Junkyard Ford 445 FE Gets Modern EFI

(Pat)>> You're watching Powernation!

(Pat)>> Our 445 FE is back. A modern e-f-i system along with a time tested tunnel wedge intake give it plenty of drivability and style. [ MUSIC ]

(Pat)>> Hey everyone, welcome to Engine Power. Today we will revisit a project that was very popular with you viewers, and we have some new cool parts we are excited to try on it. We will be working on our Ford 445 cubic inch FE that made spectacular power with some easy bolt on parts but still ran on pump gas. To see how this project came together take a look. It started as a worn out 390 FE, which had lived a hard life as a power plant in a dump truck. When we found it the engine was hidden away in the corner of a salvage yard. A real diamond in the rough. Like many gear heads we truly enjoy the challenge of taking a neglected jewel and restoring it to its former glory. We scraped off years' worth of grime, drilled out the seized exhaust flange studs, and with the help of our ARP cabinet we replaced a bunch of missing or damaged fasteners to get the engine running. Extreme cases call for extreme measures. We poured several cans of SeaFoam motor treatment into the crank case and primed the oil pump with a drill for a couple of minutes. The SeaFoam went in clear but came out black, taking decades worth of engine deposits with it. After priming and flushing the engine with conventional oil we strapped it to the dyno. Believe it or not it ran.

(Mike)>> Here comes fuel, ignition.

(Pat)>> No leaks! Oh my god I'm excited. [ engine starting ]

(Pat)>> Yeah! It also leaked oil and was only running on five cylinders but we could fix that. Once we tore into the engine it did not take long to find serious wear and tear. Heavy engine deposits, thick sludge in the oil pan, and a timing chain that can only be described as floppy. We even found a bumper bolt in the water jacket. Why the hell would that be in the water jacket? We cleaned the engine for about an hour in the JRI jet washer and unfortunately we discovered a big problem. One we couldn't see under all the grime and gunk. During magnetic particle inspection we found several cracks in the block. Despite our disappointment we were determined to build an FE but we would need a new block. After hours' worth of work we finally got our replacement block cleaned, machined, and ready to rock. With the cylinders torque plate honed 30 thousandths oversized and our new crank shaft going in it pumps up the displacement to 445 cubic inches. We started with new cam and main bearings, followed by a cast steel Eagle crankshaft with a 4.250 stroke. The camshaft is a custom ground billet hydraulic roller from Comp Cams. The lobes are from their extreme marine high lift series, which increases durability with extended run times. They work great in big blocks and engines with heavier valvetrain components. Comp also provided the billet double row timing set. The pistons are Mahle's Power Pack series with a 16cc dish. They are mated to a set of Eagle 43-40 forged I-beam connecting rods that are 6.700 in length. The included ring package is a modern one millimeter, one millimeter, two millimeter thick set. The rod journal is the same size as a big block Chevy, and the rod bearing clearance is between 23 and 27 ten thousandths. A Melling high volume oil pump will keep the engine well lubricated. We chose Milodon for the windage tray, oil pick up, and eight quart oil pan. [ MUSIC ] With the ATI balancer in place true t-d-c is set, and the timing pointer is modified to indicate zero. On the top end we made some big upgrades, starting with a set of Trick Flow Power Port 175 cylinder heads. The combustion chamber is heart shaped and measures at 70cc. The intake valve is 2.190 and the exhaust valve is a 1.625 diameter. The heads are a direct bolt on for all '61 through '76 FE engines. Comp retro fit hydraulic roller lifters will move the valvetrain. Our freshly sand blasted intake splash guard goes in followed by some beads of Permatex right stuff 90 minute gasket maker. The Trick Flow track heat intake manifold is a single plane design that has a basic operating range from 4,000 to 7,000 r-p-m. Perfect for our application. Our engine combination requires custom length push rods, and Trent Performance made it happen with a set of 8-900 long, 80 thousandths wall, three-eighths diameter pieces. No matter what you need they can handle it. The heavy duty shaft rocker assembly is from Harlan Sharp. It has a 1.76 ratio with a seven-eighths inch shaft and full needle bearing construction for high horsepower and endurance builds. After several dyno runs and timing adjustments we ended up with 36 degrees total timing. The engine laid down 583 horsepower and 562 pound feet of torque.

