For a complete drill bit test, you've got to pop all six core plugs out of the block and feeler gauge hihgand low into ALL core plug holes using the shank of a drill bit. Since drill bit sets containing all 64th inch sizes are readily available and cheap, I use drill bit shanks to make the measurement instead of pin gauges.

Note that:

330/332/352/360/361Edsel/390/410 blocks frequently have 17/64" or 18/64" as the largest gap on the entire block.

361FT/391/406/428 blocks frequently have 13/64" or 14/64" as the largest gap on the entire block.

427 blocks frequently have maybe 8/64" as the largest gap, but I've never yet probed an entire 427 block, so that info is preliminary.

Actually, all the info is preliminary, but it seems to hold up fairly well. Also, I only speak in 64ths, to let you know the resolution requirements. If I stated 3/16" instead of 12/64", you'd have no idea whether my drill bit set only checked every 16th", or 32nd", or 64th".

Note that checking the gap sorta-kinda verifies which size of water jacket sand cores were stuffed into the mold, but does not verify core shift isn't a problem. Once the drill bit "screening test" passes, the block needs to be sonic mapped to verify the core shift will permit boring without developing thin areas.

Reference these posts which popped up in a search of "drill bit test":

http://jcoconsulting.com/forumfe/reply.aspx?ID=16629&Reply=16617

http://www.jcoconsulting.com/ForumFE/reply.aspx?ID=17938&Reply=17933

Shoe.

The LeMans rod was developed in 1962 for the 8-liter FE racing engine (the Starlifter engine) to offer extra cam lobe and cylinder clearance over the nut-and-bolt rod.

That engine had a 4.3" stroke, and I'm sure it needed get some cylinder base notching.

With a 3.784" stroke 390/406/427 crank (all FE cast cranks are made of the same pearlitic nodular iron), clearance will be plentiful. Similarly, a 391 forged steel crank with 3.786" stroke clears fine. With a 3.984" stroke 410/428 crank clearance in a 390 would be plentiful, too, since the LeMans rod offers more clearance than a stock rod.

Shoe.

http://www.autokrafters.com
http://www.dearbornclassics.com

Thanks alot...I checked Dearborn and they have them. I am helping my mom do a ground up on a 65 galaxie with a 427 and she was about ready to give up and try parts for a '64. Man, I am learning that I need alot of patience when it comes to working with both my mother and '65 galaxies....again...Thanks.

well first ask your dad and try to get all tghe info you can (if he passed away i fell for you and your family) but from my understanding with 427, you first have to block off the oil passage to the valves. (look at some 427 oil diagrams and 428 didagrams to compaire the valve galleries) and sience the 428, 427,and 406 are in the fe family the cam would work. i have seen it done, but never tried it my self. the best thing to do is ask a GOOD machinest about there openions. but ask more than 1. i would do i if your dad did it just make sure thats what you are always going to run in that block becuse its hard to unplug the oil galleries. i think it would be cool and would be different.
i hope that answered your questions.

Chad you can plug the galleys have machinist thread the feeds to the lifter galleys for allen type plugs put one below main leave space and put one above galley use sealer. if you have fax machine i can send printed info with pictures on how you do it, this can be undone in the future if you change cam design,s Thanx Tim.

If it was a 406 it was the same grind as used on 352-390HP. This is an excellent all around solid lifter cam that offers a very decent idle with strong perfomance to 6,000. If it was a 406 cam it would have to have been from an early '63 which ran the cam thrust plate retention system.

Another cam that works very well in the 428 is the factory equipped 427 cam, 306d/500L. This is the grind that FoMoCo ran in the '66 428 PI. The only factory solid liftered 428 was this engine. It idled well enough that most State Patrol/Police cars were equipped with C-6s.

And mounting your 428 to an engine stand...just make sure to use a plate that utilizes all the bell housing bolt holes. It also is important to have a high quality stand that will take the weight. Don't attempt to use the small ones offered at chain auto parts stores. Shop around for a stout one. Or have one made.

1. It has lobe seperation angle of 108 degrees which means very low vacuum. Get an adjustable pushrod, measure it after you find the ideal length. Stock length will probably be OK.

2. DSC Motorsports or Precision Oil Pump Inc.

3. Don't use that cam. Get something with ayt least 110 degree lobe centers.

4. Your Ford dealer in his FRPP catalog. About $20

5. Edelbrock sells an excellent timing chain set made by Cloyes.

I believe it was only factory original on the 1965 427 Galaxie.

I don't have time to dig through my records right now, but if those are the long tube headers, they're for the 1965-later Galaxie applications.

Long tube fitments are different between the 1961-64 frame and the 1965-70 frames, so different long tube header versions were cast. I believe some slight frame changes may have happened in the late 1960s, so 1968-later Galaxies might possibly have a component that interferes, maybe not.

The long tube header was dropped in 1966 in favor of the smaller and cheaper 1966 Fairlane 427 "fan" manifold design. When the fan manifold became available for the 427 Fairlane, 427 Galaxies inherited it, but the long-tube was still available over-the-counter.

I wish I had quicker access to my exhaust info, but this preliminary guesswork might help a bit.

Shoe.

It is my understanding that that is the "GT" intake. Would have come on a 390 GT engine.

The big mail order houses like Summit and Jeg's only list the most popular stuff in their catalogs so you probably looked and only saw 2.19 / 1.72 and thought that was all there was. You will actually have to call and ask to get the 2.09 / 1.66 valves whic are made by every performance oriented valve supplier. Manley, Milodon, Ferrea, any should have several grades available.

Royce

PORT EXHAUST SIDE OF HEADS. Make It Breath Better Extra HP, There. Tim.

I believe the FMX was an FX with beefed up case, and it fell halfway between the FX and MX trannys in case stiffness.

The FMX was actually designed to fall halfway between the C4 and C6 in stiffness, as it became Ford's intermediate transmission size into the 1980s.

The FX stuck around for a few more years, too, but the MX disappeared about 1968 or 1969, being obsoleted by the C6.

The terms FX and MX didn't seem to exist until about 1965 or 1966, probably when the FMX project was started and engineers needed to distinguish between the three.

The F and M appear to loosely correlate to Ford and Mercury, slightly more accurately applying to small engine and large engine applications.

The simplest way to tell the trannys apart is by the tranny oil pan gasket shape. I still can't identify them by eye, but there are enough gasket graphics running around in service manuals or parts manuals or on websites, that you can usually find something to reference.

JMO,
Shoe.

Over time, dash bulbs either burn out or sputter their filament onto the inside of the glass, thus reflecting the light back in and converting most of it to heat instead of light. There are maybe 8 or 10 bkaclight bulbs, all identical, in the dash, and replacing them will bring things back to original.

Looking at the old bulbs, you'll note they look silver coated - they should be clear glass.

The tail light might be a sputtered bulb, or it may be an incorrect bulb with a different filament brightness, but possibly the reflector has been deplated by the entrance of water corroding the reflector. You might need to replace the reflector (or maybe improvise short-term with aluminum foil, to get the light properly redirected out the lens.

Check to see that the bulb is a clear 1157 (I think), and that it's not jammed backwards in the socket making the dimmer filament work when the bright one is supposed to.

I don't know if the tranny lengths are the same between the C6 and MX, but the 31-spline tranny yokes are probably interchangeable between the two. I believe I have interchanged the yokes, but it's been so long ago, I forget the details.

JMO,
Shoe.