Just after the reign of the 427, Ford added 1 cubic inch to the FE with the intro of the 428, which achieved a similar displacement to the 427, but with a smaller bore and longer stroke, for more torque and an engine that was easier to manufacture. A popular stroker combo in the old days was a 428 crank in a 427 block, making 448 cubes. Two performance versions of the 428 were the 428 Cobra Jet and the 428 Super Cobra Jet. The name wasn't just a marketing thing, the last of the 427 Cobras actually carried 428s. My friends and I in Boston drooled over a red one in a Ford showroom in 1966.
The FE As Street Rod Material Today
Without a doubt, millions more FE engines were produced than any of the vintage engines covered in this series, but they remain, like gold nuggets, somewhat swept aside by the mainstream. The problem has been that outside of the heavy usage of these engines in restored/rodded late '50s and '60s Fords and Mercurys they were designed for, the builders of Cobra replicars have been snapping up FEs for years. After all, that curvy big-block Cobra body with 427 badging is a letdown if you open the hood and see a Chevy or 302 Ford. So those few performance FE motors remaining undiscovered, the hi-po 390s, 406s, and 427s go for big bucks, and for a 428CJ, just a bare block could cost you over a grand. Back in the mid-'70s, the hot ticket was to scan the classifieds for old ski boats. You could find one with a Holman-Moody 427 (then outdated by big-block Chevys), buy it for five grand, swap in another FE, and pocket the 427, but those days are probably long over, as is finding all those special performance parts that used to be in the Ford dealership parts books.
The good news is that we're not looking to restore a 428 Cobra Jet Mustang or a $150,000 Thunderbolt, we just want a great-looking, boss-sounding thumper for our hot rod. Due to the introduction of a number of great aftermarket components for the FE engine family, we can pick from a wider variety of donor vehicles. You can still find good 390s to start with, but also consider the 410 engines (0.200-inch extra stroke over a 390) found in '67 and '68 Mercs. The actual usage of the FE design continued right up until 1978 in trucks. Trucks used 390s and 360s (basically a 352), but the FT (Ford Truck) engines of 361 and 391 nominal displacement were in lots of trucks that have not as yet been picked over. Because of their low compression and smaller valves, no one paid much attention to these, until our friends at Edelbrock (Torrance, CA) jumped in 10 years ago (were they ever ahead of the vintage-engine curve!) and started producing very nice aluminum FE heads. All you need is a rebuildable short-block with these heads, modern pistons, and cam, and you've got yourself a runner, not to mention dropping 45 pounds from the admittedly heavy FE. With an aluminum intake manifold (FE manifolds are huge) and these heads, an FE weighs little more than an SBC crate motor. For our purposes, the truck engines have the added benefit of rear-sump oil pans, ideal for a street rod installation. The other aftermarket news for the FE includes the availability of SCAT (Redondo Beach, CA) stroker kits with new cranks, performance rods and pistons with big-block displacement possibilities. Survival Motorsports (Michigan) and FE Specialties also offer FE stroker kits. Blue Thunder (Palm Springs, CA) manufactures redesigned iron heads and 427 blocks plus several dual-quad intakes, and Genesis (Indianapolis, IN) makes 427 side-oiler blocks in iron and aluminum, with numerous improvements over the originals. Dove Engine Parts (Columbia Station, OH) has a catalog full of FE performance parts for serious engines, as does Cobra icon Carroll Shelby Enterprises (Gardena, CA).
There's a wide variety of...
There's a wide variety of internals and externals for the FE family. In connecting rods, from left to right are a standard 352-360 rod, much beefier 390 rod, coveted 427 LeMans rod with big capscrews, and a modern H-beam aftermarket rod. Rebuilt 390 rods with ARP bolts can handle 400 hp or more.
If you're looking for original...
If you're looking for original iron heads, these three examples are, from left to right: small-valve/big-chamber (EDC) 352, smaller-chamber standard 390 (C4AEG), and the C4AEH head for a low-riser 427-428CJ featuring bigger ports, bigger valves and smaller chambers.
As you can see here, most...
As you can see here, most FE engines had a problem with oil hole alignment with the mains, although in stock applications they worked OK. The situation looks worse than it is, and is easily remedied.