They are like Catholic girls. You've got to spend a lot of money to get something out of them. They have huge automatic transmissions (C-6) so if you want an auto behind it, you better say goodbye to your firewall. There is also a good bit of difference in the heads on these and most heads were inefficient. It costs about $900+ to have a set of heads reworked to start getting them to breath right on most FE heads. Best bang for the buck is the Edelbrock aluminum heads for about $1,200 becuase then you also start loosing some of that weight. Alum intake, water pump, and heads will bring the weight down. But aftermarket intakes for these are not cheap either. Cylinder walls are quite thin so they don't take a lot of t******* very well. Good pistons, rods internals are pricey too. They don't like to turn high RPMS either. FE's are vertually impossible to tell from each other using exterior markings and casting numbers. If that engine is original to that truck then most of the casting numbers will start out with D2TE which decodes to D=1970's 2=1972 T=truck e=engine Here is an FE that I built for a Mustang Shelby clone I built. This engine was also a boat anchor, literally. I bought it out of a boat. It is a 427 Sideoiler, which is also in the FE family but like the holy grail to find.
When I bought my truck it had a 67 mercury 390 in it... I looked into building it up and found that it was going to run a whole heck of alot of money to build...plus it was way heavy...so much so that it squatted the twin i beams so..that the camber was awful... After much research I went to a modern 5.0 block...in fact I got an 86 model...which is like beer...that year is an acquired taste... I like it... its also alot lighter. With the mods made to it like hyper. pistons, hotter cam, 60 over bore, 4 barrel over the fuel inj. Edelbrock intake, electric fans, Heavily modified e6 heads that I my engine builder swares will out run any e7 with more bottom end torque...and his special modifications.<<--I know you guys dont like e6 heads and I get alot of grief for it....but I enjoy it! it also got a Flattappet cam shaft---just a personal pref. along with all new valve train. A HEI DUI distributer and platinum plugs. you know it may not be a 390...but I bet with the weight difference...and more money in your pocket...you will still have plenty of Kick in the **** power.
I like the Fe engines. I have a 390 in my 69 F-100 and it is a strong motor. The way to tell between a 352, 360 and a 390 is that a 352 and 360 have a 3.5 inch stroke and a 390 has a 3.78 inch stroke.
if it is in fact a m400 type motor, look into hotrod magazines buildup from about a year ago. they made in excess of 500 horse with garden variety off the shelf parts. i wouldn't consign it to the s**** heap just yet. you can always pawn it off on someone who needs a stock decent running example if it still runs that is.
Fun, unique, but a little more expensive than a small block chevy to build and much more to hot-rod. My only advice... Whatever you do, stay with a hydraulic cam. If something goes wrong they are easier to get parts for than the mechanical version.
You could cut those twin-i-beams on a long angle and weld them into one cool HD single dropped i-beam axle. That is, if you're an excellent welder.
my last car had a 428 cj fe with dual 4s great engines had a 4 speed behind it torque monster ! ran ran mid 12s all day long these motors do cost a little 2 do right though and would advise putting it on a diet to go in a lightweight truck ditch the cast intake and go aluminum
To the original poster, that is without a doubt, Either a 351M or a 400M. Not worth your time or $$$. I don't care if you can get them cheap and a magazine gave them a buildup, they are a piece of ****. They a F'n HEAVY, they are expensive to get "right" and they are WEAK. To all the F.E. haters. Best Engine to ever come out of Dearborn. An F.E. with aluminum heads and intake, steel crank, aluminum water pump, weighs LESS than a 351 Windsor. By Far. The "worst" FE heads flow WAY better than any 302 351 head ever conceived by FMC. Check the NHRA cl*** records. All record held by Fords are FE engines, NO 429, 460, No 351C, No Boss 302.
I agree with you on that... I was really excited to have a 390...until I found out one of the previous owner had taken one valve cover off to do something to it...left it off... needless to say it got moisture and dirt dobbers...ALLL in the engine I will have to post a pic of that..youll get a kick out of it. anyway one piston had about 2 maybe 3 inchs of water in it. It was rough....however the best ford engine rebuilder in arkansas said it was rebuildable... it was gonna cost me 4500 to do standard reman(no frills). He also says he will not warranty the FE engines. So. needless to say the 2100 I spent on the 5.0 was cheaper and I have a 12000 mile warranty... plus it was built up... I like the FEs a Lot but... cant afford one. unless it was a used donor engine. Which I thought about.
Sorry, but that is an FE engine. One give away is the bolt on aluminum oil filter adapter. The other give away is that all 351 M's and 400's have four bolt balancers which this engine does not. As for the 351 M's and 400's being junk, I have a few that beg to differ.
Ok you got me, I stand corrected! The pent roof 70's valve covers, and angle of photography got me on that. I will still stand by my beliefs that FE's are the best engines ever built by FMC, and I still hate on 351/400M's. If you like the 351/400M's good for you.
the way to tell between a fe motor and a 351m or 400 is that a Fe has 5 valve cover bolts and a 351m or 400 has 8. I prefer the fe engines but there is nothing wrong with a 400. My dad has one in his 79 F-350 and we have hauled thousands of loads of s**** with no problem. He pulled an equpment trailer with 8900 bs of pipe with no problem
That is a FE motor It has the long Exhaust runner on the head with the header bolt at the top. As for the size If the aluminum tag is still on the intake it will till you the C.I. and year. The tag should be on the D.S. near the front of the intake. If the tag is not there you will have to find the casting numbers. The casting number should start with a C, D, E. If the motor has a two bolt motor mount it is Per 1965, If it has a three bolt mount it is 1965 and up. four bolt motor mount it is a truck block. Stay away from that block.
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