Artifact in a shed

[TA Coupe]

You will be very lucky to find one now!

    Roy

[pbf777]

     And then, for a "good" example, as little as $2000.00 too!   

     Scott.

[JohnSlack]

Blue Mountains in Ontario, Canada is where the engine resides.  Been years since I last saw it.  The tenant only made one photo and this is it.  At least until I get back there.  I thought the core might be good to do a rebuild of a 289 hipo with the hipo goodies, but the consensus seems it is not worth it.  Maybe better just to get a K code block and go from there. 

The regular blocks and the K code blocks are the same except for the caps. The K caps are a little heftier.

If you are going to build an engine from scratch and you want a K type block, the 302 Mexican block would be one possible way to go.
Those turn up often.

Another alternative is Cobra Automotive sells reproduction hipo main caps to retrofit to otherwise none hipo blocks.

I agree with the possibility of changing the caps also. The Mexican 302 caps are almost the same as the HiPo caps.

BUT anyone contemplating this change should be aware that in doing this you may be opening a can of worms. The block will need to AT LEAST be line bored.

The caps are not interchangeable as replacement parts and are always kept with the main block.

Line boring could also lead you into squaring up the block. The thought there is that some blocks with time warp themselves and need to be corrected.

You could also look for a Motorsport/Ford Racing A3 racing block. That is what I would look at now but if you find one, it is a $2,000 block.

I was looking for a C8FE Boss 302 block to build on. Those are like gold now since so many were severely damaged when a piston failed. There were problems with the 69 B2 pistons failing and causing catastrophic engine failure.

It all depends on what your budget is and what you are building. A Trans-Am level engine is gonna cost you and it doesn't necessarily have the same resale value. All food for thought.

I bought 4 sets of all 5 maincaps from Billet Speedworks last year, one set specifically for Mark's 289 HiPo, and 3 sets for BOSS 302 (C8FE and D0ZE blocks) since you already have to align bore the block when you replace the caps from the original caps anyway why not go with Billet 4140 caps? They are geometrically stronger than the cast main caps, stud the bottom end and it's even stronger. Now the weak point is the cylinder walls.

https://billetspeedworks.com/collections/small-block-ford-main-caps#MainContent

Their online catalog doesn't show the 289 302 caps but if you call them they will make them for you.

[JohnSlack]

And then, for a "good" example, as little as $2000.00 too!   

     Scott.

I haven't seen an A4 block for $2,000.00 since Dave Dralle offered me one of his for $2,800.00

[shelbydoug]

And then, for a "good" example, as little as $2000.00 too!   

     Scott.

I haven't seen an A4 block for $2,000.00 since Dave Dralle offered me one of his for $2,800.00

Us old guys tend to live in the past, but I saw one go for $800 new in the box and better an XE 351c block with a pair of A3 heads NEW for $1,600. I fell over myself and couldn't get there quick enough.

Maybe they are as rare as $30,000 barn find Cobras? Do you think this is maybe early onset of Alzheimers?   

[pbf777]

Maybe they are as rare as $30,000 barn find Cobras?

    That'd make my day, as I've got a couple of 'em still "in-tha-box"!     And I even have one that as it turns out has a 8.300" deck height! 

    Scott.

[shelbydoug]

Maybe they are as rare as $30,000 barn find Cobras?

    That'd make my day, as I've got a couple of 'em still "in-tha-box"!     And I even have one that as it turns out has a 8.300" deck height! 

    Scott.

OH NO! Now there is an 8.3 AND an 8.2?

[TA Coupe]

Don't forget about the 8.7 deck height one, and where are you going to find a manifold for an 8.3 one.

       Roy

[pbf777]

    Now it's my turn for a "senior moment", but I don't remember the 8.7" deck-height being available in the "A4" blocks, I think that came along in later block versions?   

