I am asking for csomeone on another forum I belong to. Any help would be great. Very cool block, i have never seen one that cross bolts like that. He also wondering what it would be worth..

Need help from someone that speaks “Big Block Ford”
Looking for some input on a 427 Ford center oiler casting number C4AE 6015, date code 3K17. The block has cross bolt main bearing caps The block not drilled for hydraulic lifters, solid lifters only. The block has been machined to 30 over and then stored. The 427 crank polished and inspected and still has standard rod and main journals. There is a manual 427 flywheel and harmonic balancer and adjustable rocker shaft assemblies. I wonder what this engine would have been used in?

 

Would have been used in 64 R or Q code 427 Ford-Merc cars. 3K17 is date code of 63-Oct-17. 64 production started in August 63 so this block is correct for early 64 production year. Or anything else you can put a nice FE 427 in. Value would be maybe $1200-1400 being fresh .030 and no issues. Crank if it's the original grooved main cast iron $200-300. 427 balancer if correct $200+ if the rubber isn't cracked. Market has kinda came back to earth a bit price wise. So things are not as high as they used to be.

 

Are they a strong engine?

 

Is there another letter after the 6015? One of mine is a C4AE-6015-A, probably the same block. 6015 just means "engine block", a 289 would also say 6015, the last letter defines WHICH block- around '62-'63 there were a lot of different code HP blocks, as the 406-427 underwent a lot of changes and improvements, and when a change is made, it gets a new casting number. Center oilers have pretty strong cylinders and typically are pretty safe at +.030, sideoilers are more "iffy". If it doesn't have sleeves, cracks or pan rail blowouts it's value goes up, not many around that haven't gone boom at least once. The full-grooved crank, while there is nothing wrong with it, unfortunately is a "who cares" item, I have 3 or 4 of them (including the C4AE-B one in that C4 shortblock) and nobody's interested unless they're fanatical about correct numbers- I have a C2 grooved crank that I save just because I have the 406 car- probably never use it. I wouldn't even consider using it for a pickup engine, as the value of selling the block would go a long way towards a 445 setup or similar that will thump in a pickup. I have a couple buddies "up north" that race, and would probably be interested in it, and are also very good FE builders, your friend might be able to swing a sweet deal on getting a good engine built

 

Nothing really. They are very common parts. A matter of fact I can come by and get them out of your way. I won't even charge you for hauling it away...



Your coming onto a Ford site, into the FE section and asking if the 427 was a strong engine!?! Well...the 7 liter is THE greatest engine ever made. It has raced and won every form of racing that it qualified for. It won countless races in NASCAR. It powered the GT40s to a 1-2-3 win over Ferrari in LaMans in 66. It was the heart that powered Shebly's Cobra. It was the basis for the Cammer, the only engine ever out in out banned from NASCAR, and won Top Fuel in AHRA and NHRA. It powered the Super Snake; the twin supercharged car Bill Cosby talked about in his stand up act. This engine powered the lightweight Galaxies and the Thunderbolt. This monster was a bully on the street when (dealer or owner) installed in Mustangs, Fairlanes and the Mercury Clones. It was responsible for many green backs and pink slips to change hands.

Yeah, this engine was strong. The historical significant of this motor drives the value. Plus, most of these engines were installed soley for homologation purposes and not in large numbers. They were really detuned raced engines and as such many of them found their way from the streets back to the track in some form or another. That's means that most blocks you find now are worn or broke. The going rate for a clean usable block on Ebay right now seems to be in the $2K-$3K range. But at that price they set for a while. For a quick sale keep it around a grand. Or like I said, I can come and get it and save you the trouble of dealing with it.

 

A common myth that comes up a lot is that the Cammer (called the "Sock" back then) was "banned" from NASCAR, which is inaccurate- France didn't "ban" it, he just imposed a very biased weight factor on it that would have made it uncompetitive, so Ford told France to stuff it and pulled it out at the last minute. Pretty much like the weight factors put on the Clevelands in ProStock, which allowed Jenkins to be "competitive" with his little Chebbies- in fact the Hemis and Cammers also got factored much heavier than the Chebbies, but the Clevelands got hit the worst- actually there's a story on NHRA's own site admitting that they did it to give the Chebbies an advantage because so many of the fans liked Chebbies and wanted Jenkins to win. The "Tijuana Taxi" four-door Maverick was built to get around that rule, as the longer-wheelbase car had a lot better weight factor than the Pinto/Mustang II cars- and later the Fairmonts etc

 

Two 8v 427s down the street here, a '63 and a '65. They sound pretty strong when he runs them, which isn't often. Guy I knew in HS had one in a '64. He was a damn fool sometimes, and he came down our road WOT at about 140 mph on night at about 2AM. It sounded like a sledge hammer on an anvil when he shifted that thing on his way towards us, and it seemed like the house shook when he went by.

Some were not amused by this....

 

I've read a lot of different versions of the story. Most of them state that is was all out banned so I just repeated them. But you are right. I guess it was it was short sighted of me to state a half truth even though most folks do the same. Here's the best explanation I could find

This is from this http://www.kitcarmag.com/thehistoryo...r/viewall.html

 

Nope, but I just don't feel like digging out my old magazines from '65 with the actual race coverages and interviews when it actually happened. What France did by imposing the weight factor was to get Ford to pull the engine without an actual ban. It has been told the "banned" way in mythology many times, but it wasn't actually banned- more like effectively blockaded LOL