Wondering what I have. Engine block, never used.

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by CobraEd

What is that welding that runs along the top seam, and then goes off at an angle?? Is welding on a block normal?????
.

Casting flashing, its normal. A machinist will deburr the block during prep and may choose to remove some of that type stuff to reduce chances of cracks.

[tauro]

Hey guys had to work late and its dark gonna have to go look in the daytime on wednesday. I REALLY REALLY appreciate the comments, and thanks elmariachi for a little more explanation in where to find certain things. I'm no mechanic and and don't know what freeze plugs and hex plugs are lol.

Story. Father worked for Ford for over 20 years, sold parts and did mechanic work. He grew up working on cars for my Grandpa from an early age. To say the least he was under a car for most of his life, unfortunately before I could really appreciate his knowledge and invest the time to tinker with him, he got sick, and spent the last years of his life fighting congestive heart failure and other issues coming from smoking and drinking his whole life. This upcoming January he will be gone for 2 years now.

In any case, my dad was full of stories, a lot seemed pretty un-believable, but being a Harley riding rebel I found out from my uncles most were true. Nonetheless, I was driven to school as a child in a super loud, really fast truck that my dad told me as I got older is powered by a nascar 427. He always talked about his never used Nascar 427 laying in the garage.

So what I want to find out is if this indeed is the real thing, because there is a fully built version of this in a truck I own, but its not running due to a carb issue spitting gas. Its been almost 2 years since he died, I am now 24, I am realizing that I might never use this block properly and might actually consider selling it. I have a mechanic friend, I will mick it and get back to the boards with the results. The other motor I would someday like to put in a cobra replica body but that's years away. So I really have a lot of thinking to do, first most important thing is to identify.

[Excaliber]

Dude, your Dad sounds cool, (God rest his soul)!

[tauro]

Yeah he definitely was. Went to the army because he got into trouble as a kid, straightened out and luckily avoided Vietnam by several months. He would of had to re-enlist and didn't, thankfully because I probably wouldn't be here. Then rode harley's, broke hearts, lived all over the US, worked for an AFB and helped fixed a ton of friends cars. All I remember him doing when I was young was pulling out motors or pulling out transmissions, fixing them for friends over beer and sending them on their way. I cherish those memories now. I am really excited to figure out what this is so will do asap!

[rustyBob]

just my opinion....lock that block away and hang on to it....just in case the other one should suffer a major failure....to bad about your Dad, he sounded like a real cool Dude.

[LMH]

Ok, I see now what you guys are talking about. Being a hyd lifter block, it has to be 68 or newer, right?
Larry

[Excaliber]

...or 67 maybe? But not older than that.

[undy]

tauro, sorry about losing your dad... He reminds me of someone I used to know.

Two schools of thought, 68 being the first year for 427 ribbed blocks and the most accepted was after 1970/72.

Also... Understanding there were no ribbed 406s, they were also cross-bolted.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182...xternal+ribs--

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182...ide+of+block--

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182...ing+special---

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182...8/ID+Big+Block

[RICK LAKE]

tauro Sorry about your dad I lost mine 3 years ago while racing at R&G. Lost my mother july 5th of this year. My father hated the fact of me working on cars and jeeps. The sad thing was He worked for a company that went out of bussiness. He tryed to get me in the company and I would have had 20+ years, too early to retire. I figured we all need 4 things to live in this country, food, electricity,gas and CARS. I figured I would always have a job with a dealership or gas station. So far except for taking a year off, I continue to work. Working flat rate and being fast has worked out very good for me. I would have never told my Father that I was making from 10-20 thousand more per year than him. Anyway

2 thoughts, unless you really need the money for something, hold on to the blocks. Have them miked, boiled and cleaned. Spray them with a couple of cans of WD-40 and put them away in the garage for a future time. Date codes are important on them. You may down the road find someone looking for a correct date code which makes those blocks worth some good money. The ribs on the block can be ground away and the sides of the block have shot done to it. This will make it look like an orginal block. Your block also has no sleeves. A big plus. If you do build a cobra, there is a 30-50% chance you will break the motor if you abuse it. I have 2 spare motors for my cobra, an iron 410 that was to be a 428 motor and a new shelby block in the basement with matching numbers of my car for a more bigger build down the road.

