514 Ford Crate Engine

[GT-2]

I am looking for a Superformance car, and have found a few with 514 ford crate engines. Several people have given me warnings to stay away from this motor. They have told me that it doesn't make a good street engine. What is the verdict from the members here?
Thanks,
Tom

[Eric Simone]

Without getting into too much trouble with my friends and allies at Ford Racing, here's my take;

The biggest drawback of these engines is the fact that they come with a Mech. roller camshaft. Sure, people have run roller cams on the street, and are still diong so, but it's just not right for a car that has to spend a bunch of time idling, cruising between stoplingts, and just generally not operating in short-sprints like a roller cam equipped engine is intended to. A cam relies on oil splash from the rods for lubrication and cooling, and low-speed operation combined with higher than stock valve spring pressures makes a pretty touchy situation at best. Valve spring life in these engines is less than expected as well. A solid flat-tappet or Hyd. roller is a much better choice for a street driven car.

I personally don't like the fact that they use a way-too-short 6.605" stock rod length, with a 4.300" stroke crankshaft on a 2.500" rod journal. Ford used an existing piston forging that they had boat-loads of to construct this engine with, that's one of the reasons why the price is so resonable. They had everything in overstock they needed to build a 521 c.i. engine with some slight mods. to existing parts, but in my opinion, not the right way.


I perfer the 4.300 srtoke crank with a 2.200" rod journal and a 6.800" long connecting rod combo for a big 385 series. The bearing speed on the rods is much slower, and the rod-to -stroke ratio is MUCH better with the 6.800" rod.

The engine is put together "assembly line style" which is ok, but you just can't beat a blueprinted piece from your favorite engine shop. Things like bearing clearances and piston clearances are given much more scrutiny and customized more to the individual applicaton.

The overall quality of parts used is very good, but a lack of attention to detail for the individual application is the only drawback.

Feel free to give me a call at 877-552-2112 or 586-792-6620 or mail me at esimone@diamondracing.net

Thanks!!
Eric Simone

[Tom Wells]

Hello Tom,

I've run the Ford crate engine 8K+ miles with no problems after the first 812. That's the good news

The bad news is that even though I had the engine totally reassembled, including replacing the bad rods (literally one had a 1/2 dime-sized piece of metal missing from the I-beam as-delivered from Ford) at a cost of over $600, I had a cam gear failure at 812 miles due to Ford putting the cam gear onto the distributor incorrectly. That one cost me another $2200 and Ford refused any responsibility in the cost. I lost a good deal of faith in Ford at that point - they apparently don't give a d!mn for their customers...

After we replaced the distributor with an MSD everything is fine.

To make it streetable, and to make it fit, I changed the solid roller cam to a Crane hydraulic roller, and ultimately went to a Torker II manifold (lower height) and a Holley multi-port fuel injection setup. Crane makes the OEM cam for the engine.

After all that, it dyno'd 412RWHP through a C6 and is an absolute hoot to drive. Plus, the exhaust note is worth the whole thing! Noone ever mistakes it for a small block

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

Regards,

Tom

PS: I agree 100% with Eric. The solid roller cam is a disaster waiting to happen if used a lot of miles on the street. Too much spring pressure and too radical for longevity.

[GT-2]

I would hate to pass up a nice car that I've found with a 514, but after reading the comments, I am a little uneasy. The motor has 500 miles. Has anyone run one of these motors on the street without issue? Or is ford just selling a time bomb?
Tom

[craigayl]

Tom

As Eric pointed out, the only weak point of the current crate 514 is the camshaft. It is VERY aggressive and does not lend itself to street driving. By “current” I mean with Eagle rods. The first 514 crates has rod problems, so Ford switched to Eagle.

On my 514 I broke valve springs at about 5000 miles. A friend broke tappet rollers. Others I know with 514’s changed the cam before they had a problem.

I don’t think you can beat the 514 crate. If I were to get another Cobra, it would definitely be a 514, but I would swap out the cam immediately. There are many really good alternatives. Even good solid roller alternatives. The ramp on the stock cams is great for the drag strip, but not good on the street. The ramp is just too fast…

Craig

[millennium200]

GT-2

With over 8000 miles on my 514, including one cross country 3500 mile plus trip, along with almost 1000 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the Parkway 45mph speed limit, the only maintenance so far is adjust valves once. I am having to remove the intake at this time to fix a water leak due to poor installation by the previous owner. All this mileage has been with the stock cam and distributor. Where else can you get over 600 hp for a retail price of $7595.00. If the engine dies, I will just buy another and still have less money in it than most custom engines. If money is no object, then there are several all aluminum big and small block engines that would be great.
The only down side I have found is, when stuck in traffic for long periods, the engine compartment gets very hot. You know large engine - small engine bay. If you see a SPF with a small block installed, the engine looks very small in the engine bay compared to a 385 series engine. The second possible down side is, if you are the kind of person that only knows two throttle positions - off and to the floor - you will not survive very long.

[wboss429]

this is a very good engine,and yes w/6800 rod bearing speed is slower becauseof size, but the scat crank is a nice pice, ive done a few 500 inchers for poeple ,and i just got a customers svo 514 in(512) its a early one std bore, it had one rod that i wont put back in a engine,(casting flaw,thrase rods r scj rods by the way,w/the weight moved to the top) but no other problem at all,im uping the comp to 13.7 to one or so, now i dont know or can't speak for people who have roller cam problems, but i know of 2 514's w/over 45000 miles on em ,and we dont put anything else but a roller in any engine,(429 460)street use, the smallest roller is around 680 lift,dist gear should be inspected in the first 50 miles,(in any hi po engine) just like a ring gear they have a run in,

the worst thing about this engine is the c j heads,they dont flow
very well at all, they will be replaced w/ blue thunders on this one

a crate 514 is a very good deal for the money....................

[bibt1272]

Decided to purchase fords new 514 crate motor. Just recieved it last week. Several improvements. New Hp. Rated 625 hp. There using the new scj heads, new valve springs, h rods, billet dist. heavy duty push rods. Listed in there new cat. The 514 with hydralic cam comes with the new heads and increased hp.
you can look at their new cat. on fords performance web site.
Was told the new 514 are bullet proof. I hope their right.

[Tom Wells]

Was told the new 514 are bullet proof

Those of us who paid FoMoCo to do their testing for them accept your thanks...



and uh, oh yeah - good luck!

[bibt1272]

Thanks Tom. In reading all of the threads on the 514, it looks like a lot of people had to rework the engine. http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/...id=1070503098.
The 385 forum also provided ford with a lot of info on their mistakes of the 514. However, I ve been told its bullet proof. But I dont believe it. Im going to take mine apart to check it. I'll have more info. when I fire her up in april. The price has also increased on the engine. I paid 7400. for mine. Again sorry to here about your mishaps with the engine. I do hope I have good luck with mine.