FE Squared ( budget 352 stroker) : part 2

September 08, 2019

FE Squared ( budget 352 stroker) : part 2

This is part two of our project " FE squared" where we took a 352 block , 352 rods, 428 crank and using a set of 302 pistons intergrated it for a 400cid engine. For more on the machine work nessesary for this please read Part 1 . So now all parts have been accounted for and cleaned , let the assembly start . First step is prepping the oil system, opinions vary now days on what needs to be done. We still do our the traditional way drilling all passage out and moving the oil holes to line up with the mains. These are the modifications we have done since the mid 60's and work for us, but to each their own. While we wont go through the normal montage of the basic assembly of a short block , we will show the high points. On this engine as well as any of our personal engines it will be a solid lifter. With the inherent rpm restriction that hydraulic lifters cause we choose to run solids , using an old trick we used 38 lead slugs to block the lifter oil galley . For more info on the problem with hydraulic lifters pick up a copy of Jay Browns book " The Great Fe Intake Comparo" http://fepower.net/GFEIC.html it details the horsepower that is gained by switching. Bullet Cams supplied a cam designed by Cleveland Performance , specs are private but lift is under .600. With the piston setting about .020 in the hole we elected to use C3AE-C heads with 2.09/1.65 stainless valves. We used these heads for the small combustion chambers in conjunction with SCE steel shim head gaskets with a thickness of .020 giving us 10.5 compression for street driving. Intake manifold choice was partially determined by what we had on the shelf and a good fit for this combination so we chose a port matched Edelbrock F427. Factory push rods slide through the intake hiking the Dove rockers up and down with .072 Holley jets restricts the oil to the rockers . LSM makes a very nice wrench to help adjust the valves and it is made in America http://lsmproducts.com/lsm_tools/valve_lash_adjusting_wrenches. Pop is a believer in a lot of oil is just about right, so a FT "bathtub" ten quart oil pan was chosen, with a factory windage tray keeps the splashing at a minimum. A tried and true Mellings M57HV oil pump pumps keeps the life blood coursing through the modified galleys . Sparking all this is a factory Durasark with anvil like reliability it also was original equipment for the truck its going in . Next step will be installing the engine in the truck and take to the chassis dyno where we will play with timing , after we get a timing map the distributor will be recurved to match. This engine and combo has been paired to be a 6000 rpm and under torque engine, and we will see how close we come to our goal when time allows. This has been a fun project being that it was out of the normal and requires a little ingenuity.