Big Block......Small Block.

[derek7871]

Ok, silly question here. What determines if an engine is a big block or a small block. My 360 FE is a big block, but a 400 is considered a small block. What makes a big a big and a small a small?

Cooter

[j41385]

Big block and small block really don't apply to Ford, thats GM and Chrystler lingo.

Ford V8s come in families or series, such as the Windsor- 260, 289, 302 and 351w.

The 335 series (Cleveland)- 351c, 351m, and 400.

The FE series- 330, 352, 360, 390, 406, 410, 427, and 428

The 385 Series 429 and 460.

[Hawkrod]

Actually, Fords do have big blocks and small blocks, it is not just a GM thing. The smallblock Ford is the Fairlane engine 221, 260, 266, 289, 302 and 351W, The big block is the FE series 332, 352, 360, 361, 390, 406, 410, 427, 428. They were always referred to as big block and smallblock in the 60's and specifically so in Ford racing literature. The waters got muddied when the 365 and 385 engines came out and so those terms tend not to be used as much although the 429 and 460 is usually called a big block in common usage but the 351C 351M and 400 are not usually reffered to as small blocks as the 302 and 351W was being built at the same time and was refered to as a smallblock. The reality is displacement has no bearing on engine names. For example a 366 Chevy is a big block while a 400 can be a smallblock. The terms relate to the actual exterior dimensions of the engine not the cubic inches it displaces. Hawkrod

[Gunz]

FE engines: 332/352/360/361=1958 Edsel only /390/406/410/427/428.

FT engines: 330 Medium Duty=1964/72 /330 Heavy Duty / 361/391.

The Edsel's 361 FE engine is the answer to the question of what FE refers to.

FE engines introduced in 1958. Ford: 332/352 / Edsel: 361.

Because of the 1958 Edsel's poor sales, its 361 engine (a slight overbore of the 352) was only used in 1958.

In 1958 Edsel had its own division (formed in 1956), but again....because of poor sales, the Edsel Division was folded into the Lincoln-Mercury Division to form M-E-L (Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln).

The Edsel Division was originally formed in 1956, it was originally called the "E" Division. The cars were first introduced in September 1957.

The car that the Edsel was developed from was not a Ford product at all.

The 1958 Edsel's design & features were based on the 1957....Packard.

This is not the car Studebaker built in 1957, but a completely different model.

Packard folded in March of 1956 and most of the engineering staff and Packard's prez joined the E Division. The new prez of the E Division was James J. Nance, Packard's former prez.

When the Packard staff moved over to Ford, they brought the 1957 Packard "mule" with them...that car became the Edsel.