FE, 428, 428.... virgin US engine needs help

[Excaliber]

SO many ways to comment on the multiple questions. Perhaps we can start with engine 'series'. Like the small block WINDSOR family (series). Every manufactuer starts with a basic 'game plan' for his engine and that evolves over the years, it gets modified for various reasons. The Windsor series (SB) started in early 1960's as a NEW 221 cubic inch light weight V8. Which quickly grew to 260, then 289, 302 and finally 351W.

Chevy did the same thing with their NEW small block, in the mid 50's. It was a 265, then 283, 327, 350, 400, etc.

FE series (FORD ENGINE) started in the late 50's, so many no doubt I'll miss a few. BASICALLY, 331, 351, 390, 406, 427 and 428.

Then Ford dropped that line and started with the 385 series of engines, 429, 460.

Oh and don't forget Fords original mid 50's overhead valve V8, the Y block series, 272, 292, 312. Hopelessly outdated from day one, it was ALWAYS an over wieght low performance 'pig'.

So what makes a small block as opposed to a big block? It's more about crankshaft\block design than 'cubic inches'. The FE series motors have BIG cranks compared to the small block Windsor series of engines. A 351W can be bored and stroked to 427, but it's STILL fundamentally a 'small block' due to it's inherent design. While a 427 FE really is a 'big block'.

Chevy had a 400 cubic inch small block, based on the original mid 50's 265-283-327 block. But they ALSO had a 400 Big Block, which depending on the year, was referred to as a '396'. The small block 400 and the big block 400 have NOTHING in common.

[farmallmta]

Clarifying or confusing further, we might also add that nomenclature changes over time. The FE engine was typically referred to as Ford's "Big Block" during the 1960's to distinguish it from the "Small Block" which started life as 221 cid. Early nomenclature of the 385 series engines (429, 460) was commonly "Super Block" since it's displacement exceeded that of the mere "Big Block," which we now refer to as the FE.

The fun part is that some factory small block displacements eventually exceeded some factory big block displacements, the small block can be made to equal or exceed big block and super block displacements, and at least one super block displacement (370, in trucks) was smaller than both.

But please, don't bring up the MEL series which had duplicate ci displacements, the heavy truck engines of up to 534cid which put out less power than small blocks quickly became capable of, or the 3 completely different 351cid engines, with the 351C-- the far and away best of the bunch-- getting dumped from manufacture by Ford the quickest. How about the 427, 428, and 429 being available nearly simultaneously in the late '60's? All this and more from the Better Idea Folks at Ford.

Don't care who ya' are, that there just don't make no sense. Trying to make sense or logic out of Ford's V8 engines is enough to get a person babbling like John Kerry explaining how he can simultaneously hold two mutually exclusive and opposite postions on a single black and white issue.

[RockSnake]

The "FE" originally designated Ford/Edsel

[olddog]

Originally Posted by RockSnake

The "FE" originally designated Ford/Edsel

I was told that it stood for fricking explosion, but he was a Windsor guy.