You sound sentimental like me. I would just clean them up and bag them. down the road see whats up. Don't be in a rush to do anything at this time. Make a plan up and follow it. Down the road you may swap a block for machine work to be done on your cobra motor or need parts. Rick L.

[FIA-ERA]

Hello Tauro, Again Thanks for the story and the info. I sent you a PM. There's a lot of the same brother en here on CC. Many great guy's and stories! Best Regards, Matt

[elmariachi]

In the very lowermost left and right corners of this picture, there are two tabs that are protruding off of your block. These tabs (bosses) have small flat areas where Ford may have stamped things like production #s, VIN#s and date codes. Go to this thread about my block and you'll see what I mean. Using some steel wool you might reveal some of these interesting tidbits about your block as well.

This probably goes without saying, but while rolling this around your garage, it might be wise to get it up off of the bare concrete, and don't orient it so that it sits on the main bolts that are aimed at the ceiling in the above pic.

[Excaliber]

If I was 24 and suddenly came into something that might provide a few thousand dollars of income out of the clear blue sky,,,, I'd sell it! Sure, I might regret it later, but thats later, this is now.

[lineslinger]

I am in agreement with Elmariachi and others in that your photos depict a 427SO.
The block I did my build on is a NOS 68 SO block I found still in its cosmoline wrapping. The only difference I can spot between the two is the 427 marking in the lifter valley where some blocks have an X next to the marking and some don't.

I have heard and read a lot of different indications on what the X stamping actually indicates.

The lower of the two plugs shown on the upper right rear of your block is the housing for the pressure relief valve/spring mechanism. The darkened line running down from that plug appears to me to simply be thread sealant running down.

That's a cool find you have made, if you do decide to sell it I think you found an active market for it here.

[tauro]

Lol Excaliber..

I think if this was the only one I had I would't even dream of selling it. Being very fortunate that dad built another running motor that has been used for over 20 years bone stock is the only reason I am even considering it. Granted the truck hasn't been driven in about 4 years, it had been working perfectly until he switched the carb to this crappy Holley one.

A house is much more important and the time to buy is now and probably for a while longer. I can understand the what if's of having a major failure, but I wouldnt modify more then stock personally. And with the mechanic friends I have, I feel like I could make this last for a long time. Dad did, and he used to hot rod it all the time lol.

[Excaliber]

FE's tend to get a bad rep for blowing up primarily because they are often run hard, REAL hard, without mercy. They are in fact a surprisingly robust engine when built right, not just with near stock parts, but machined and assembled right!!! When done correctly, you can run the piss out of them and they WILL hold together.

I know, I've got all original parts in mine, some of the good stuff, and I've punished the heck out of that motor and it's rock solid reliable. What DID give out on it a few years ago was the MODERN solid roller camshaft. I went back to a flat tappet, like the FE gods and your Dad intended it should have!

[rustyBob]

I spinn mine to 6k all the time with cast pistons....no failures yet and its been 5 years on this overhaul

[tauro]

Had to track down a micrometer but from multiple peoples PM's, this is what my dad always said it was. A side oiler. Specs tmorow, more pics and I will try and find the actual stamped code. I will go ahead and accept offers through PM, or should I start an entirely seperate post in the for sale section per rules?

[tcrist]

I would say, get people in the know to tell you what it was worth and then put it for sale in the "for sale" section.

Or call Keith Craft and ask him if he was interested. I am sure that he is following this thread.

I think there is also a shop in Sacramento that is well known for knowing FE'S. Don't know there name though. Someone else could chime in on that.

Good luck,

PS, There is always e-bay if you want to go through that hassle.

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by tcrist

I would say, get people in the know to tell you what it was worth and then put it for sale in the "for sale" section.

Or call Keith Craft and ask him if he was interested. I am sure that he is following this thread.

I think there is also a shop in Sacramento that is well known for knowing FE'S. Don't know there name though. Someone else could chime in on that.

Good luck,

PS, There is always e-bay if you want to go through that hassle.

The shop in Sacramento is FE Specialties and the owner is Tom Lucas.

http://www.fespecialties.com/

Tom has built a number of motors for CC members over the years and is in the process of building a motor for me.

Give Tom a call, I am sure he could provide some good information.

[BBQCYCLEWERKES]

Anxious to see what this block is worth as I have 3 of them still in the crated boxes. All 3 are NOS warranty blocks also. I am also thinking about possibly selling 1 or 2 of them.