Explain FE & M please
Freshman User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 34
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Explain FE & M please
FE- Ford Engine (there are different opinions on what this stands for)
W- Windsor
C- Cleveland
M- Modified (different opinions on this one too)
FE is the BIG block. It ranges in displacment from 332 to 428 ci. In trucks you will usually find 352, 360, and 390 ci motors.
This one is a bit more confusing. The M motors are tall deck (distance from crank centerline to top of cylinder bore) blocks of the Cleveland family. They use the Cleveland style cylinder heads. The 400 was produced first and the 351M is a derivative from that motor. The 351C actually has a shorter deck hight than the 351W motor by .3" ( 9.2 vs. 9.5). However, the Cleveland engines are considered to be mid-size blocks because of their displacments (on the larger side compared to the Windsor family; W=221-351 ci vs. C=351-400ci). The 351W is a tall deck 289/302 block. Their are other major differences between the 351 blocks that has filled books.
Confused yet!?
MattN
70 F100 2wd
302 3-spd man
Sweetest little blue truck I own!!!
W- Windsor
C- Cleveland
M- Modified (different opinions on this one too)
FE is the BIG block. It ranges in displacment from 332 to 428 ci. In trucks you will usually find 352, 360, and 390 ci motors.
This one is a bit more confusing. The M motors are tall deck (distance from crank centerline to top of cylinder bore) blocks of the Cleveland family. They use the Cleveland style cylinder heads. The 400 was produced first and the 351M is a derivative from that motor. The 351C actually has a shorter deck hight than the 351W motor by .3" ( 9.2 vs. 9.5). However, the Cleveland engines are considered to be mid-size blocks because of their displacments (on the larger side compared to the Windsor family; W=221-351 ci vs. C=351-400ci). The 351W is a tall deck 289/302 block. Their are other major differences between the 351 blocks that has filled books.
Confused yet!?
MattN
70 F100 2wd
302 3-spd man
Sweetest little blue truck I own!!!
Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,416
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From: PacNW
Explain FE & M please
The terms refer to different engine "families". I'm not going to get into an explanation of what the acronyms are for but suffice it to say that the FE series are the big block V8s which were put in Ford trucks from the early 60s to 1976 when they were largely replaced by the M series. The FE motors most commonly found in trucks are the 352 and 360 but the series also includes the 390, 410, 427 and 428. The M series consists of the 351M and 400.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 128
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Explain FE & M please
I like to think of the FE as an intermediate block when it comes to displacement, because at the time the FE came on the scene there were engine families both bigger and smaller than it (Y-block and the Lincoln 430/462, which also made it into the 58-60 T-bird). The FE soldiered on through the 60s, when the 430/462 was replaced with the 385 series, but was replaced in the intermediate role by the 351m/400.
When you describe Ford engines as small or big block, you are inviting comparisons to shivvy engines--a shivvy big block has a much larger potential displacement than an FE. The Ford big block is the 429/460 or the 430/462 of yore. The FE is intermediate, not really "small" but not quite "big" either.
When you describe Ford engines as small or big block, you are inviting comparisons to shivvy engines--a shivvy big block has a much larger potential displacement than an FE. The Ford big block is the 429/460 or the 430/462 of yore. The FE is intermediate, not really "small" but not quite "big" either.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 24,552
Likes: 74
From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
Explain FE & M please
FE is for Ford Edsel, hell there are all Ford engines for goodness sake. ;-)
M = good
FE = Best Oo Oo
John
jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group
66F100s Rule
In the cool still quite of night you can hear chevies rusting away.
M = good
FE = Best Oo Oo
John
jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group
66F100s Rule
In the cool still quite of night you can hear chevies rusting away.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 359
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From: Northern Virginia
Explain FE & M please
Here we go again with the Ford Edsel business. :-). As I recall, this eventually grows into a very long thread. :-)
Raul
w/ 81 F-100, I6, SROD, Carter 1V non-feedback carb, no A/C, no PS, no PB, but it gets me where I need to go
Raul
w/ 81 F-100, I6, SROD, Carter 1V non-feedback carb, no A/C, no PS, no PB, but it gets me where I need to go
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 24,552
Likes: 74
From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
Explain FE & M please
Raul, just got to set them new fellers straight, what comes in here stirring up that foolishness.
John
jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group
66F100s Rule
In the cool still quite of night you can hear chevies rusting away.
John
jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group
66F100s Rule
In the cool still quite of night you can hear chevies rusting away.
Trending Topics
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 128
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Explain FE & M please
FE= Freakin' excellent
M=mediocre, moribund, el Muerto, meak, mild, etc.
M=mediocre, moribund, el Muerto, meak, mild, etc.
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Elder User
Joined: Nov 1999
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Explain FE & M please
IMO ofcourse,but i dont call any Ford engine big block/small block.Even if they are slang i still believe they are Chevy terms.
I have had chebby guys ask me"is a 390 a big block"?And i tell them the same.But some poeple like to think that like Adam and Eve big block and small block are a set in stone thing for all brands which is not true.
Chevy had two V8's that were popular.The "small block and the Mark5 "big block".The 348/409 were a seven year deal but was redesigned as the Mark5.
OK enough of GM.
I "like" to think FE stands for Ford Edsel and M for Modified Cleveland.
Wrong or right,they make sense.
...blue
1970 F250 Sport Custom 4x4.351W,DuraSpark,N.P.435,Dana24,Dana diffs,4.10:1's,36x9.00 CordovonPower Kings,Blue/white.---oleblue---
1966 F-250 4x2,390,4spd,Custom Cab,Blue/white---bessie---
1979 F-150 Ranger 4x2,302,C4,cold A/C,thumpin' stereo,brown/tan---tany---
I have had chebby guys ask me"is a 390 a big block"?And i tell them the same.But some poeple like to think that like Adam and Eve big block and small block are a set in stone thing for all brands which is not true.
Chevy had two V8's that were popular.The "small block and the Mark5 "big block".The 348/409 were a seven year deal but was redesigned as the Mark5.
OK enough of GM.
I "like" to think FE stands for Ford Edsel and M for Modified Cleveland.
Wrong or right,they make sense.
...blue
1970 F250 Sport Custom 4x4.351W,DuraSpark,N.P.435,Dana24,Dana diffs,4.10:1's,36x9.00 CordovonPower Kings,Blue/white.---oleblue---
1966 F-250 4x2,390,4spd,Custom Cab,Blue/white---bessie---
1979 F-150 Ranger 4x2,302,C4,cold A/C,thumpin' stereo,brown/tan---tany---
Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 1999
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From: yes
Explain FE & M please
I used to think modified sounded right, but then someone said that the Cleveland was Cast in the cleveland plant, the windsor in the windsor plant and the M in the michigan plant and that seemed to make more sense
