Got a chance to get out of the house yesterday and went to look at a motor scooter. The old guy that had it had some other stuff under an old tarp. I spied an old F E engine with a tri-power intake on it and a set of rusty chrome rocker covers. Old boy said it was a 406 Ford out of a '60 Ford convertible. On the other side of the barn was some apple crates with the bell housing and a 4 speed trans. The engine will not turn over and the carbs and water pump are missing, but he said it did run when he put it there. (didn't know where the parts went) The trans and other parts are really rusty but seem O K. Are there any certain numbers I should look for to verify this, cause for all I know it could be a 360. For what little he wants for it, I think I'm gonna get it anyway. Not really familiar with old Ford stuff, other than flatties. This thing has been in the barn since the late 70's so I hope its salvageable.
406 should also have some neat looking exhaust manifolds.......picture a header cast in iron.....very specific to the 406....wish I wasn't mobile, I would send you a pic.....
Two block runs. 62 and 63. Look for C2 and C3 followed by some letters...for date coding. Big HP cast on the side of the block, below the C numbers. DIF (Dearborn Iron Foundry)may also be under the HP. This would be rearward of the motor mount bolts, towards the flywheel. Not all 406 blocks had cross bolted mains, but they did start doing so in the 406...hard to find. The 3 deuce intake would be a great indicator if original....the G code 3 carb was a nasty motha'....405 hp. B code is the 4 barrel....385 horse. Cast iron headers are another great clue. Block #'s C2AE-J, C2AE-K, C2AE-V 1962 406 C2AE-BD 1962-63 406 with cross bolts, you'll see them....it's 3 obvious bolts near pan rail C3AE-D, C3AE-V 1963 406 with cross bolt bosses but no cross bolts Good luck, if possible buy it all...be interesting to see what the transmission is. Hopefully it's a non date matched RUG 4 speed. A lot of Galaxy guys would love to have that.
57 OR 58 Eagle runs ok had a mikuni swap... needs paint, but has new www tires. Didn't need it but got it anyway.
Well, things really took a turn today. I had a local Ford "expert" look at it. He said it was a 390, got in a heated discussion with the owner. Now we're both kicked outa there. I tried to apologize but the 'ol fart ain't havin' nothing to do with it, saying that "damn kids don't know shit". Wow ...I'm 70, don't know if I should be upset or thank him. Gonna let him cool off and go back there.......... by myself. I did notice that the manifold was a different shade of blue, and looked as if it might have been on something else. Didn't notice any bosses or bolts above the pan rail, but I was too busy dodging cuss words to notice much of anything. Time will tell........... I hope.
So nothing like this ? C2 or C3 alpha numerics(top), HP below that, DIF (bottom)below that......? Sucks he got upset....some always do. I would still take it.....FE is the shit. I have a 428 crank for it. Have some oddball 427 stuff, but nothing of erection status.
Some things to know about 390 and 406. I believe the 406 came out in 62, most did not have cross bolted mains (6 bolts in the block skirt), only the latest blocks had cross bolted mains (ready for 427 production). The rods are the same length, but the 406 rods are about 1 or 2 oz heavier than the earlier 390 to cure extended high rpm fatigue which requires heavier crank counter weights, the pistons are very close to the deck (406) like today's engines (less quench area) and the 406 heads have bigger exhaust valves with a different shape chamber. Three 2s were available on both engines I think for 61 through 63. If I remember correctly these cars were delivered to the dealer with the manifold set up in the trunk (could be wrong about that). Hope this helps, that crank and rod matching thing gets to be very important.
what they said....also 3x2's aren't cheap and if it had some snakie looking cast iron exhaust....there's some money there....
406 came out in 1962. a friend of mine owns a high end restoration shop specializing in big block Galaxies. he had a 62 that was documented as having the 1st 406 in production. www.mikesclassiccars.net
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