The Ford FE family of engines is one of the company’s greatest group of horsepower makers. The hallmark of any great engine family (in our estimation anyway) is flexibility. How many variations of the engine were made, how many models was in found in, etc. In the case of the FE it touched every aspect of Ford product lineup from low horsepower torque making trucks to the meanest NASCAR and NHRA variations powering stuff like the Thunderbolt and the Cobra Jet Mustang. There were special versions as well with the famed “Cammer” coming into the scene like a house a fire and then disappearing just as fast.
The engine featured in this build is claimed to be a very close representation of how this engine came new in either a crate or in the nose of a car. Rather than rehash it all, here’s what the poster said on YouTube.:
1963 427 FE, Stock “H” heads, TRW OEM Replacement camshaft (60s era), Stock Intake, Stock Carburetors, Stock Dual Point Distributor, Stock Coil, Lemans Rods, Lemans Crank, Custom Diamond 10.5:1 pistons .030 overbore. The factory compression ratio was 11.3:1, but this engine was setup with pump gas in mind. 94 octane (80% 91 premium non-oxy, 20% 110 race gas). 32* total timing was about the best run.
Headman medium length FE headers. The ports were a little small on the headers, but they fit the dyno!
Pulls were between 3,600-6,100 rpm
437 hp at 5,800 rpm (420+ hp from 5,600-6,100 where we stopped the pulls)
456 lb/ft at 4,100 rpm (450+ lb/ft from where we started at 3,600-4,500 rpm)
The engine should be more than safe to 6,500 rpm, but there wasn’t any reason to push it. It hadn’t been started in 45 years and it was just put back together!
Ford pretty much rated them at 425hp…….
Okay, so the stock rating for a single 4bbl 427 was 390hp. A 47hp increase is hardly “A Lot More HP” .
I had a few problems with the ears on the heads breaking off when removing the exhaust manifolds. I tried heat and every other trick I knew, I was in the muffler business, but sometimes they just broke off.
425 hp was only given to factory dual 4 barrel 427s not single 4 barrel 427s
We live in high road salt WNY, and the fix is to heat the frozen ear cherry red then blast it with cold water. That breaks the corrosion bond, allowing removal and even re-use of the bolt.
Yes this would work shock them
I worked at a salvage yard. I remember those damn ears and how fast non cracked exhaust manifolds went out the door. Terrible design for the boat anchor.
The FE engines were the best engines. 390, 427 and 428.