Played with FE as race motors (roundy round on dirt) since back in the 60's. You touched on most of the issues. Well said. Waiting to see what you do with the oiling system ... Hope to see an AMC being built for racing in your shop. Say a 290 in Rambler American for a SEGA Gasser ... 😁
I really appreciate your attention to detail and knowledge. If a Pontiac v8 comes through the door please keep us in mind. Thank you and keep up the good work
I will never forget a 400 mopar that came through the shop. one side was .005 out (normal) the other side was .025 out front to back and .015 taper to the outside. It had run in a cordoba for 75k but always had an intake oil leak that never could be curred
Big fan of the FE power plant, did a 390fe as a drag motor in the late 90's it was a hoot and a half, not the fastest thing out there, but damn was it fun.
Great content. Great channel. Great tech. Ya’ll southerners have no idea how lucky you are to have a shop like this. Yes the FE is a bastard but goddamn its good!!! Thanks for doing what ya do!!! 🇺🇸🇨🇦
Your videos are so good. Everything you describe or explain makes so much sense it makes it easier for an amateur (like me) to realize what to look for and when going to professionals (like yourself) pays . Thanks please keep posting all this great content. 👍
Great information because my brother in law is going to be getting a 427 FE that has never been apart so i'll tell him to keep as stock as possible so it will seal. It's going to be sent to a machine shop and gone through but i hope all it will need is a stock style rebuild and probably a piston change to something street friendly for his '33 Coupe. 454 Chevy coming out and going all Ford which will make it a sweet ride. All steel body with full fenders. She is already sweet!
Thank you for the additional Ford content, Daniel. F.E.s served many of the car-buying public well in the 1960s. Yes, they had their issues but nonetheless did very well on racetracks especially when built and tuned by savvy racers. (NHRA, NASCAR, Lemans, etc.) Only when stressed beyond their design limitations did they dissapoint. Of course, the same can be said of any engine undergoing forces beyond its original intent. F.E. 427 SOHCs did well on gasoline. On Nitromethane, their 6000rpm blocks topped by 8000rpm cylinder heads caused issues of reliability. B.T.W. Chryslers Big-block architecture of the era was designed much like the F.E.s that came before them. Homage? Admittedly. the Chrysler castings were heavier. Keep up the excellent word and info, Daniel!
The cammer in bounty hunter and the snakes top fuel dragsters were turning 9000+ in the traps. If you knew what you were doing they didn’t leak oil. All engines are different and have different assembly procedures. My 428s never leaked oil but I have fixed a few for others that did.
Its amazing how many blocks and heads you've had people bring to you that have been to other shops and are so bad. Makes me wonder what would have happened if the customer actually put the thing together.
On the piston clearence.Line to Line coatings have a abradable skirt coating that can be applyed thicker to take up some clearence.but like you say the bore is off and compression to high for street use anyways.
I keep watching and learn something every time and enjoy it because it's explained clearly.. Thanks. Motor trend needs to give you a slot and run some of your videos .
@powellmachineinc3179 if you've watched at least one episode of Roadkill , which I do like or a couple I don't really care for, I'd much rather learn about something that's a hell of a lot more relevant to everybody than building 4 wheel drive trucks , for example. You building a flat head, old straight 6, small block and so on , up to the newer stuff would be of interest to a bunch of folks. Motertrend needs new content, and i'm tired of watching re-runs. I'm sending Motor Trend an email. I encourage anyone who reads this to do the same.
I've had 2 sets of those heads that every intake I put on them was too narrow . needed a gasket at least 3/16 thick . And those intakes fit 4 other core engines with stock heads .
I'll hit an aggressively knurled rear seal surface with a fairly fresh polishing belt to knock down the knurl a touch/round off the sharp edges. Some of those feel pretty sharp running your finger over it, I can't imagine a rubber seal liking that surface.
