Does anybody know if the MEL (430, 462) bellhousing bolt pattern is the same as the FE bellhousing bolt pattern? Will a bellhousing from a FE bolt onto an MEL?

 

No. The MEL bellhousing is elongated and bolts to a 429/460 (aside from it's obvious purpose.) That's the purpose of the extra pattern in the 385 block. I never knew that until somebody posted a pic recently. It uses only one of the top bolts, and slopes down at a sharp angle across the back of the block.

 

There was another engine I thought that the FE shared a pattern with. Does anybody remember what it was?

 

The ’58 –’62 MEL blocks have the same bell as the FE. The ’63 – ’65 blocks have a lower starter mount and a different dowel pin so they are not a direct bolt on to the FE bell but can be made to work. The ’66 – ’67 462 has a dual hybrid pattern of the earlier ’63 – ’65 and the 385. The block has an extra hole and a cast bracket that lets it mate to the 385 bolt pattern or the earlier pattern.

 

I wanted to say that the MEL was the same but I was waiting for someone more sure than I was. Thanks Barry! Picking a tranny must be pretty easy for the MEL guys. Lots of options.

 

Wow. You guys always impress me with your knowledge, but this time you've suprised me.

The application here is bolting a MEL into an mid/late 50's F100, but the info also applies to other applications. I was conversing with a fella that has a MEL in his 57 F100. It's using a stock FE truck bellhousing, which allows the use of the bellhousing mounts.

Now I'm wondering what was being used for a flywheel. I'll bet the early MEL is compatible with the FE flywheel. A better choice would have been MEL/FE truck automatic bellhousing/FMX. I'll bet that MEL was a torque monster.

 

You're right the MEL and FE flywheels are compatible in fact they're the same although you don't see too many MEL's with sticks these days. I'm trying to remember what tranny they used, I think the 383 was offered with the Borg-Warner T-85 overdrive trans. MEL engines were the hot ticket for swapping back then but they were just called the Lincoln motor. Oh, FE motor mounts fit too.

Hey we all learn from each other, that's what so great about these boards!

 

"Hey we all learn from each other, that's what so great about these boards!"

Yeah, I had no idea that Ford would change the block casting rather than just change the bell housing.

My '69 Chilton's lists the 462 with 485 torque. It lists the 460 at 500.

 

495@ 2800

had to bring this back...thinking about putting a mel 462 into my '75 crew cab 4x. Its a marine engine.

 

Where's a good place to get more info on the mel's?

 

Try here;

http://www.network54.com/Forum/257364/

 

dont they have a shorter stroke and bigger bore compared to most other engines? so in my mind that would equate to high horsepower capabilities, right? so what was the bottleneck on these engines?

 

Didn't know there was a bottleneck with these engines. They were designed to chove around big heavy cars and did it without raising a sweat. My father had several Lincolns with these engine and the 5000+ pound cars would do 0-60 in under 10 seconds stock and did it quietly too.

 

not sure about bore/stroke but when it makes 495 ft lbs at 2800 AND 325hp at 2800 its impressive...

I have yet to find a decent source of info on the mel. one site is supposed too but it is 3rd rate imo.

 

MEL's used Turbodrive on some engines, MX Cruise-O-Matics on others. The 1959/60 T-Birds offered the 430 as an option. Only the MX Cruise-O was available, no manual transmission was offered.


B8A-6375-B .. Flexplate ~1958/60 332/352/430 ~ 153 teeth / 14.96 O.D. / (16) 17/64" bolt holes.

1959: 430: B&S 4.30 x 3.70 / Compression Ratio 10.0:1 / 310 HP @ 4100 RPM

1959: 383: B&S 4.30 x 3.30 / Compression Ratio 10.01:1 / 322 HP @ 4600 RPM