Experiences swapping an FE in an early bronco

[dmoses42]

I remember back in 1993 or 1994 I saw a early bronco in Minot, North Dakota that had some massive big block in it. It was for sale in a parking lot when I saw it. No inner wheel wells. Seems like the advert in the window said it was a 429, but I could be mistaken, it was 30 years ago. I thought "why would anybody put a big block in one of these???" All I thought was if you want to push whatever is in front of you into the dirt, this will do it. Seems like it was dark blue. If you have this monstrosity, post it up, I'd like to see it again...

 

[nvrstuk]

Tangents??

The OP is a new member and we did get carried away a bit (guess that would be me-again) but hey, sometimes it's good to explore new horizons.

 

[bronco italiano]

You can lighten up an FE with aluminum intake, heads and water pump but I'm stating what everyone already knows. As you lighten the FE you do the same to your wallet. Trust me, I know LOL

Tim

Aluminum block cuts another 125 pounds off too. So total would be over 200 pounds shaved off.

 

[Timmy390]

Tangents??

The OP is a new member and we did get carried away a bit (guess that would be me-again) but hey, sometimes it's good to explore new horizons.

I think when you ask for advice you need the Pro's and Con's of what your about to do. The OP was looking for a specific member to hopefully chime in. I hope he does. That said I provided my opinion as an FE owner. A true test of FE love is change the 6 piece rear main seal and not just dumping the whole thing in the river LOL The Roush FE rear main looks nice. I hope I never have to install one

Tim

 

[Timmy390]

Aluminum block cuts another 125 pounds off too. So total would be over 200 pounds shaved off.

TRUE but my budget only went so far Well the wife provided limited funds LOL.......My block is punched 40 over and it's done. Can't go any further with sleeves........So maybe in the future?

Tim

 

[bmc69]

I think when you ask for advice you need the Pro's and Con's of what your about to do. The OP was looking for a specific member to hopefully chime in. I hope he does. That said I provided my opinion as an FE owner. A true test of FE love is change the 6 piece rear main seal and not just dumping the whole thing in the river LOL The Roush FE rear main looks nice. I hope I never have to install one

Tim

I'm tearing a freshly built 428-4V back down to parade rest, never been started. Why?..been sitting a while, but mainly because I wanted to install a roller cam in place of the really nasty flat tappet I originally built it with.

 

[Dylancahill55]

Thanks for all the input. I’m all for oddball swaps in different vehicles so no worries about “tangents”. The main reasons I want an fe is I’ve worked on several and never had one for myself Although I’ve bought and sold hundreds of cores to the machine shop I work at, I don’t really find windsors to be much of an appealing engine looks wise and yeah I could do a stroker, But then it’s the rotating assembly the aluminum heads to compensate for the compression ratio increase even with dish pistons and just a craze of money to spend. I don’t see me building one I’d be proud of for less than 5 grand. Where I can build the fe and have it ready to go for maybe 2 grand at the high end. I can make a set of headers and run a motor plate setup. I really just wanted to see if I could get pictures of one done. I’ve read that the fe doesn’t require firewall and core support mods which is why I don’t want to do a 460. It’s really not that much bigger or heavier than a 351
Dressed is. The fabrication part isn’t really too big of a deal to me I just got done building the front suspension from scratch on my xj and replacing/repairing the frame rails. Fabrication isn’t a problem.

 

[Dylancahill55]

I will start a build thread and you can see how the process goes.

 

[nvrstuk]

Always enjoy learning from others guys builds. Be fun to watch this one happen!

 

[Timmy390]

Build thread will be interesting. Be sure to post the specs on the FE.

Tim

 

[ntsqd]

Seems like lightening an FE also lightens a wallet. We all know just how heavy those can get, so this is probably a good thing for your posture. < that's sarcasm if it wasn't obvious.

It's interesting that a fully skirted block, like the FE's have, used to be considered an archaic design. Looked at an LS block lately? Turns out that fully skirted blocks tend to be stiffer even if they don't have cross-bolted main caps etc.

If there's an Achilles Heal to the FE, IMO anyway, it's that the Dura-Spark distributors for them aren't common. I know that there's all sorts of aftermarket dist's made, but I've come to prefer the longevity of OE parts. Most FE dists that I've seen aren't of the same design as the D-S dists, so transplanting the D-S bit into one isn't as simple as it should be.

I'd just turn this into the build thread.

 

[Timmy390]

I went full MSD for my 390 ignition. It's been flawless for 20 plus years.....6AL with ready to run distributor and high vibration blaster coil

Tim

 

[Broncobowsher]

You can put the duraspark guts into a points distributor. Many decades ago Ford Motorsports had a write up on it.

 

[bulletpruf]

i put a 460 in a bronco but had to move the radiator behind the seats to cool it. its about the same size as an fe. I dont recomend the swap

385 series engine is significantly larger and heavier than an FE. I've had '66-'67 Fairlanes with both and currently have a '66 Fairlane GT convt. with a built 428.

To the OP, an FE in a Bronco isn't my cup of tea but I can see why you would do this, especially if you already have an FE that's ready go to.

 

[bulletpruf]

You can lighten up an FE with aluminum intake, heads and water pump but I'm stating what everyone already knows. As you lighten the FE you do the same to your wallet. Trust me, I know LOL

Tim

It's been a while since I researched it, but I think an FE with aluminum heads, intake, and water pump weighs about the same as a 351W with all OEM iron bits.

That's what I did to my 428 - Edebrock heads, Streetmaster intake, aluminum water pump. It's all painted and I milled off/ground off the logos on the heads and intake, so it looks like a stock S code 390 to the unsuspecting...

 

[bmc69]

I will start a build thread and you can see how the process goes.

I've contacted on of our Bronco Brothers that owns an FE-powered trail rig. He's not on here much but I'm sure he'll find this thread and come up with some pics.

 

[got-broncos]

Ok, I made it here. I read through the thread real fast. It seems there are some poo poo ers. I can say that my rig is amazing and a ball to drive. I have never had overheating problems, just running electric fans. It is big and heavy, but my rig handled that plus heavy bumper and winch just fine. I will try to help. Getting ready to go to a rigs and coffee.

 

[DirtDonk]

I haven't seen this posted here in awhile, so thought I'd throw it in the mix while we're talking about engine weights and such.
The good old Performance Unlimited website. Several come up with a search that have nothing to do with this old addition to the internet.

Be interesting to compare their numbers to any that members here (or elsewhere) have come up with in the meantime.

Paul

 

[ntsqd]

You can put the duraspark guts into a points distributor. Many decades ago Ford Motorsports had a write up on it.

I've done that, but the bulk of the points dist's used in the FE's and Y-blocks are a different design even though they're both Motorcraft dist's and take the same cap and rotor as the later points dist's. The mech advance mechanism is completely different and the points plate is attached differently as well. It's been 20+ years since I ran into this, so I am a little fuzzy on the details.

 

[Dylancahill55]

So as of now the engine specs are std bore 406 ci
C6aer heads with factory adjustable rockers
Comp 270s solid lifter cam. I like the 282s but I think it’s alittle much. I drove an f100 that had it in a 427 and it was great but in a 4x4 just alittle more torque in the bottom will be good. F427 intake Shooting for right around 9.5-1 compression to keep it pretty pump gas friendly. I’m going to make headers for it not sure if they’ll be chassis style or fender wells yet. Np435,205 trans and t case. I’ve got the twin stick setup with a gear banger shifter for the 4 speed.