There are a few considerations when shopping for an FE. First, if you want a hydraulic cam, start with an FE that came with a hydraulic, as most were equipped. Those that had solid-lifter cams are difficult to convert for juice cams. Look in the valley of an FE. If the long oil gallery down the middle has machined holes with screw-in plugs, it's for hydraulic cams, or look at the back of the block. If there are only two gallery plugs, it's a solid-lifter motor.
The other caveat is the wall thickness; some blocks can be too thin for a cube-gaining overbore. Have the block sonic-tested for wall thickness before you do anything else. Look for a minimum of 0.145 inch on the thrust sides of the bore (intake and exhaust sides). According to Tom Lucas of FE Specialties (Sacramento, CA), "The notorious oiling problems of stock FE blocks aren't much of an issue for street-use engines of 300-400 hp that seldom see over 5,000 rpm. If we're building a big stroker or the customer will be running high rpm regularly, then we do the full range of oiling mods."
The FE family of powerplants is a drop-in for '50s Fords that came with Y-blocks, and all you may have to do is move the transmission crossmember back an inch or so to accept a later-model C6 automatic. The C6 is a rugged, modern transmission that needs only a shift kit, reverse valve body, and a mild converter (500 rpm over stock stall) to perform perfectly with a spiced-up FE. The motor mounts are the same if yours came with a side-mount (passenger car) Y-block. Of course, any Ford, Edsel, Mercury, or Lincoln from '58-on was designed for the FE. If you want to run a three-pedal car, you can't beat a Ford top-loader four-speed for torque handling, and Speedway Motors (Lincoln, NE) has new steel scattershield/bellhousings for your 352-428 that will take the top-loader or a TREMEC five-speed.
Early street rods will have no more trouble installing an FE motor that any other vintage engine we've covered so far in this series. If you have to recess your firewall in shorter compartments, relax, the FE distributor is up front where Henry figured it should go. There are few choices for headers, although Sanderson (San Francisco, CA) does have a shorty and a model for popular FE-into-F100 swaps. In most good-sized swap meets you can find some FE engines and ancillary components such as intakes and valve covers. Compared to most vintage engines, many of the parts you'll need are being made today, so less scrounging is required unless you're doing a restoration.
If you want to tread where few street rodders have gone and run an FE Ford for power, this is the best time ever. A number of books are out there covering these engines, plus websites and discussion boards, and also remember the great FE series done in this magazine by Doc Frohmader in 2000 and 2001 issues (available from most swap meet magazine vendors), which also contained a detailed build of a C6 transmission. You'll be the centerpiece of any Ford-in-a-Ford subgroup at a rod event.
Engine builders elongate the...
Engine builders elongate the oil holes for alignment, as seen here. For most street engines, only the front two mains (the last to receive oil) need this treatment. On high-performance applications, all the mains are treated this way. The oil pump hole in the block (lower right here) also gets enlarged.
Other recommended oiling system...
Other recommended oiling system mods include enlarging/chamfering the oil hole in the block where the oil pump mounts (bring it out to the gasket size), and to enlarge this hole to 0.465 inch (then radius the opening) where the oil filter adapter goes.
Compare the ports in the standard...
Compare the ports in the standard oil filter adapter (left) to the later adapter (C8AE6881-A, available from most FE suppliers). You blend the opening in the block toward the smaller end of the adapter port (upper port in this view).
You won't find a wide selection...
You won't find a wide selection of FE parts at the swap meets, but keep your eyes open; this 390 "kit" was $600. Externals like finned or chromed OE valve covers and various aftermarket intake manifolds are more commonly seen than the internal parts.
Here's where a lot of good...
Here's where a lot of good FE engines wind up, in Cobra replicas where some builders spare no expense to make it as hot and "right" as they can. These cars are so light that a dual-quad 428 or 427 errs on the side of overkill, as would be the case in a light street rod, too.
If you're patient, you might...
If you're patient, you might find a gem like this collectible aluminum Ford 3x2 with correct original carbs, linkage, and fuel log. At $750, this was a great deal for someone.