(Frankie)>> We are super stoked to try out our new trick induction package on this already stout performer. While we're at it we'll give it a new clean look with a fresh coat of paint, and when we're done we'll get it back on the dyno and see if this thing runs as good as it looks.

(Pat)>> Cause it's gonna look good. Coming up, why have one when you can have two?

(Pat)>> I'm with team Summit NHRA funny car driver Tim Wilkerson and we're talking about how to avoid some engine failures. Tim in our careers we have seen our fair share of catastrophic engine failures.

(Tim)>> Yeah Pat, in our car especially. When you see an engine failure there's a big problem. The body comes off. There's oil on the track. The driver's on fire.

(Pat)>> But there are some common threads between failures and why they happen between street cars and race cars.

(Tim)>> You know I was in the gas station business for 30 years. I always told my customers start at the basics. Oil levels, coolant levels, make sure all that stuff is correct and your car will perform better.

(Pat)>> Now we have a few tools laid out that will help you not only diagnose or fix, but help avoid problems. One being a timing light.

(Tim)>> Yeah Pat, I mean probably one of the most critical tools that gets used or misused from our experiences through the years. That's a quality unit there. That timing light has some advance and retard functions to it that you can actually set your timing on zero, look at your gauge, and say I actually have 20 degrees of total advance. So really a neat tool.

(Pat)>> Now for the modern stuff a diagnostic tool that can tell you what's going on without even popping your hood. Now on the old school side we have some carb tuning stuff. It's more of our speed but having your fuel right and having the right amount of fuel go through it and the right type of fuel go through it along with your timing you can eliminate probably 99 percent of your problem.

(Tim)>> Sure you can, and for the layman they get themselves in trouble with this a little bit, changing jet sizes in your Holley carburetor. This is a kit made by Holley, and it's really a nice little kit. It's got every gasket in it, power valve in it. I guess Pat bottom line is most engine failures, they can be avoided from just simple maintenance.

(Pat)>> Trick Flow is an industry leader in high performance induction systems for a wide variety of power plants. From high tech muscle to vintage iron, they are constantly creating product to make big power. They supplied our FE with a 175cc power port head and their R-series single plane race intake. This package runs spectacular but we can never leave well enough along. Trick Flow has recently released a new R-series dual four barrel tunnel wedge intake and we are lucky enough to get our hands on one. This intake is an improved design over its o-e-m counterpart but retains that same classic look but with updated engineering. It has an O-ring sealed bottom plate, is designed to use the stock style dual throttle linkage, and it's only around six and a half inches tall. This will give us that nostalgia look with greatly improved performance. We'll start by removing the spark plug wires and the distributor. The wedge distributor gasket seals up tight, even stronger than you might expect. Dang! You're probably wondering why we are messing with such a well sorted combination. It's basically for two reasons. First is looks. We wanted the classic look of a dual four barrel muscle car engine like the factory race cars of the '60's. Second is improved drivability, which includes going from a single old school carb to a modern dual throttle body fuel injection. On an FE you have to remove the valvetrain to remove the intake. We made sure to keep all of the pieces in order so they go back in their original position. The Permatex right stuff sealant on the intake works really well. We'll work slowly to remove it with a pry bar chiseling the silicone from several angles until the manifold frees up. It's like wrestling a wild anaconda. [ MUSIC ] There it goes. [ MUSIC ] Very nice!

(Frankie)>> What's your joke of the day?

(Pat)>> My joke of the day?

(Frankie)>> Yeah, what's your joke of the day?

(Pat)>> You want a dad joke?

(Frankie)>> Sure.

(Pat)>> Why are elephants not ever seen hiding in trees? [ MUSIC ]

(Frankie)>> Why?

