I have decide my next project will be a 60's style 30-31 Tudor with an FE motor. So who has put an FE into an A? Any pics? What oil pan should i look for? I'm sure I will have to set the firewall back 4-6" or so. I know someone out there has done this. I just can't find any info on it.
The most famous one was Bill Burnham's baby blue roadster. It was (is, I suppose) a '29 on Deuce rails; the frame was stretched a touch between the firewall and the radiator to fit the motor. He wrote a column in Street Rodder for years, and the roadster was featured at least once.
I believe Burnham's "Ol' Blue" had a 460. He fit it under the hood using bubbles in the hood sides to clear the valve covers. I think you will have a little more roome width wize using the 30-31 with the wider cowl than the 28-29. My pops fit a 427 FE in a '40 coupe. I think he said he used the oil pan from a 4x4 truck to gain axle clearance. Please keep us posted as you make it happen. I have a '30 roadster body, 427 FE, and '32 frame with "some assembly required".
If you have a good magazine collection, the only time I remember that combo in print is in the first ROD&CUSTOM quarterly of the LATE seventies. Page 62, neat little '31 coupe with a healthy chop. Looks like they had to punch the firewall back quite a bit, but everything seems to fit pretty well. If I were doing this combo today I think I would keep the stock firewall and reverse it. I have a clients coupe in right now that has a big block chev, I did this trick and it gives tons of room, much better than the aftermarket ugly firewall the previous shop ordered.
no pics but my current project is 31 highboy, 32 rails, 59 430 Lincoln, 6 97's Joe hunt mag, top loader 4 speed narrowed 9 inch, 40 dash , shes sitting on her tires fitting the body eng in ( mock-up stage) i started reversing the firewall but just thought it was actually to deep, i had moved the front cross member forward inch or so. Instead cut the firewall "frame " out and bead rolled an new one welded to the original firewall frame , will try and post pix Sunday. It is defiantly a highboy, 860 15 rears 560 15 fronts black wall bias chrome OEM wheels.
I actually have a friend that is helping me build my 32 chevy that has a 30 Model A that has a 390FE in it. I can see if i can get some info from him to see what he used for an oil pan.
I've got a friend who has run one in a channeled A roadster for the past 26 years. I don't think that pans are an issue but the shear bulk of the engine can create some clearance problems. Built right those engines are dead nuts reliable and will run most other rigs into the ground and then tow them home. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
My friends is also heavily channeled and has a 5 inch chop I know he had to recess the fire wall and actually had to make a cut out in the firewall and plcae a c niotch in the front left lower corner of the firewall to clear his headers
I remember a guy running a Model A coupe with a FE in the Puget Sound area. I think he was from Shoreline. He rolled it on the way to Bonneville and rebuilt it. I saw him "touching up" the rattle can flat-black paint at the All Ford drags in Bremerton around 5 years ago. He raced it at Pacific Raceways at the Friday night drags before the Goodguys show in Puyallup that same year. I might have a picture somewhere. This was before I went digital. I will have to dig. Anybody else have pictures of this car or know this guy? I recall him being kinda short and a little wide. I think he had tats and peircings too.
I found the picture. Date on the back is July 22nd, 2000. Looks like he has set back the firewall. Alos looks like he is using a Mustang steering box. Doesn't look like there are any interference issues with front cross member. Oil filter looks a little short to me. Might be able to get better clearance with a 90* offset. This is my first time posting a picture here. Hope it works.
This car was built in New Zealand. These pics were taken at speedweek 2008, the car is now back in New Zealand. Note this car is right hand drive. Gota love those FE'S especially the ones with six two's
That's a 429 or 460. They are heavier and a bit longer and wider too. 4x4 pans are kind of deep so if ground clearance is an issue you can always make a pan by extending the stock front sump rearward.
I got a fe 390 engine in plastic 29 model a.Had it there for about 7 years now.Its a 68 truck engine with the oil filter sticking out horzontal to the block.Because the frame is home made it is slightly longer than a original 32 frame that it has been copied from.I even used old chevy engine mounts,,lol,,but the weight of the engine has stuffed my front shocks.Yeah,it maybe a street rod,but with a manual behind it & buckets of torque its one of a heck ride. Im building a 30 tudor & it will be fe powered,,deadbeat
I'm contemplating an FE for my Model A on Deuce rails. Any more pics would be appreciated, especially if they show what had to be done to the chassis or body to accommodate the length of the motor. I'm trying to keep a pretty stock wheelbase and hoping to minimize the amount of firewall intrusion. Thanks, Tommy
The Jalopy Journal
