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Original Message
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| Detuned MEL, and Chevrolet 409 |
| By P - 10/16/2001 12:58:49 PM; IP 66.89.75.42 |
You'll note that the first year of the MEL (1958) provided a 375-HP engine, but it was detuned subsequently for several years thereafter, never again to reach the initial power rating.
Reason given by a friend, who is a MEL collector, is that Ford Motor Co. got tired of call-backs when the engine torqued the Lincoln body out of shape and racked the doors, etc. This guy's take on this was, the engine was just too powerful for the intended use, and it was therefore detuned to reduce call backs.
This may be true, but my take on the MEL is, the "plank head" design, similar within a few degrees of tilt to the Chevrolet 409 head, was a good one, but the FE wedge head could breathe a whole lot better than either of them. I've heard the MEL was good if you used a supercharger, but the FE was certainly superior when the motor was allowed to breath normally aspirated.
Since the 409 and the MEL were in the same boat, as a result, the sales of the Chevrolet performance 409 dropped like a boat anchor as soon as the 427 FE was introduced. Seems like the FE was proving a point on the tracks and at the strip, and the 409 was having "breathing difficulty" even though they "claimed" to have similar power to the big FE brawler. As a result, and these are round numbers from memory not having my database here at the moment, the sales of the 409 dropped from 17,000 units, to 8,000 units, and then to 2,500, during the three years after (during) the introduction of the FE 427 (1963 to 1965, I believe).
It can be accurately said that the 427 FE killed the 409. The 409 is the reason Chevrolet had such a DISMAL racing program. Chevrolet claimed they didn't have a formal racing program, but everyone knew they didn't have a motor, heh heh. The old 348 Chevy big block just couldn't be tweaked any more to compete with the superior FE, and this is why they developed the "porcupine head", intended specifically for the FE, but were not allowed to run for a year or two until it became a production engine. Even then, the results were, yawn, I guess it's time for a beer. Ford was winning international races by that time with their aluminum headed FE, and the Chevy was, well, yawn, just another big block without a racing heritage. Just take a peek at the Ford 427 years, in NASCAR, versus what Chevrolet was able to do with their obsolete plank head. Something like 101 wins to 9, in three years.
Being of similar design to the 409, the MEL would have not fared very well in competition, either. Although built tough, it just didn't have the superior breathing heads of the FE. Many MEL's ended up in Chris Craft boats, where low RPM and lots of torque made them well suited to hanging out at the yacht club. For the race tracks, the FE was far superior to any plank head.
that's my three cents worth,
P |
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