Ford FE engines (with the notable exception of the SOHC) use a single shaft-mounted rocker assembly per cylinder head. This shaft is attached to the head with four pedestals and 3/8-16 fasteners. Factory-style rockers, whether original equipment or aftermarket replacements, are steel or ductile iron with either a ball or cup pushrod end and a […]

The Edelbrock head can be considered a bolt-on, cost-effective alternative to repairing factory castings and a part that has good performance potential. By contrast, the Blue Thunder heads approach the FE market from the other direction, bringing race-inspired features, and significant design revisions to a streetable package. The Blue Thunder heads focus on the more […]

The release of the Edelbrock aluminum cylinder head was key to the mainstream resurgence of the FE engine. While not a watershed design, it is a well-engineered and good-quality part that addressed the market need for a replacement, as the number of economically repairable original parts dwindled. The various Edelbrock heads share a common casting […]

The tunnel port and single overhead cam (SOHC) are always pulled to the side in discussing FE cylinder heads, due to the dramatic differences in layout and design. The high-riser head should also be included in this list, given the noninterchangeability with common FE components. All three of these are developments from Ford racing programs, […]

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding the various factory cylinderhead designations on FE engines. With many aftermarket intakes being marketed as “high rise,” it only made things worse as every parking lot hot rodder and online merchant is convinced that he has a real high riser on his hands. The various “riser” designations came from […]

A lot has been written about the FE oiling system over the years. Many have suggested that the factory system is inherently flawed, and that major modifications are warranted. Having built numerous FE engines over the past 30 years, I disagree. The FE factory oiling-system strategy is essentially identical to that of most other Ford […]

In the realm of piston selection, there are a series of basic choices that need to be made first, followed by a lengthy list of detail choices that define the best part for the task. Or you can simply choose a goodquality forged piston and be done with it. But that would be too easy. […]

The Ford FE engine family shares common key crankshaft dimensions, making it fairly easy to interchange from one displacement to another and allowing a broad selection of strokes and materials (OEM and aftermarket).   OEM Choices In the original-equipment world, a wide range of crankshaft strokes was available over the 20-year span of FE production […]

If you are starting with a used block, the very first step is to qualify your candidate and make sure it’s sound for the build-up process. Each step in this process is intended to eliminate any problems before they are found—before wasting money on an unusable block. Do a rough bore measurement. With very rare […]

This chapter focuses on the foundation element of an FE Ford engine build—the block itself. The FE engine was in continuous production for roughly 20 years, so there are a lot of engine blocks   in  cars, garages, and junkyards. As the popularity of the FE engine has re-emerged, it seems that every one of these […]