I located a local boat owner with what he says is a 427 engine. Casting number is C5AE-A. However, he says it does not have cross bolted mains. That makes me think it is not a 427. What do you say FE guru's

 

No cross bolts = not a 427. I found info saying that C5AE-A could be a 427.... or it could be a 390.
If it has a 4.230" Bore, I'd be real suspicious about cylinder wall integrity. Maybe you could drop the oil pan and see if it has the bosses for the cross bolts but they're unmachined. That would be a big factory f**** *p that I don't see happening.

 

Some have said here that marine blocks are not always cross bolted.

This has all kinds of threads and pics of 427 marine engines, and though I didn't go through the whole site, the pics I saw all had the cross bolts.

Great pics in this one, cross bolts and the major dished piston the marine engines ran:
Chris Craft Commander Forum: Note from Charles, with some photos

Specific babbling about cross bolted mains:

Chris Craft Commander Forum: What's all the hype about 427 cross-bolted mains ??+--

IMO, I would want to measure the bore before I paid "427" money for an engine. In a recent thread a guy was given some BS about a 428 PI or something and ended up with a garden variety 352.

 

It's quite common for industrial or marine 427s to not be cross-bolted, at least that's what I've heard having never seen a marine/industrial 427 myself

They can be setup for cross-bolts rather easily if that's your intention.

The thread below devolves after a while, but there are some good observations in it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/826031-427-i-d.html

 

Just curious. What are the cross bolts for?

 

They keep the mains from flopping around at 7000 rpms.

 

Thanks, did a little research after I asked the question.

Know where I can find pics. of these? I can't picture what it looks like and haven't found any pics yet on the web

 

There are photos here of a guy converting a 390 block to the 427 cross bolted main caps. It will give you a "before and after" look at the block and the differences will be obvious.

Converting a Ford 390<br> to Crossbolted Mains


In post 3 above, the first link, you can scroll down and see the bolt heads just above the pan rail on his block.

 

Here's a side view. Only the center three bearings are cross bolted, Front and rear mains remain two bolt.

 

Thank's to all who have responded to this post. I'm better informed on the subject because of the knowledge you shared and links you provided to other sources.
Based on my reading here I now understanding that some 427's used in marine and industrial applications did not have cross bolted main caps.

The seller shared the following information when I spoke with him yesterday. The engine has a solid cam, is a center oiler block, has about 100 hours on a rebuild. He says the overbore is .040. and that it has a left hand rotation. I think that means it has the same rotation as used in automotive applications. In his ad he does not mention selling the motor outright. He wants to trade for a small block marine motor. I asked what he wants for it and he said $1500. He placed his ad yesterday, but told me that he has run the ad earlier this year. At least one guy came by to check out the motor. The way he described the guy made me think he was either an engine builder or machinist who was knowledgeable about FE motors. He obviously passed on it. Based on what he said I think several people have checked it out and passed on it because of the missing crossbolts. This caused him to do some investigating on his own.

He says the motor is still in the boat. I may call him back and ask if it has a closed circuit cooling system or is cooled by pond water. I'll also ask if he observed when the oil pan was off rather or not it has the bosses for crossbolting. Since his price is so low, with a recent rebuild, I doubt that it s a 427.

 

It was my understanding that the crossbolts kept the main caps from walking around under sustained high rpms or sustained load at somewhat high rpms....like they do at Lemans. I'm not sure they would be necessary for a quick trip up high and then back down again. But I'm unsure at this point.

However, if correct, then it would be a good idea in a boat. even though the rpms may not be severely high, the engine is under load all the time if it's a displacment hull....like always driving up-hill with your truck.

I have seen two marine 427s...both center-oilers, both had the cross-bolt bolt heads showing. One was clearly labelled "Reverse Rotation". Be careful you don't buy one of those. The crank would probably be unuseable as the little grooves that help keep oil from escaping the rear crank seal are angled the opposite way. Not to mention other parts that would be unuseable....

Internal cross-bolting bosses on the block inside might go un-noticed as there are spacers that go between the block bosses and the main caps, and they wouldn't be there. I guess bosses on the main caps would definately be noticed, so maybe ask him about the main caps from when he had the pan off.

 

The only thing besides the crank that can't be used from a reverse-rotation marine block is the cam. I seem to recall that the reverse-rotation crank can be machined and used, but that may be incorrect.

About the only way to tell what the block is, is by measuring the bore.

 

Never heard of or seen a marine, or any other genuine 427 for that matter, that didn't have cross bolts. I do have a C5AE-A 427 block, in fact the complete original shortblock out of an old V-drive boat. It is a center-oiler, with the change requiring a new casting # being the 4 mounting hole side mounts that came in '65- last "new" block design before the side-oiler. It has cross bolts, nut & bolt 13/32 PI type rods, and '63-type flattop pistons complete with "knorbs", and the stock small solid cam & dumbell lifters. the common thing that was omited/different in marine blocks was side-oiler blocks that did not have the side oil passage drilled, as there was a machined cut right through the side oil passage casting on the side of the block for clearance of the marine mounts/hardware, so they used the center-oil system. Doesn't mean the one you're looking at is a 427 though. I also have one of the last-edition 406 blocks, the latest casting code, and it has the casting provisions for the cross bolts, but was never machined or drilled for their installation, and it has a standard 427 bore size- the latest 406 blocks were supposedly the same as the first 427 blocks, and I have seen at least one other that had been bored to standard 427 size with good thickness remaining- it's in my buddy's '55 T-Bird right now- no telling if mine came that way or was bored out. There are also quite a few '64 390 blocks out there that came with the unmachined casting provisions for cross bolts.
The cross bolts were added to the FE race engines when the caps started moving around in the 406 NASCAR engines- but they went back to around 1937 in the 1100 ci GAA tank engine, which was a steel crank, cross bolt, side oiler, DOHC, two four barrel, all aluminum engine- not bad for '37, and the architecture is very familiar

 

427 Cross Bolt ???? - Vintage Mustang Forums

427 Industrial motor - Club Hot Rod Forums

 

Art in the CHR post, the link I gave for the 427 block is no longer available. I should have saved it but didn't. I don't see those guys selling 428 parts anymore either. Think that was a large wave of industrial stuff they came across years ago. And the 427 block was a special find and yes a 2 bolt 427 industrial block with pressed in plugs.

I've seen the same as Mean Gene far as the 427 marine blocks. They were crossbolted mains with brass screw in plugs, machined as topoilers but cast from the sideoiler plugs.

The block in question here could be just a 2 bolt main 427 industrial block someone found along the way and used. Who knows and everything has a story. But anything is possible.

There is a guy at Club Cobra who has and is using a 2 bolt 427 block. I think the Gessford engine site has his build pics posted still in the archives. I'll try to find his user name there if you'd like to contact him.