[updated:LAST EDITED ON 26-Feb-02 AT 01:21 PM (EST)]This probably seems like a dumb question but what does the FE stand for when people talk about 390s and 427s etc. and roughly how much hp do the 390s, 427s and 428s have? I know most of you guys run big blocks so this is probably a good place to ask. Would it cheaper to get 400hp out of a big block, namely 428 or 427, than out of a small block (I think it would be but I'm just making sure)? and if it is what would be the bst way to get that much power?

 

The way I hear it FE stands for Ford Edsel but I don't know that to be fact. I don't know how low the horses go but my 390 is around 200 HP. 400 HP is esay to get out of a 390-428. That's where I'll be going this summer.

 

Looking for gross HP or net HP? Originally, the truck 390 put out 255 gross HP; 400 can be done fairly easily with the proper components.

FE either stands for: (a) nothing, (b) Ford Edsel or (c) Ford Engine depending on who you ask and what time of day it is. You may have just opened a can of worms that has been opened and closed countless times around here.

 

Nah Jim, It's Ford Edsel all the way. The engine was first introduced in 1958 in the Edsel car, and named for Edsel Ford one of the sons. Hell they are all Ford engines, come on.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

John, not counting the number of times I have seen you respond to that question, you actually only have about 4,000 total posts!

But somehow you are able to answer it a little differently each time.

 

Hey man, I'm trying. Have you ever had to work while having CRS? Don't blow my cover, dude. I think I have maybe 1500 posts tops.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Unfortunately for us, big power from any Ford motor isn't cheap, especially when you compare the price of Ford hp to Brand X hp. The cheap way to go, IMHO, is scrounge up a complete Lincoln with a good 460. They're cheap as dirt in most places.
Eric

 

I have heard that the "Fe" refers to the periodic table.Fe is the symbol for IRON.These engines were made from lots of that stuff.

 

Iam sure thats what FORD feally wanted every one to know ..BUT the marketing guys always try and come up with something else to sell to the masses.. Ha Ha Ha!!!



>>I have heard that the "Fe" refers to the periodic table.Fe is the symbol for IRON.These engines were made from lots of that stuff. <<



__JOHN__ô¿õ
1972 F-250
ICQ# 6030753

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Feb-02 AT 09:29&nbsp;AM (EST)] First used in the '58 model year, and the Edsel version was not used in any Ford models as it was a 361 or 368?ci and they (LEM div) wanted money from the Ford division for each unit to pay for their 'development' costs.. vs the 332/352 that were used in Ford & T-bird.
Strange fact from a T-bird book: At the assembly plant, they lower then engine-transmission as a unit from the top. Original motor mount points on the block allowed the unit to tilt at a specific angle, that would go in on the assembly line when they were doing the first test assembly line runs. Final production added some weight somewhere that moved the balance point such that the workers could hardly get the engine/trans to fit into the car unless they stood on the water pump or bell housing to tilt it back and forth.
THE FIX: Change the casting at the foundry to move the motor mount positions, and re-design the motor mounts to take the change into effect. Whatta bunch of num nutz. To me, the obvious solution is to change the fixture they slipped under the motor mounts to pick up the engine so that it would tilt to the proper angle. Whatever. That was 43 years ago.
tom

 

Actually the 361 Edsel engine was used in the ’58 Ford police cruisers as a power option.

 

>Unfortunately for us, big power from any Ford motor isn't
>cheap, especially when you compare the price of Ford hp to
>Brand X hp.

Eric, I want you to think about this statement for a couple
of minutes befoe you respond...

If A Ford engine *NEEDED* all the modifications that a
SBC needed, would the parts be cheaper???


Steve & the Rockette
'63 F100
'68 F100
'72 Capri 2L
'73 Capri 2.6L V6
'73 MG B GT 2.6L V6(Ford)
'98 Contour SVT 2.5L V6 (Mods)
'01 ZX2 (No Mods yet)

 

I hear ya, Steve. Almost every moderately used sbc will have a flat cam and cracked (smog-type)heads. But I do feel some envy - my brother and I were breaking our backs installing an iron CJ intake on the Merc when a friend came by with his $25 acquisition - an aluminum sbc intake with carb attached - and held it up for us to see... with two fingers.
It's too bad that Ford didn't persist with the FE rather than move to the M motor, but I guess they had their reasons: cost, weight, size, emissions, etc.
Eric

 

FE does stand for Ford Engine it does not meen Ford Edsel.

 

>FE does stand for Ford Engine it does not meen Ford Edsel.

Well, gee whiz, Kasey, thanks for clearing that up!