Although it was an FE engine, the Edsel had a 361, was a 390 block with a 352 crank, actually a really good combo.
My 427 short block was a 66 Holman & Moody seasoned block with the crank cut 10 + 20. It was a side oiler with cross bolted mains. FYI, even 427 blocks had "352" stamped on them.
It had low riser pistons, so I put 428 CJ heads on it (428 CJ heads have low riser valves + combustion chamber, but medium riser ports). With a 850 CFM Double Pumper Holley it made great power from 1,000 to 6,800 RPM.
Edelbrock Alum intake, Hooker Headers and header mufflers, TRW double roller timing chain, electric fuel pump, and Mallory photocell electronic ignition. Had the stock Ford solid lifter cam, but hi performance push rods, rockers, and triple springs.
Made for a real healthy street car, transformed that 70 Boss 302 body into a real sleeper. With BFG Radial Trans Am's on Keystone Mags, it also handled very well.
But it needed slapper traction bars to launch properly. Never lost after I installed them, and the streets were loaded with hi performance big blocks in the mid 70s.
Had 3.50 gears, but put a 4 spd from a 289 that had the lower 1st gear, so it was just like having 4.11s, except it was nicer on the Hwy.
I know very little about actual Edsels , I do love FE's(FE=Ford Edsel/ FT=Ford Truck) I think you said it but, FE 332ci-428/ FT 330ci-391ci with the FT having a beefier crank and other various pieces but are very similar. My first FT is in my 76 F750 Dump truck.
I was hoping that you were going to tell me you had a SOHC engine!
I built the car I am referring to in the mid-late80's after HS, bought a good many of my parts from PAW . Do you remember them from the middle of hot rod mag, them and GER(George E Reynolds converters) they always ran a couple page add also.
Inspired by the 50 white 428 cars ford had to produce in 68 to go super stock racing,and the winter nats. cars of Gas Ronda-All Joniecalso were inspirational
I started with a Falcon drag car and it wasn't very streetableDue to Swiss cheese everywhere and radically modified shock towers to get an FE in there .It did however have a very nice primarily OEM 428CJ a good C6 and a Dana 60 with 4.56 and I robbed it all bought a clean green 6cyl coupe
(OG in the 4lug mafia) it came w a top loader.
The changes that I made were ( and this was the first engine I had ever been inside of, w the exception being vocational school in HS)
Short Offenhauser2x4 (very similar to Ford short 2x4)with 2AVS' ,A set of Hooker Super Comp swap header's, Mallory ignition, a gigantic cam from Competition Cams Super Stock category in their race catalog. Adv.duration of 304-314 lift 626/653 solid lift, not a fancy roller,and this is before stuff like Jesel rockers were readily available, so needless to say that cam tested the geometry of the stock shaft rockers(but I was 17, so you take it to the limit) 3600 rpm converter,tied to that 4.56 Dana and it's all day 70mph tire incineration!
I also used a slapper bar setup bumping my homemade frame connectors.
I had new carpet and sound deadener that I never installed. Nothing like the song of a floating pin, solid lift 2four FE
The throttle response was amazing, the majority of the drag racing I did was with the LS6-7 454'sand don't get me wrong I could go faster in a qtr. With the rectangle port Chevy's, but 0-115 or so that Ford was exciting.
I haven't been able to afford cars with so many children,but they are growing up now and I want to play! Here's my plan, and this may discourage you, being a die hard mustang man. My wife has a 67 coupe and after seeing how fast the kids get to go these days, I bought a 6.0 lq4 with an 80e and have been collecting parts to do a budget turbo build. I don't want to miss out on the rebirth of the hot rod. These kids have street car running trap speeds very similar to what a pro stock driver like Bob Glidden or Warren Johnson were running in the early-mid80's and computers and turbos are what's required! I was a proponent of N2O forever but I shoulda listened to Gale Banks back in the 80's and went with the hairdryer...
Sorry so long, I'm getting the fever! But John John 24 is gone be peeved, he put a character limit on my post...
PS, are you running anything FE these days? I only ask because I still have some odds and ends in a garage in SC at one of my grandmother's rental houses, that I was asked to clean out a long time ago.
