427 side oiler

[classical glass]

Can some explain to me why the 427 FE side oiler is considered one of the best engines and one of the most expensive to own? What's the big deal? I have one in my car and comparing it with a Corvette 427 I think it falls short in HP and torque. I've had good luck with my engine and wouldn't swap it for any other engine out there.I'm just curious. What's your opinion? Thanks in advance.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by classical glass

Can some explain to me why the 427 FE side oiler is considered one of the best engines and one of the most expensive to own? What's the big deal? I have one in my car and comparing it with a Corvette 427 I think it falls short in HP and torque. I've had good luck with my engine and wouldn't swap it for any other engine out there.I'm just curious. What's your opinion? Thanks in advance.

Ford's premier racing engine in the '60s. History & legacy - not the least of which it was used very successfully in racing Cobras, GT40s and NASCAR. While the '427 Cobra' is legendary, many / most '427 Street Cobras' sold by Shelby were actually fitted with 428 CID engines.

Good write-up here: Engine builders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_FE_engine#427

One thing to keep in mind is the valve train of the FE is a carry-over from the Ford Y-block engines, used mainly in the '50s. BBC engines use a more efficient canted valve arrangement and bore spacing vs the inline valve arrangement of the FE (except for SOHC / Cammer engines). That's going to keep the FE at a disadvantage when compared to the BBC, even with equivalent displacement.

The FE series has been called a 'big block' by many, but I've also seen it referred to as a 'medium block' - the bore spacing is between the Windsor and 385 series engines.

It's worth noting Ford utilized / copied the BBC canted valve design when designing the later 385 series. Ford improved on the BBC by, among other things, placing the camshaft higher in the block, allowing for large displacement engines through the use of stroker cranks (4.5" stroke doesn't require block clearancing modifications).

Edit: Canted valve heads have been made for the FE, but they're billet machined, boutique and undoubtedly very pricey - if they're even still available. http://www.ultrapromachining.net/pro...ford_info.html Apparently they can make stupid power, though:
527 CID Ford FE:
1000 HP @ 6600
1112 HP @ 7700
1108 HP @ 8500
820 ft/lbs torque @ 6800


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF6y...re=context-cha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9g3...s&feature=plcp

[Tom Kirkham]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

...While the '427 Cobra' is legendary, many / most '427 Street Cobras' sold by Shelby were actually fitted with 428 CID engines...

Actually most of the "427 street Cobras" did have 427s. Only about 100 had 428s

[DanEC]

If you lived through the 60s it was a pretty bid deal when Ford got PO'd at Ferrari for backing out of a deal to sell their major interest to Ford and Ford took revenge by mounting the 427 FE in the GT-40s and take 1, 2 and 3 at 24 hr Lemans and also dominating for the next couple of years. I have a 427 Corvette also and I might agree it's a bit more sophisticated and even superior in some areas. One is not weight however, the FE is noticeably lighter. But a Cobra is a Cobra and there aren't that many guys around who want a 427 Chevy in their Cobra.

[blykins]

It's iconic, basically because of the 427 Cobra and the 427 Fairlanes/Galaxies of the 60's. The side oiler block has provisions for strength and reliability that no other factory FE block has.

I've built both 427/428 FE engines in stock-ish form and also did a 427 for a '68 Corvette. They all were within single digits of each other on hp and torque.

[RockBit]

The 427 side oiler in my ERA has exactly one original Ford part in it - the timing cover. The rest is all after market. If you compare the prices for any FE part with, say, the same part for a SBC, the FE part is roughly double the cost. I think this is because in the hot rod world the FE is a very small market as compared to SBC, BBC, or even SBF. the FE parts are made in small production runs and the tooling and setup costs have to be amortized over fewer parts.

As Brent said, the 427 side oiler is iconic, and represents the state of the art in engines in the late 1950's. The engine was designed to compete in endurance racing and NASCAR and was very successful in its day.

I wanted my replica to drive and feel like the original cars. Since it is a once in a lifetime build for me, the extra cost of the side oiler didn't matter to me as much as having the original look and feel of a 1966 Cobra.

[olddog]

Now my memory is certainly questionable, but I recall back in the day, Ford and Mopar pretty much owned NASCAR. Chevy started out fast but failed to last. Somehow the 427FE managed to hang with and beat 426 Hemi engines. The Hemi is a far superior head to the FE in theory. That alone says something.

[DanEC]

They ran those 427 FE for 24 long hours at Lemans with good reliability. From memory I think they tried to limit engine speed to 6,000 rpm but that was still a pretty amazing feat for a Detroit engine. The FE always struck me as a step in Detroit engine development - ahead of the 409, close in parity to the 413/426 Max Wedges (except in vehicle weight) but a step behind the Chev MKIV 427 and the 426 Hemi. It was an era of fast moving engine development.