Engine upgrade

[colvinbh]

I have a Contemporary Classic, I am starting the process of swapping out my 351 Cleveland with a 427 Ford engine and a TRX trans. Also considering a Fluidyne High Performance FH35 5 coil radiator. What problems do you think I should be anticipating? Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by colvinbh

I have a Contemporary Classic, I am starting the process of swapping out my 351 Cleveland with a 427 Ford engine and a TRX trans.

I take it that means a stroked small block, and not an FE. Any reason you're not going with an FE? They're way more fun that small blocks.

[hauss]

Traction would be my concern, I have a 427 and I can tell you with 335 nittos 3rd gear no clutch just stab the throttle and it will boil the tires. 427 motors have a ton of hp. you are also going to have to learn to stop grinning all the time. Just sayin.

[colvinbh]

It is an FE Block that now is a 482 CI Stroker.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by colvinbh

It is an FE Block that now is a 482 CI Stroker.

That will be just lovely.

[colvinbh]

Originally Posted by hauss

Traction would be my concern, I have a 427 and I can tell you with 335 nittos 3rd gear no clutch just stab the throttle and it will boil the tires. 427 motors have a ton of hp. you are also going to have to learn to stop grinning all the time. Just sayin.

.

What radiator are you using ? Looking forward to grinning !

[colvinbh]

Does anyone know where to get the radiator brackets and frame to install the Fluidyne High Performace FHP35 radiator in a Contemporary Classic ?

[767Jockey]

That's exactly what I did. I have a Contemporary Cobra that started out with a 351C and a C4, it now has a FE, TKO600 and a Fluidyne radiator. Been there, done that. What do you need to know?

[mvanhorn8893]

I've finished building my kit from 1996 over the last few years.

One thing to watch is the motor mounts.

I'd have to see which side of the post your supports are to confirm. see attached for photos of two different vintage contemporary manuals.

https://imgur.com/gallery/elFZ1k1

I have a Howe Racing Enterprises, Inc. radiator that came with my kit, mounted vertically and I don't have any overheating issues. I do not know if they had different radiators for 351C vs 427 FE's .

You'll probably also have to watch the height that you cut your surge tank down to get it to clear the hood.

Another item to watch is the height of the carb relative to the hood scoop. I have a over bored 390 with Edelbrock Aluminum top end kit and I only had room for a 428 CG carb spacer on top of the intake.
I have a TKO 600 and went with a Tilton Hydraulic Throwout bearing due to the clutch fork angle on the stock quick time blow proof bell housing.

Also watch how you have your new headers and side pipes made to have decent ground clearance.

Good luck.
Mike

[colvinbh]

Where did you get the frame & brackets to mount the radiator ?

[767Jockey]

You have a private message

[767Jockey]

I live in Houston where it's hot but at least it's humid.
My FE is 520 cu. in. and 744 HP and so far the Fluidyne with a custom shroud and large Spal fan keeps it right at temp. The Fluidyne seems to do the trick.

The FE will not mount up to the frame mounts that are in there now for the Cleveland. You'll need to cut them out and have FE specific frame mounts welded to the 4" tubes. Careful with the height of them - too low and your oil pan will be too low to the ground, too high and you'll have carb to hood clearance issues. Either way if it's too high or low you may have pinion angle issues. You have to check these every which way to Tuesday before you weld the new ones in. Get this right the first time and everything else falls into place easily. Take your time, use jacks, wood blocks, whatever you need to do to use the actual engine in place to mock up the perfect position for the new frame mounts. Make sure the headers are on the engine and you watch carefully that the new mounts allow the headers to properly exit in a centered position in the header outlet holes in the body. LOTS of things need to be juggled, checked and double checked to get these mounts correctly located and at the correct height.

[767Jockey]

What Mike wrote above is good info. One note however, is that the part numbers given by Contemporary in the manual are for the actual steel and rubber motor mounts that bolt to the engine. Note the line above those part numbers where it says that at the time of ordering you must tell them what engine you'll be using. That's because the actual mounts welded to the frame are different for each engine family that Contemporary made provisions for. In your case the frame was built to accomodate the Cleveland and subsequently no matter what motor mount you use on your new FE the frame mount won't mate up to it. I hope that clears up any possible confusion.

[saltshaker]

I had issues getting my FE’s headers to line up with the cutouts. I found and can share it a picture of all the different FE mounts ford used. The mounts move the engine forward or backward so your header can like up. My suggestion is to get the motor in the car with the body on add the headers and see which mounts might work for you. I can send you the part number of the mounts I used. I made no alterations to the frame. Send me your email and I will froward you the info
Jon

[767Jockey]

Jon, was your car originally a 351C car or a FE car?

[saltshaker]

I don’t know, the mounts that the manual suggested didn’t work. A friend send me the list with pictures and we figure out that the motor could be move so I bought most of the sets (still have them) I took a dup set I had and cut the studs off, drop the motor in and lined it up and marked the mounts where the studs should be and the matched them to the correct set… it worked

[hauss]

Originally Posted by colvinbh

.

What radiator are you using ? Looking forward to grinning !

I am using the BMW E36 1" oval tubes and it is not big enough still having issues on hot days.Going to probably a mishimoto for the cure just haven done it yet.

[colvinbh]

Originally Posted by 767Jockey

Jon, was your car originally a 351C car or a FE car?

I don't know, my car was built in 1982 or 83 and has probably had several owners.