(Pat)>> Because they're really good at it! [ MUSIC ] Now that we've removed the headers we can prep for paint by taping off the aluminum heads. We love the way they look and want to show them off by keeping them as is. We like using green masking tape to give us sharp clean lines with no paint blow by. We considered partial disassembly of the engine for painting but if you're careful you can get great results by just taping things off. [ MUSIC ] We're going for a classic understated look on the FE. After laying down some primer we'll use gloss black engine enamel with ceramic. Up next the FE gets an easy to tune e-f-i system and heads to the dyno cell.

(Pat)>> We're almost ready to get the FE back in the dyno cell but first we have to get the intake sealed up and bolted down. [ MUSIC ] What I like about Trick Flow's stuff is everything fits extremely nice right out of the box.

(Frankie)>> Even in the runners and everything.

(Pat)>> Very nice!

(Frankie)>> Good stuff.

(Pat)>> One step closer to the dyno. [ MUSIC ]

(Frankie)>> For this particular build we're using a dual four barrel manifold but we want the luxury of modern fuel injection. Normally dual carburetor configurations are complicated to setup and tune, especially if you're not used to it. FiTech has fixed that with the Go EFI two by four throttle body system. Their fuel injection package is very easy to use, fits on most dual quad manifolds, and has a clean fit and finish. It's rated from 250 all the way to 1,200 horsepower, and with a built in two and a half bar maf sensor it's great for both naturally aspirated and blown applications. It also has an integral fuel pressure regulator and timing control that will actively retard timing for engines running boost or nitrous. The kit comes with everything you need including a tidy wiring harness, a hand held touch screen that can be hidden or dash mounted, and easy to follow instructions. This makes it as quick to install as a sit of old style carbs and even easier to use.

(Pat)>> The FiTech units fit perfectly where the old style carburetors would be. The linkage pulls in a straight line instead of using side pull with a bell crank, which is used on traditional tunnel ram setups. Always make sure the butterflies stay clear of the manifold opening. That way there's no binding at wide open throttle.

(Frankie)>> Looks good, everything clears.

(Pat)>> Looks really nice.

(Frankie)>> Those two go together and then rest we can hide underneath the manifold, sweet!

(Pat)>> Since the engine has been on the SuperFlow Power Mark dyno before we already have the dyno setup all scienced out. [ ratchet clicking ] [ MUSIC ]

(Pat)>> The wiring of the FiTech system only needs a few simple connections. The comprehensive instructions make it super easy. [ MUSIC ]

(Frankie)>> So before we start our engine we need to go into the interface and set it up. So we're gonna go into go e-f-i initial setup, and then we'll go to engine setup so we can put in the parameters of our engine. Obviously we're working with a V-8. So we'll leave that, and then our cubic inches is obviously 445, not 350. So you can toggle through or you can select use the touch screen and actually enter in the exact value. And then hit okay, and then you want to hit send e-c-u after each selection so the computer saves it. Go down to our cam. It's a pretty stout engine. So we're gonna go with four. It says mild to wild 1 to 4. So 1 would be the tamest and 4 would actually be the most aggressive cam, and then we'll raise our rev limiter to 7,000 just to have a good range. [ MUSIC ] Again cause of the aggressive cam we're gonna raise the idle to 1,000. [ MUSIC ] And then we are using our dyno fuel pump. So the system is not running a fuel pump for us. So just to be safe I'm gonna take this all the way down to zero. [ MUSIC ] And then we are using a tach signal off of our ignition box. So we'll leave that alone, and there's our initial setup. So the engine's ready to fire up.

