528 CID Big Block Ford Engine Build

Why I Perfomed This Build
The original reason for doing this build was to replace the low buck, stock block, crank, rods, and iron head motor in my 1984 fox body Mustang. Prior to this build, my car had a best quarter mile time of 10.20 @ 133.5 MPH. I had some concerns using the stock rods and heavy TRW pistons that are currently in the car and wanted to upgrade, but like all projects this one has seen more than its share of “why nots” and “what the hecks” along the way and has ended up being a 528 cubic inch A460 headed monster.

Goal
In short, the goal of the build-up evolved from a simple bottom-end upgrade to what you see in the attached images. A mid range (not low buck) and reliable naturally aspirated race engine to propel my 1984 Mustang. Meeting this goal using a 385-series Big Block Ford is relatively simple and was done with commonly available parts.

This build has a price tag in the range of roughly $15,000 from carb to pan and includes all parts and Labor. It could have been done cheaper using a cast crank, economy h-beams, lesser pistons, regular timing chain, standard oil system and a few other less expensive parts, but it was also built with the future in mind and the intention of reusing many of the parts in the “next round”. The next round will include full porting of the heads, upgrading the block to an Eliminator or A460, and possibly a hit of “the fun stuff in the blue bottle”.

The original intent of the build was to upgrade the bottom end and reuse my current top end, so a stock DOVE-A block was selected and machined, however plans changed with the addition of the a A460 heads and some much higher hp potential came to light, at the time I elected to continue with the stock block, but if I was starting over I would select an Eliminator or A460 block in the beginning. Even though the Stock Blocks have been used to well over 1000hp, the cost of upgrades to the stock block and high quality machine work required for this type of build make the aftermarket stuff well worth the additional money in my opinion. Additional upgrade cost would probably be in the $1000 to $1500 range, but your gaining better oiling design, stronger and better metal, ability to go to a much bigger bore, and a better design all around.

It has taken approximately 12 months from inception to get the point I am toady with my 528. It will probably require another 6-8 months before I reap the fruits of my labor and get to smash the loud pedal on this one.


Short Block
Block - 1970 Factory Ford Block DOVE-A Casting, It has been Bored .060, Decked to 10.300 and Line honed. Block has been half filed with block hard and it has had a Canton Girdle installed at the insistence of Rick at RV. I personally do not believe in them but it made him feel a little better using one with a stock block and sometimes you need to give your machinist the ability to sleep at night, even if you don’t agree with him.

Crank Shaft - 4.300 Stroke, 4340 Forged SCAT unit with BBC Rod Journals, Internally balanced.

Rods - 6.800 Long Oliver Billet with BBC Journal and Pins

Pistons - 4.420 Bore, Custom Ross Domed, with skirt and dome coatings with light weight Pins, 13.5:1 Compression.

Balancer - ATI Light Weight Aluminum Super Damper part Number 917670

Flexplate - JW wheel for adapting BBF to a Powerglide transmission.

Rings - Victor Plazma Moly Part Number 315-0010+.060

Bearings - Clevite Bearings Part Numbers CB745H & MS1039V

Girdle - Canton Part 12-066

Heads
TFS A460 heads (Part Number 5440T801) were selected for this build due to their great flow “out of the box”, their ability to be upgraded and their modest price for a race head. Smaller heads, like Ford Racing SCJ’s or Kaase P-51's, can achieve the HP of this build, but they will be at their limit normally aspirated and require a substantial amount of porting to get there. Typical A460s with a full port job by a reputable shop can make in excess of 1000+hp and these ones will be upgraded in the future with that goal in mind. They also use much more common valve train parts and work really great out of the box compared to other BBF racing heads such as C460 or E460 on engines of this displacement and bore size.

They have received only a bowl blend and gasket match and flow over 400 cfm @ 28” @ .800 on the intake and over 290 cfm @ 28” at .800 on the exhaust with some very impressive mid flows.

Valves – Stainless Steel, 2.30 intake and 1.88 exhaust

Springs – 1.625 diameter, 2.0 installed height and provide 300# pressure on seat

Retainers – 10 Degree Titanium

Rocker and Head Studs – ARP

Guide Plates – TFS

Valve Train
Shaft rockers where considered for the build, but where not deemed to be a cost effective upgrade and would have added about $700-$800 more to the project. Upgrades that where deemed cost effective were, Comp Cams hi-tech SS rockers vs. typical race quality aluminum ones and the Smith Brothers .130 wall pushrods vs. typical .080 wall race stuff. I learned a lot doing some research in valve train stability and harmonics. Pushrod weight is not as critical as the strength of them is. A lot of “race engines” and “street engines” alike lose a substantial amount of RPM and power potential and break a lot of parts due to pushrod flex. In my mind, when wanting reliability and using heavy springs the extra $150 over typical high quality pushrods was a great investment.

Cam Drive – Danny Bee Belt Drive

Camshaft – Lem Evans Specified Custom Solid Roller, Ground by Comp Cams, you’ll have to call Lem for specifications. But I will say the lift and duration numbers will make you street guys quiver.

Piston to Valve Clearance – I .130 E .180

Lifters – Comp Cams, Part Number 836-16

Pushrods – Smith Brothers .130 wall 3/8” Custom Length.

Rockers – Comp Cams, 1.73 Ratio, Pro Magnum Stainless, Part Number 1130-16

Girdles – Jomar Pro Series Part Number 1147

Oiling System
A lot of time went into getting all the right parts and fitting this oil system. It is about half the cost of a dry sump and this type of system is commonly referred to as a “poor mans dry sump”. It is a great middle of the road choice between stock type stuff and a full race dry sump system. I looked into building a dry sump system but couldn’t justify the extra cost and really don’t have the space in my engine compartment for the tank and additional lines, etc. However, they work great, and in most applications will generally extend the life of your engine and make some additional hp in the process. But for sportsman racing I had to draw the line somewhere and found a great compromise in the external system.

