Thread: FE Differences

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What is the difference between a FE SideOiler, and a FE TopOiler? I thought all FEs were SideOilers, cause the filters and oilpumps are located in the same location on all blocks arent they? Who ever know please give me some insite. Thanx.
Don

The sideoilers were 65 and later 427's only and bring oil to the mains first then moves on to the rest. Topoilers bring oil to the cam first then rockers and mains (and lifters if a hyd block) thus the topoiler. All FE engines other than the 427 sideoiler are topoilers. Even the early 427's are topoilers. There were also the marine 427 blocks that were cast as sideoilers but machined for topoiling. There is lots more but this is the basic idea. G.

Oh forgot to mention the sideoiling concept was first used on the Ford Y block engines. This was later adapted to the 427's for better durabllity and endurance on the NASCAR circut. The sideoiler block was developed for the 427 SOHC cammer which was later banned by NASCAR. To fast for the HEMI's.... LOL.

G.

Thanks, FFR428. Now coud you tell me the differences between the 427 and 428 FEs and why Ford made 2 different size FE motors 1 Cubic inch different. Thanx again.
Don

The 427 had a 4.23 bore and a 3.78 stroke. The 428 a 4.13 bore and 3.98 stroke. The 427 was Fords all out engine and was expensive to machine and build. Plus warranty problems being most were raced. They looked for a cheaper alternative and still have a good performing engine. This is where the 428 came into play. The 427's bottom end was crossbolted and 65 and later (except 68) used forged steel cranks and rods. These were expensive to use plus the blocks much more time consuming to machine. As we know time is money. Ford wanted a cheaper performance engine for street use. The 428 was the choice and first came out in 66. The larger stroke gave boatloads of torque with HP at an average 345-360 in stock trim and close to 400 in Cobra Jet and Super Cobra jet applications. The smaller bore 428 blocks were easier to cast and machine plus they were all 2 bolt main blocks unlike the crossbolted main 427. Plus the 428 was about half the cost of the 427 to produce. Ford first used the 4.13 bore in the 406 engine. The 406 had a 4.13 bore and 3.78 stroke. The 406 was the precurser to the 427. Sort of a tweener if you will and only produced for 1 year 62 1/2 to 63 1/2. Listed at 385 hp with a 1x4 and 405 with a 3x2. If you want to do some 428 reading check out www.428cobrajet.org By far the best 428 site online. I could go on but will spare you my endless babble. LOL.
G.

No worries about the babble. All that matters to me is Im learning about what I want and you are the one helping me so I dont mind at all.

I was wondering about the 410 FE. I konw it was a 390 block with 428 crank, but was it just basically a Mercury motor or what?
Thanx again, I really do appreciate it,
Don

Yep the 410 was a Merc only engine 66-67.

Have you ever heard of the 370 ford motor, i dont know if its an FE, and what about the 361 and 391 motors

How about reading casting numbers. I know how to read the first 4 characters, but i dont know about the 5th character.

C4AEA from a crankshaft, according to a decode sheet i found this is a cast num of a 1964 ford full size/galaxie engine part number but other than that how do you tell what engine size and if that is the correct vehicle. any assisstance?

Don

The 370 does not ring a bell. The 361 and 391 were both FT (Ford truck) series engines. They both had the same cyl bore of 4.05 but the 361 a 3.50 crank stroke like the 352 and the 391 a 3.79 just a hair more than the 390 and 427. Both engines had forged steel cranks. As far as casting and Ford part numbers there are lots of online and available reading material that fully covers these. Also a master parts catalog available on CD. A very good book to have is the Steve Christ "How to rebuild big block Ford engines" This book covers rebuilding, part ID, different FE engines in general and has a section of the more common blocks, heads, cranks , rods etc...with numbers, years and application. Also block bore sizes, crank sizes, valve sizes, it goes on.... In the mean time I'll look for a few sites. Here is one www.woodyg.com scroll down to the FE big block section. You can take it from there.
G.

the 370 was a 385 series engine. little brother to the 429-460

The 428 with smaller bore and longer stroke was a better smog combination, as well as all the other points mentioned. I've torn down a number of pickup truck "390's" from the early '70's that were 410's. Ford must have had a bunch left over so they sent 'em up to Canada to use them up. Our smog regs were less strict at the time.

The side oiler was designed for racing, it plumbs oil directly to the crank via a passage molded into the casting's left side, hence the name side oiler. The center oiler or top oiler was a traditional FE design which first oiled the cam and lifters and then the crank. As the pre 1968 side oilers were all solid lifter engines oiling the lifters wasn't needed.

The side oiler was specifically a redesigned FE block for the 427 SOHC or cammer. It was also able to accept any FE heads previously made. In addition to the cammer heads, Medium, High Rise, and Tunnel Port heads were employed to try to get an edge in Grand National (Winston Cup) competition.

The side oiler in addition to the side oiling configuration also were built on a separate assembly line using a hig nickle alloy and tighter tolerances than their FE cousins. They all had screw in freeze plugs and in 1966 were cast with a squared off cylinder mold for greater strength. The side oilers were also 70 pounds heavier than other FE blocks.

I have an FE casting number guide in my photo gallery.

428's were great motors, but they their 2 bolt main caps and standard oiling systems were not up to Grand National competition standards. If you do the math the 4.2325" x 3.7800" dimensions of the 427 actually net you about 425 cubic inches... Go figure.

As a side note. Most "427" Shelby Cobra's had 428's in them... The 428 was $900 cheaper than the 427 in 1967. Seems cheap today, but back then it was a small fortune.

a 390 block which has a 4.05" bore and a 3.98" stroke netted you 406 cubic inches. The 406 was made in 1962 (one year only) It also had cross bolted mains. 406's and 427's also had additional reinforced webbing in the crank saddles, as did the 390 GT engines of that era, these engines were essentially 427 castings bored to 4.05". The C3AE 390's are probably the best kept secret in the FE line with their high nickle content, reinforced crank saddles, thicker cylinder walls and cast but not drilled cross bolt main bosses. The casting number C3AE appears on both 390 and 427 engines in 1963-1964.

Originally posted by 1cobra1


a 390 block which has a 4.05" bore and a 3.98" stroke netted you 406 cubic inches. The 406 was made in 1962 (one year only) It also had cross bolted mains.

Denny, you want to handle this one or should I?

Oh, what the heck. The 406 had a 4.13" bore and a 3.78 stroke and was made from 62 1/2 to 63 1/2. the 427 replace it as the top of the line.

An FE with 4.05" bore and a 3.98" stroke is the 410 used in the Mercs and as R Pope said, he has found a few in 70's Ford pickups.

You're quite welcomed, Denny.

Also of interest, according to Pat Ganahl,s "Ford Performance" book (S-A Design publishing Company copyright 1979), the early 406's weren't cross bolted. It only came about because of warantee problems with them. The last half of year of production saw the advent of the cross bolted main caps.