parts from the Ford parts bin or the aftermarket and make huge sums of power like Bob Tasca did a half-century ago. A 390 or 428 block can be fitted with a Scat stroker kit to achieve 430 to 450 ci with incredible stroke and the resulting torque. What’s more, your big-cube FE stroker won’t have to rev high to get good time slips because it’s all about torque.
Thunderbolt: NHRA World Beater
Ford went after the rest of Detroit muscle aggressively in NHRA Super Stock competition in the early 1960s with its lightweight 427 Galaxies. Despite Ford’s best efforts, it couldn’t catch General Motors and Chrysler with the lightweight fiberglass-bodied Galaxie super cars. This was when Ford went to work conceiving the smaller, lighter-weight Fairlane coupled with 427 FE power. It had to build at least 100 production 1964 Fairlanes to qualify for NHRA Super Stock competition. Ford built 49 4-speed cars and 51 with automatics.
Ford began to develop the Thunderbolt using a 1963 Fairlane development mule coupled with a 427-ci FE High Riser. Dearborn Steel Tubing built these cars, which rolled off the Dearborn, Michigan, assembly line as “K” serial numbered 289 High Performance intermediates. This has been confirmed with Ford documentation that includes all 100 vehicle identification numbers. These cars were shipped to Dearborn Steel Tubing and surgically modified to accommodate the rotund 427 big-block. Body structures were welded along the seams to provide strength.
Thunderbolt Fairlanes had all of the lightweight fiberglass body components including front bumper, Plexiglas side windows, and Econoline Van bucket seats. These cars were completely gutted including the deletion of radio, heater, window mechanicals, sun visors, and anything else that wasn’t welded to the body. The 1964 Thunderbolt received structural modifications and suspension improvements that made them better able to tolerate the 427’s brutal torque. High-beam headlamps were deleted to make way for cold-air induction.
The Thunderbolt remains the 427 FE’s greatest calling card because it quickly became a clear demonstration of power, less weight, and the ability to trek the quarter-mile in short order. Although replica Thunderbolts are out there, only 100 of these cars were produced as “K” serialized 289 High Performance Fairlanes. They remain among the most highly valued muscle cars of the mid-20th Century.
Easily the most legendary 427 outside of Le Mans was Ford’s limited-production lightweight 1964 Thunderbolt Fairlane sedan. The 427 Thunderbolt Fairlane stood drag racing on its ear when these beasts rolled into the staging lanes of dragstrips from coast to coast.
FT Series
The FE Series big-block has a tougher fraternal twin brother known as the FT big-block, which is a heavy-duty mill engineered for medium- and heavy-duty truck use. Displacing 330, 359, 360, 389, and 391, the FT was the definitive low-revving workhorse. The beauty of the FT is its interchangeability with the FE, including its steel crankshaft and heavy-duty block with thicker main webs and cylinder walls. The downside to the FT block is the weight penalty. Blocks and cranks are heavier.
The 428 FE big-block, introduced in 1966 in the 7-Liter Galaxies, found its way into the 1967 Shelby GT500. Not all 1967 Shelbys had the 428-8V. Some had dealer-installed 427-8Vs.
Another 1967 Shelby GT500 with a 428-8V and black wrinkled Cobra Le Mans valvecovers.
The 335-horse 428 Cobra Jet FE was introduced on April 1, 1968, with Ram-Air, which became optional in 1969–1970. The Cobra Jet gave the Mustang a renewed performance image in the wake of the rather lame 325-horse 390 High Performance V-8 in 1967.
The MEL
The MEL (Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln) big-block, produced from 1958 to 1967, is Ford’s most unusual big-block. It was conceived to replace the Lincoln Y-block of the 1950s. Produced in displacements of 383, 410, 430, and 462 ci, the MEL was available in the Mercury, Edsel, Lincoln, and even Ford Thunderbird. When this engine entered production at the beginning of the 1958 model year at Ford’s new Lima, Ohio, engine plant, it wasn’t officially known as the MEL. In fact, based on Ford documentation from the period the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln (MEL) Division of Ford didn’t exist until January 1958 when it was officially announced.
This is a 1968 GT500KR with the 428 Cobra Jet with Ram-Air and a single Holley 4150. The 428 Cobra Jet was a midyear option introduced on April 1, 1968. This engine replaced the 428 Police Interceptor version that was standard in the non-KR models.
Ford’s 428 Cobra Jet got these finned cast-aluminum valvecovers early in the 1970 model year. They replaced stamped steel chrome valvecovers that were common from 1967 to 1969. This R-code 428 Cobra Jet is fitted with optional shaker Ram-Air.
What makes the MEL an odd-duck big-block is its unusual combustion chamber and cylinder head design similar to Chevrolet’s W Series 348/409-ci big-blocks. Instead of a wedge-shaped chamber in the cylinder head, the MEL used the top of the cylinder bore as a combustion chamber with a flat-surface cylinder head. Cylinder heads resemble those from a diesel with a flat deck. The block deck was milled at an angle to the cylinder bore to where the piston dome determined compression ratio. The MEL had shaft-mounted rocker arms similar to those found in the FE/FT Series big-blocks.
Engine Identification Tag Information
Beginning with the 1965 model year, Ford V-8 engines were equipped with identification tags from the factory. This tag includes displacement, model year, year and month of assembly, and the change level. The change level advanced only when a replacement part or upgrade was introduced. The change level addressed engineering changes, making it easier to identify engines. This information was more for Ford’s use than the enthusiast’s. The identification tag is attached to the intake manifold on the FE Series big-block V-8s. The tag is located at the ignition coil bracket of 429/460 engines. ■
The MEL employed an open valley with a stamped pan beneath the intake manifold similar to the Ford and Lincoln Y-block V-8s. Intake manifolds were not equipped with a cold-start heat feature. Down under, the MEL had a brute cast crank, heavy cast pistons, and large-shouldered connecting rods. Although Ford called this engine the “MEL,” it was installed in the Thunderbird as well as a premium engine option (430 ci) in 1959–1960.
The Mercury-only 383-ci MEL engine was available from 1958 to 1960 sporting a 4.300-inch bore and 3.300-inch stroke. The 410 yielded a smaller 4.200-inch bore and longer 3.700-inch stroke. The larger 430-ci MEL, produced from 1958 to 1965, was available in the Lincoln, Lincoln Continental, Mercury, and Ford Thunderbird and had a 4.300-inch bore and 3.700-inch stroke. Ford fitted the 430 with three 2-barrel carburetion to conceive the Super Marauder.
The 430 was legendary for unwieldy amounts of torque. They were very popular