If you do one of these systems please be aware that it does require a lot of patience and part modifications. You will be using a lot of parts intended for other applications, example ATI dampers do not use Ford parts or patterns, they utilize more common Big Block Chevy stuff and it makes things interesting.

Oil Pan – Canton steel power pan for fox chassis modified for use with an external oil pump. Part Number 13-772 + trays

Pump – Peterson single stage external pump.

Accumulator – 2 quart accusump system. Part Number 24-026

Oil Lines – AN hose and Fittings

Mandrel, Mounts and Drives – Peterson, used various parts to make everything work.

Induction
The Ford Motorsport and old design TFS intake is supposed to be the “hot ticket” for engines in this size range and the carb selected is probably a little on the large size but again was selected with a future bigger motor in mind.

Intake – Old Ford Motorsport A460 intake, Gasket Matched and Powder Coated

Carb – Quick Fuel 1250 Dominator with all the bells and whistles.

Exhaust
Headers – D&D 2 ¼” primaries with 4” collectors and where build to fit a fox body chassis.

Miscellaneous
Fasteners – Only ARP Fasteners where used thru-out this engine

Gasket – Felpro Race Gaskets

Motor Plates and Limiters – D&D Package

Ignition – MSD Crank Trigger and Mallory Distributor

Clearances
Piston to Wall - .008
Rods Bearings - .0025
Main Bearings - .0025
Thrust - .011
Rod Side Clearance - .018
Ring Gaps Top - .028
Ring Gap Second - .024
Deck Clearance - 0

Special Thanks
Some time, over the next few months I intend to get this motor on the dyno and make a few pulls to get it tuned in and make sure everything is right, before it goes in the car. I’ll keep everyone posted with the results.

In closing I would like to thank everyone who helped me with this motor:

RV Engines
Alexander, New York
585-344-0784
Rick Vania

BF Evans Ford
Livermore, Kentucky
877-611-2613
Lem Evans

D&D Automotive Specilties
Whitehall, Pennsylvania
610-432-0041
Bob

I can't forget to mention the guys on www.fordmuscle.com , POPSRACING.COM - Home Page and on 460ford.com :: Index and especially to all you small block guys, you know who you are, for the inspiration to whoop your butts. Make sure your bottles are full and your blowers are boostin' cause you gonna need them! LOL

My god. Your primaries are almost as big as my exhaust

Unreal project.. and VERY well thought out and executed.
Cant wait to hear that thing.

I agree with Thordane. Very impressive build there, and very thorough planning!

Gotta love the closing, too. Small blockers, beware.

I looove that open timing cover with the belt! Do they make something like that for the 302? Drool...
-J

Yes, they sure do make one for a 302.

dfree,

I’m blown away by your build. Impressive. Let me apologize up front if any of my questios are stupid, I’m a total newbie to this forum.fficeffice" />

In fact your build is the reason that I found this forum and registered. J

I recently built a ford as well, but after a few thousand miles, I’m thinking for a redo. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me.

Q1) I love the timing cover setup, and would like to find more information on it. Can you point me to the manufacturer, and why you chose this route instead of a timing chain? Does this provide more accurate timing? Or is it a maintenance issue with racing motors?

Q2) I had recently decided to build a dry sump system for my car as well, but as you stated, it’s turning out to be a real ordeal. Can you provide a more detailed parts list for the system that you built? I have no problems doing a bit of custom fabrication and brackets, but would love to get more info on what you have done with the mounts and drives.

Great work, and thanks in advance for any advice.
BBFordFun

The Belt Drive is a Danny Bee and I purchased it thru BF Evans Ford, The belt drives are supposed to help reduce valvetrain harmonics and allow external adjustablilty that you can't get with a chain. It gives you an easier way to advance and retard the cam on the dyno quickly to see where you want the cam to be at.

As far as the Peterson parts it would probably be best to contact them directly for specific part numbers as everything seems to be unique to each application !!! LOL. We did use some BBC parts on this one because of the ATI Damper.

I can post all the part numbers that where purchased, but it will take me some time to dig out all the bags / boxes and make sure which parts where actually used as we did have some trial and error getting everything right and parts where modified.

I understand My carb has finally been complete and I should have this motor on the dyno in the next month or two. Stay Tuned !!

Hey , love the build, I raced a big block for years in an 89. As a matter of fact I was in the first 5 WWFC events with two of my cars(same engine different car different years) I just wanted to tell ya BBF's are tough, mine was a low buck, bottom end, stock crank rods and KB hyper-break pistons ( just proffesionally balanced and put together). I put over 300 passes on that motor and alot of them where with a 325 shot of NOS, so dont fear the giggle gas on yours, just keep safe on fuel and timing, cold plugs and good gas and you'll never have a problem. Here was my set up: Ford motorsport Cobra jet heads, Lunati 700 lift solid roller with 300/320 duration,lunati springs, Victor Jr , 1150 dominator, big shot plate, 2" headers, electric water pump, crane gold rockers, stud girdle on heads and bottom end, arp studs everywhere,msd 7al and msd everything else, powerglide with Coan 4500 converter and 3.55 gears, this set up netted me a 9.33 @ 150 pass after pass on 10" MT ET streets.

Going to try and get on the dyno in the next month or so......... Lots going on So "Stayed Tuned".

Great write up and build up! I'm still stuck in a small block world.