    When we pulled this block out of the box, and upon establishing the 8.300" number, actually a "tad" over, so it would finish at that number, this via set-up with a "Block-Tru" fixture, and then proceeded in contacting Ford Motorsport notifying them of the melee, their response was: "oops"  , we'll just send you a replacement!   Upon asking if they wanted us to ship back to them the "defective" block, their response was: "it's not worth the freight to send it back, after all, what the f#@k are we going to do with it?"   

    As for what do you do about the intake fitment with the raised-deck block, we've tackled this before and it can be accounted for with intake spacer-plates or I've even practiced weld-building-up the intake faces to increase the manifolds' width and then surfaced them down to the appropriate distance for proper relationships of bolt holes and port alignment, this to the revised cylinder head positioning.   

    Scott.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

I haven't seen an A4 block for $2,000.00 since Dave Dralle offered me one of his for $2,800.00

His estate sale turned into a real sshow. I tried to buy his ramp truck. One son had the title and the other had removed and hidden the truck.

As for what do you do about the intake fitment with the raised-deck block, we've tackled this before and it can be accounted for with intake spacer-plates

Huffaker built 310" on a 351C XE block with A3 heads in my GT1 car - the plate adds another dimension to the porting. It is pinned together so it can be installed as an assembly.

[shelbydoug]

Now it's my turn for a "senior moment", but I don't remember the 8.7" deck-height being available in the "A4" blocks, I think that came along in later block versions?   

    When we pulled this block out of the box, and upon establishing the 8.300" number, actually a "tad" over, so it would finish at that number, this via set-up with a "Block-Tru" fixture, and then proceeded in contacting Ford Motorsport notifying them of the melee, their response was: "oops"  , we'll just send you a replacement!   Upon asking if they wanted us to ship back to them the "defective" block, their response was: "it's not worth the freight to send it back, after all, what the f#@k are we going to do with it?"   

    As for what do you do about the intake fitment with the raised-deck block, we've tackled this before and it can be accounted for with intake spacer-plates or I've even practiced weld-building-up the intake faces to increase the manifolds' width and then surfaced them down to the appropriate distance for proper relationships of bolt holes and port alignment, this to the revised cylinder head positioning.   

    Scott.

Can that block be milled down to 8.2"?

[JohnSlack]

Don't forget about the 8.7 deck height one, and where are you going to find a manifold for an 8.3 one.

      Roy

spacers!

[pbf777]

Can that block be milled down to 8.2"?

    We inspected the other considerations in this possibility and as the base casting seemed unchanged from the other 8.2" examples, and beyond the obvious requirement in machining decks and china-walls shorter, that itself being somewhat time consuming, what else might be involved.  The machining depths as measured from the decks down were consistent, so one would have needed to re-cut the cylinder head locating dowel recesses and though they'd only be shorter than as intentioned by .100" the cylinder head retaining fastener thread depth would be a tad short which sorta hurts your feelings. 

    But, why would one want to?  Rather I'd just accept that this block is such, though the induction manifolding might be an additional work-around (unless one is utilizing a "three-piece" example), and take advantage of what it provides. 

    Scott.

[JohnSlack]

Can that block be milled down to 8.2"?

    We inspected the other considerations in this possibility and as the base casting seemed unchanged from the other 8.2" examples, and beyond the obvious requirement in machining decks and china-walls shorter, that itself being somewhat time consuming, what else might be involved.  The machining depths as measured from the decks down were consistent, so one would have needed to re-cut the cylinder head locating dowel recesses and though they'd only be shorter than as intentioned by .100" the cylinder head retaining fastener thread depth would be a tad short which sorta hurts your feelings. 

    But, why would one want to?  Rather I'd just accept that this block is such, though the induction manifolding might be an additional work-around (unless one is utilizing a "three-piece" example), and take advantage of what it provides. 

    Scott.

8.300 deck = Free Cubic inches...kind of

[pbf777]

8.300 deck = Free Cubic inches...kind of

    Well, my initial thoughts were that yeah, you could put a 3.5" stroke crank in 'and' move the rings down "some" from the piston deck; both being particularly advantageous for a "big-port" Cleveland cylinder head.   

    Scott.