Jay Brown /FE Power LLC interview


sewer pipes a.k.a. exhaust ports 
also good view of offset rocker arms
Anyone who has been online , opened a Hot Rod magazine , or peaked into the FE world should recognize the name Jay Brown! A long time FE racer  he was bit by the bug in 1978 when he purchased a '68 GT500 with a 428 CJ out of a '69 Torino . The car made an impression  and instilled a love of the mighty FE in him. Fast forward to  2005 he had decided to build a 1969 Mach1 and enter into the fabled Hot Rod Drag Week Tour, a grueling 2000+ mile plus cruise with no chase cars and only the parts that can fit in your car or the small trailer that you can haul behind you.  Jay drove to the starting point in Kansas City from his home in Minnesota, then completed the entire cruise and all the drag races posting times in the 10.70's with a best of a 10.55 to win Drag Week 2005. This launched him on a trajectory that would bring to the forefront of FE innovation. Having a  background in electrical engineering and design helped in moving towards design and manufacturing of parts. He is driven to build these innovative parts by the need to fill the gaps he comes across in his own quest for power.  One example of this is when he was writing the book "The Great FE Intake Comparo"  he noticed that while using a old Pro Stock Engineering (PSE) Black Widow intake adapter he was making good power with the 351C tunnel ram and Torquer intake. Problem was the old PSE intakes were expensive and hard to find, Jay set about designing a better , more modern version of this intake . The beauty in his new design is it is able to be machined with most of the FE port configurations , thus reducing production cost that he passes on to us guys. Browsing his website you will see this philosophy applied to all his products . From his sturdy valve covers to timing gear covers that have removable fronts to allow for easy access to adjust cam timing all Jays products are made to his specifications and tested thoroughly on his dyno and in real world driving before they ever come to market.  Brewing in the back of his mind has been the idea for a radically new FE head, one that could only come about because of the development of his other products. Using his High Riser intake adapter (in anticipation of a raised port head he had added extra metal in the rough casting) he raised the intake port and moved it in its location . Then addressing the exhaust where they are even more of a departure from normal FE architecture , round , raised , and inclined on much more angle than we are used to seeing he gave the port more of a direct line of departure.  With 2.25/1.65 valves the preliminary flow numbers on the 3D printed prototype shows 400+ cfm on the intake!! While most heads are built within the confines of the original 1958 design, Jay is stepping away from that comfort zone to try and create the next generation of FE performance.  While a 800+ hp FE is not that rare these days the streetablity of them is not great, when Jay gets these heads into production it should change that  . Though they will never beat the WOW factor of the SOHC these heads will make the same power at half the cost.  They will require one of the FE Power llc intake adapters designed for these heads  and and a custom upper intake , plus purpose built header  it is not a build for the faint of heart. But if your goal is a high horsepower FE  then the cost and effort is justified.  So drop by Jays website www.fepower.net   and see all of his products and check out the link to his FE forum and catch up with like minded folks.  As we ended the interview i asked Jay what his best FE memory is? He responded it was the 2005 Drag Week where he figured out that FE building and parts design is where he wanted to spend the the last of his job years at. With an understanding wife  Jay has now realized that dream, he left his regular job last January to focus solely on development  of FE parts. Man if his products to date were a hobby i cant wait to see what he does now that it is his job!   I want to thank Jay for taking the time out of his busy schedule at the PRI show to talk to us , he is a genuine nice guy .
(apologies on picture quality new camera coming soon)
cnc upper intake machined to accept LS Chevy top
while similar in shape 
they are raised and moved to optimize flow 


a variety of FE Powers
valve covers

Jays 2005 Drag Week entry and winner












a good shot of the different intakes that can be
 fitted on their intake adapter





















































































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