Assembling this years power-plant for my T-bird. Last years "tractor engine" with the 8 sleeves is now a souvenir, sleeves were moving around and pressurizing the cooling system. Did put 160+ passes on it so no shame on it, no regrets about the whole effort.

I had a 70's truck block that I was going to do the same thing to, put in 8 sleeves but a different method that had been discussed on here. But just after I posted that I was going to do that I got an email from Steve Malmsten offering me a 63 427 block that he had checked out but was unable to use. Block had some issues, some more major than others. Steve gave me the block and gave me a heck of a deal on the main caps.
I am assuming at some point in the distant past rods 7 & 8 had decided to let go. Beat up the bottom of the water jackets quite a bit so the block has been sleeved and welded. Not a great pic but the damage can be seen

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Garrett Machine had told Steve the block leaked in this area under pressure but since I was going to fill the block I was not concerned. I put a layer of epoxy under the cement and pressurized it to force it into the cracks. Very confident I will have no problems with that.

Bigger concern was one of the broken rods had reached up and knocked out part of the rear cam bearing bore. Since it is a center oiler block the oil for the rear main goes around the outside of the cam bearing and a large gap was out of there.

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Really really rotten spot to fix on the inside of the block. So I decided to go around the cam bearing with an external oil line. Talked to my machine shop guy and determined a needle roller bearing did not need pressure and an FE cam has the same journal as a 460 so needle roller bearings are easy to get. Had the machine shop bore the bore out for the needle roller bearing.

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Unfortunately the bore size required meany no bore for the cam plug so had to make up a plate to see the cam bore.

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Can see in the pic there is 2 plugs above the plate, one is for the oil galley, it is a 3/8 plug but there is a 1/4 plug 2 inches deeper in the bore that actually keeps oil from the rear of the block. The other plug seals off the extra 427 oil pressure regulator Ford put at the rear of the block right under the main oil galley. The 2 plugs just keep splash oil from coming out. The oil feed hole to the main bearing under the cam bearing bore was drilled and tapped 5/8 fine. I put a pc of threaded rod in that was threaded 7/16 fine to allow a banjo bolt.

Welded a pc of 3/8 line to the banjo after drilling the banjo out to 1/4 inch. Bent line so it went to a bulkhead fitting attached to the block on the oil filter adapter side.

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Added some fittings to the filter adapter and ran a braided stainless hose to the bulkhead fitting.

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It is -6 size all the way thru but it just feeds one main and one rod. If it was a center main feeding 2 rods I would be more concerned about the line size being big enough.

Rest of the engine is going together, few more cubes because of the 4.28 bore and a beautiful set of Joe D Craine heads going on.

That's a great way to get around the broken oil feed. I wouldn't think you'd need as big as #6 hose but it won't hurt. Could probably have run a 5/16" hard line alongside the block ro that bulkhead.

160 runs with moving sleeves was admirable too. Could that 428 block be saved by welding the sleeves?

By the time I got the line inside the bellhousing done I was tired of hard line. LOL
I wanted a 1/4 dia minimum hole all the way thru and 3/8 tubing gives me that.
My sleeved block was already very low on deck height, welding would mean more deck cutting and not sure how well it would work.
I do have a better plan for sleeving thanks to some tutoring from Blair Patrick but Steve's generosity means I can shelve that idea hopefully for quite some time if at all.

My question is how the block plate will fit against the block with that banjo fitting on there. Are you still going to run the C4? If you punch clearance holes in the block plate, will it clear the flexplate?

Not questioning your ability but am interested in the rest of your design theory with that banjo fitting

Ricky.

See my post below about cleveland bearings, sorry getting slow in my old age. LOL

I run a SFI flexplate I got from ATI, it is a flat flexplate so they use a spacer between the flexplate and crank flange. This gives me the room to use the banjo fitting. But it is tight so I welded the line on rather than a tube nut and ferrule. A -6 banjo would not have fit.

Block plate is my own design to act as a mid plate

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Has lots of clearance, tube goes low to the block well inside the arc of the converter studs.

Did not get a good picture of it but this is a 63 block so it uses the small flanged thrust bearing.
I have been using cleveland main bearings for some years and not willing to give up using the "H" bearings with the "X" option for clearance.
Pic below if you look close the relief I put on the block is visible.

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..........."one man's junk is another man's treasure", nicely done, Rod.

Mickey Thompson's 63 1/2 #997 S/S Hi-Rise 427 Lgt/Wgt Galaxie,
1957 C-600 Cab-over carhauler w/390-4V, 2-speed rear-end
FGCofA member #4908
MCGC member #75

"There will ALWAYS be an FE in my LiFE"

That's why I e mailed you. But to be honest I thought you where in Vancouver not the other side of the continent! I thought it would be easier for you! But you got it, and when you said you could use it, I was more than happy to sell you the caps at the right price. Glad to see the photos and I am looking forward to see the results! It's not a door stop anymore! Good luck and God's speed! Please keep us posted. Steve

I have to add in edit that the second photo is a great shot of the chunk knocked out of the cam journal! I can't believe I didn't see it when I bought that block, but Garret had 2 days into it before they saw it too. A lesson for people buying an old block, look deep and thorough. Also, brilliant thinking on the fix as well as very nice work. Thanks Mario! Steve


Second edit for redundant in's

Ricky.

Cleveland bearings do not have a hole in them like FE bearings. The Cleveland has 2 holes that come together and form kind of a slot where the bearings get fed. So the main bearings have a narrow groove with a long slot at the top. I just match that up so all the oil can get thru.
The pic is from my other block but you get the idea

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Thrashing really hard to get this done so no pics or video sorry. GRIN
Friend came over Sat morning to help get everything hooked up. Started it about 1 in the afternoon. Started right up, sounded really good.
Just for goggles I pulled the hose off the overflow can from the rad. Imagine my horror when the coolant was pissing out solid, I was stunned, so much effort and back to the same thing as the block I had retired.
After gathering myself we started checking a few things, plugs looked good, put 120 PSI in all the cylinders and no leakage into the coolant. Had to do that at TDC so thought I cracked a cyl wall. My neighbor came over and we discussed again, did not make sense. Then we started talking about rad caps and what they should be for pressure. Had the cap off the rad and kinda half thinking running my finger around the area where the cap seals and found a rough spot. Cleaned that up and the cap adapter on the engine. Put it back together but with water full to the top. The motor pushed out the extra water and then stopped. Sat at 200 degrees and no water coming out. Let the water find it own level, ran it again yesterday and everything is fine, no water in the overflow.
Changed the oil, cut the filter and it is cleaner than I have ever seen from this motor. Few more hours and I will be ready for a tues night run.