Daniel, what kind of vehicle is it going in? You're right about the camshaft and bleeding off compression with a late intake closing, as usual. If the car is lightweight, under 3,500lbs, running a 3.90 or lower gear, and a loose converter(3500 stall or higher) 11.6 can run on 93. 20° initial wouldn't be a problem either, but they should consider allowing the Sniper to control the timing. The 482ci will have torque down low. The 482 you cut a cam for is 12:1, static and cold, and will run on 93. That's with a 0.036" head gasket and zero deck. I like to keep the cranking pressure below 200psi to work with pump gas. Personally, I dislike the dished MAHLE alternative. The quench is nearly gone and renders the combustion chamber useless. I've found that makes for a lazy engine when compared to a piston that has a dish that mirrors the combustion chamber, but then you're looking at a custom piston program. Good video! Way to shake things up!
Brother....really admire your content being from the south... worked in machine shop early 90,s and was latter on a mechanic but always around Hotrod engines...You are very good and honest and from the south...most think only them Yankees know machine work and right way on engines....but buddy you are very talented and glad you a good ol south carolina boy.
We just did an FE, but had some issues on the dyno, so now it’s being disassembled and inspected. Tomorrow we will drop the pistons/rods and put the crank and cam out.
Yeah, I had a stock 1964 352 that was .089" in a couple of spots at stock bore and it had bad core shift on top of it. Wound up with another block that was standard bore 390, that block was much thicker all around and if it ever went to .060" overbore it'd still be plenty thick. Gotta check em all, if I bored that 352 .050" and made a standard bore 390 out of it I'm sure it would have popped a cylinder wall. Surprising it ran for 158,000 miles like that.
Good god this is a master class on explaining how to put together a bunch of poorly machined mismatched parts. Would it not be better for the customer to tell you what he wants and you procure the correct parts in the first place?
All do respect on them F.E Engines.....you being a fair/square dude....but Loved outrunning them 390 guys with my 396/360 66 engine in a 68 malibu being a bare bones rebuild back over 30 year ago...in there Mustang,s....whole lot lighter....the exhaust side sucks with no room for hedders.....Sad...the 351 cleveland is a ford mans engine......but poor ol Ford man...If you go up and compare 289/512 casting 427/454 block compared to that 428...God bless...you are showing the truth.My ol block is a 961 casting and want my ol machist told me years ago could go 125 over to a 427 where it is a thick bore block..like the the early 283 blocks...she aint no powerhouse....but i can bust its ass anytime I want in my 68 4-speed/12 chevelle and it likes it and the oil pressure/power is the same....Kudos to them FE DUDES.
FE's were spacificly made as thin wall blocks. They are about the lightest of all big blocks. Chevy big blocks were not thin wall castings. They can be bored .100 over size in many cases. They 429 & 460 blocks were much thicker & heavier than the FEs. Most 460s can go .080 over & some more than that! But your 427 chevy when bored .100 oversize is still smaller than a stock 429 or 460 piston by .010. And they can go another .080 yet at that point! But they are massive & heavy blocks!
Like I do Andrew when I don't mind!!!! ROFLMFAO!!!!!!! You kill me!!!!! That's funny!!!!. That block is not too far from being ruined. Ray Charles was showing Stevie Wonder how to bore a block ROFLMFAO!!!!!
I was the parts guy for Hawk Marine Power, the supplier of high performance engines to Cigarette Racing Team back in the early 1990's! I will tell you that not a whole lot has changed, let me qualify that remark! The engine management systems is miles ahead, the machining of parts is miles ahead and power production is miles ahead! That being said, all the same rules apply to making horsepower! When I see your shop I see the same old stuff! The potential to make crazy horsepower numbers now would have exploded my head back then. If you told me that there was a 500 inch small block I would have told you to bump your head on a brick! I think it was 1992 when we partnered with Sonny Bryant and made an all aluminum 634 inch motor that made 1000 to 1100 hp naturally aspirated! We mostly used the Chevy tall deck blocks to make 588 inch naturally aspirated motors that made 750 hp and 572 inch blocks with 10-71 Mooneyham Blowers to make 1100-1300 depending on pulleys and fuel. If you had told me that a Honda 4 cylinder with a turbo could easily make over 1000 hp with cheap parts I'd call you crazy. Look, the basics are still the basics and I love hearing them come from your mouth! You have a great channel going and I rarely miss a video! You format is perfect and enjoyable...keep it up! I have a 1973 Ford Mustang convertible with a 351 Cleveland Ram Air and a 4 speed! The engine has been rebuilt with good parts and a Comp Cam (XF262H-10) and a Holley Sniper with the billet distributor and Sniper electronic ignition. 355hp 411tq! I am a 1965 GTO Hardtop coupe with a Muncie M22 Rock Crusher guy! Not a Ford guy!
