Ford 427 Z2 Motor

[Gus M]

Anyone have experience with the Ford 427 Z2 for a weekend driver?

[Mark O'Neal]

There is no reason it wouldn't perform well as a driver. At 535 FWHP it's pretty weak for the engine size. They tried to make up for the puny heads by stacking the cam...but it didn't work any better than one would imagine it would. They also don't include the lobe separation...but I'm guessing it's 112 so the engine is probably pretty smooth.

It does, however, make 545 ft lbs of torque...which tells you that this thing is not going to make a ton of rpm...but it will pull a fat lady off a tricycle.

So, if you're just tooling around town, it will a much better than adequate job. Price seems to be pretty decent too. Last, they used decent parts in it so, if it were me, I'd not hesitate to use it.

[Gus M]

Originally Posted by Mark O'Neal

There is no reason it wouldn't perform well as a driver. At 535 FWHP it's pretty weak for the engine size. They tried to make up for the puny heads by stacking the cam...but it didn't work any better than one would imagine it would. They also don't include the lobe separation...but I'm guessing it's 112 so the engine is probably pretty smooth.

It does, however, make 545 ft lbs of torque...which tells you that this thing is not going to make a ton of rpm...but it will pull a fat lady off a tricycle.

So, if you're just tooling around town, it will a much better than adequate job. Price seems to be pretty decent too. Last, they used decent parts in it so, if it were me, I'd not hesitate to use it.

Thanks Mark!

[tortuga]

Do some research, alot of bad press out there for the frp 427/535. Im having one rebuilt right now that the engine guy is way less than impressed with...oil burner from day one.

[Mark O'Neal]

A. I've never met an engine build that was the least bit impressed with anything that didn't come out of his shop.

B. While he's going through your engine...put a cylinder heads on that thing that has at least a half a chance at moving 427ci of air. Those heads are just fine....for a mild 302.

You'll be glad you did.

https://www.trackey.ford.com/downloa...-6049-z304.pdf

[tortuga]

Originally Posted by Mark O'Neal

A. I've never met an engine build that was the least bit impressed with anything that didn't come out of his shop.

B. While he's going through your engine...put a cylinder heads on that thing that has at least a half a chance at moving 427ci of air. Those heads are just fine....for a mild 302.

You'll be glad you did.

https://www.trackey.ford.com/downloa...-6049-z304.pdf

About engine builders with the "if its not mine its crap" attitude, but this pig was never right from day 1. Evidenced by the gallons of oil i've added to the thing over 30k miles...

As for heads its got the Z304Ported heads now, which supposedly flow 10% more than the more pedestrian items...

The power and response was good enough just tired of burning oil...

[Mark O'Neal]

Everyone builds a pig every now and again. Even me.