(Pat)>> One of the nice things about the FiTech system is you can hook up the fuel system in three different areas depending on how it goes in your vehicle. In the back or there's a couple in the front, but there is only one return. The return hooks right here. These are internally regulated at 58 p-s-i. So as long as you have pressure over that you're good to go. This fuel system is a return style though. So the return has to go back to your fuel tank. Having the right tool for the job is important. Matco Tools always comes through for you with innovative products that you can use to help your job go more efficiently and easier. One of my favorites is this 16 volt reciprocating saw. First off there is no cord to plug in or to get tangled up with you or your work. It is powered by their Infinium battery technology that provides 16 volts of power in this handy setup. The inline design helps it get into tighter places. Plus it has up to 3,100 strokes per minute, a quick change chuck for fast blade changes, and an easily adjustable depth of cut. It even has an l-e-d light to see what you are doing. It comes with two batteries, its own charging station, and a nice hard case to keep things safe. To check it out and all of their other fine tools visit their website at Matco Tools dot com. Up next, it's dyno time!

(Pat)>> You're where you think you should be right?

(Frankie)>> The setup's all good. It should fire right up. A-f-r's are set for a base. Woo there you go.

(Pat)>> Fired right up.

(Frankie)>> Nice, okay, there we go!

(Pat)>> What do you think about them apples?

(Frankie)>> That's is cool.

(Pat)>> We'll get a little bit of oil temp in it. We'll get a bit of water temp in it. This is a self-learning system. So it needs some temperature range to adjust its fuel map. A little bit about this manifold. This is a hearken back to when Ford had all their drag race stuff, their tunnel wedge stuff.

(Frankie)>> Long before I was alive.

(Pat)>> Well before I was alive too, almost. The cool thing about this we have modern controllable self-learning fuel injection on a vintage engine, which I really dig, and it makes everything way more tunable for streetability, for having really good manners. Even though it's got a lot of induction on it's gonna have very good manners in a street car.

(Frankie)>> I think that's the biggest thing, and that's the biggest benefit, and that's why we wanted it. For the project it goes in we wanted something that is gonna start up, drive. You're not gonna have to mess with it, not have to touch it, just run it.

(Pat)>> What we're gonna do first is I'm gonna make a pull from 4,000 to 6,000. [ engine revving ]

(Pat)>> That was nice and clean.

(Frankie)>> That was.

(Pat)>> Wow, okay, 575 for horsepower, 554.9 for torque. We are not high enough to max the edge out. We're right close to peak power.

(Frankie)>> There's no way we would have thought it had manifold vacuum but it definitely doesn't which is awesome. That's always good to see. Doubt it would have but always good to see.

(Pat)>> Good to see because you know that nothing's the restriction up in those parts. Okay the fueling looked good.

(Frankie)>> The a-f-r's were pretty close. I think it's still learning a little bit.

(Pat)>> You've got the peak peeled way back don't you? What do you have peak a-f-r?

(Frankie)>> I think it's set at like 12-3.

(Pat)>> That's nice and safe. That's okay. You can really put the screws to that, make it lean and mean. That's not what we're gonna do right now because I want to get another few pulls in it to have this thing learn. I like the graph. The graph looks good. I am going to, just to say we've done it, we're gonna take it up to 6,500. This is not a full bore race engine, this is a street engine. This system will run up to 1,200 horsepower worth of whatever you put under it, which that's impressive. [ engine revving ]

(Pat)>> That's clean baby!

(Frankie)>> I know you said it's not a race engine but it sounds like one when it's up there.

(Pat)>> We're up at 581 for power, 557 pound feet of torque. With everything looking good we'll lean out the wide open throttle air/fuel ratio to see if we pick up a little power. [ engine revving ]

(Pat)>> Woo, that was meaner.

(Frankie)>> Oh yeah, look at that!

(Pat)>> 587.7, that is nice, nice, nice. Carries power nice, 567 pound feet of torque. How about them apples.

(Frankie)>> That is sweet.

(Pat)>> We can fuzz on it constantly but that's extremely good power, good broad power band.

(Frankie)>> Even for the power it's making over 550 from 5,000 all the way up.

(Pat)>> This is spectacular and that's a success right there. Nothing cooler if you pop the hood and you see dual carburetors, big headers, cool manifold, all that stuff.

(Frankie)>> Just a good engine.

(Pat)>> I like that, just a good engine. If you'd like more information on anything you've seen today head on over to Powernation TV dot com.