You can do the bore like you wont to but its going to be thin. It was common to bore a cylinder away from the thin parts . Rope seals need that rough finish or they burn up; 11.4i is not to bad if your going to drag the motor.
I have built a few 428CJs for myself but a friend had one that was put together by an automotive machine shop that had extremely low oil pressure and almost none warm. After a good oil system check I found the galley plug behind the distributor was missing. It was just a mistake but a costly one.
Round two for a redo WOW, few more dollars need to be spent for a correction. I believe the owner would probably be a bit frustrated. Looks like you will always have work that will keep you busy into the future.
The reason I like your channel is I in my opinion, you will only fix or machine a part the correct why or the customer can take it somewhere else because you wouldn't put you name on the job unless it is right. Thank you
I've had the fe in my arsenal for many years, love em but they need special attention for successful operation. Today if you want a better shot at a build with factory iron I've found if you look for the the mirror image 105 block you'll have aa better iron to work with. Jmho and experience.
If you have a BHJ plate you might find more the .010 on the deck. On 429/460 blocks have seen .025 diffrence using BHJ plate on my storm-valcan block master
They taught us back in the day some used a 1 angle difference on the valves . Might have worked on heads with no inserts Noe fords stock peanut butter heads it wouldn’t make much difference.
Unless you have a bunch of NOS 428 FE parts your best bet is just a good 390 block and a 445 stroker kit,, put that together with a torque cam and low 9's compression and you'll be at 400 smooth horsepower on pump gas..
Why do people get their hearts set on aftermarket steel cranks, on mild builds anyway? lol The stock crank is plenty strong for most builds. That goes for FE, SBF, all of them.
i call that the its an old engine bore job the iron ring will whittle them selves in place .but that guy must no have seen that piston because that good piston will use the modern low tension rings lol but any how must have been at the Briggs and scapum machine shop
Why in the world would they knurl the crank like that, it’s not 1903 lol. Most seals already has the oil flow pattern molded into it, to direct oil away as it spins. That’s crazy.
So, not trying to be contrary, but if you bore and hone with a torque plate, and I perfectly understand this is best practice, then why don't you have to check cylinder roundness, taper and diameter with a torque plate installed? Will not the relief in stress from removing the plate exhibit cylinder error?
@@powellmachineinc3179 Thank you for responding. I just watched your follow up video on torque plate use, very interesting and informative. I should have viewed it prior to this question.
.0170 390 c.i.d, cylinder wall thickness. How could, the cylinder not distort? Just, look at .100 on a spark plug gapper. That's, almost nothing. Always, loved the 390. Was not, aware of that. Seen, some really stout running 390's, in my day. Had, a couple.
It wasn’t too long after Vic Edelbrock passed away that the Edelbrock company doubled prices on nearly every cylinder head and intake manifold. SBF Performer heads went from about $1200 a pair to over $1000 EACH! Their heads are nowhere near as good as AFR which are about the same price and are 100 percent CNC ported. As cast Trick Flow heads can be had for under $1500 if you shop around. That’s why I don’t understand why people keep wasting their money on Edelbrock.
You brought up Van Norman. I never liked using that machine. The service was never to my liking. i mean you can just hear that the cutters were never the same height..
