533 Cubic-Inch Big Block Ford - Bodacious Big-Block Part 1

Speed-O-Motive started the short-block buildup with a well-seasoned 460 block. The '71 Lincoln block's main journals were align-honed, its original 4.36-inch bore was taken out to 4.44 inches (0.080 inch over) and finish-honed, and the deck was squared and checked at 10.30 inches before hitting the hot tank. No specialized machining or clearancing was needed for our stroker.

Screw-in freeze plugs were supposedly only used by Ford on Boss 429s, yet our block had one! The theory: A Ford freeze plug bore-sizing mistake. Being a little too large for a press fit, someone decided to just thread the hole. No harm done, but weird!

Speed-O-Motive uses a new stroker crankshaft from RPM. The crank specs out at a 4.30-inch stroke with the journals sized for big-block Chevy rods at 2.32 inches. This, in turn, allows the use of commonly available big-block Chevy rods which helps keep the costs reasonable. The crank is bedded down on Clevite 77 "P" bearings--the bearings of choice for the entire project.

RPM is called on once again for its Pro I-beam rods. These thick-webbed, 6.80-inch, dowel and cap-screw rods are sized for Chevy big-block applications and approach H-beam strength without the added expense--plenty strong for a 4x4 engine which will rarely (if ever?) see the high side of 5,000 rpm. By the way, all reciprocating parts are given a full dynamic internal balancing by Speed-O-Motive for a long and happy life.

These cool stroker pistons and rings are actually available from the JE Pistons catalog--no custom design, no custom machining. The slugs come ready to fit our 4.44-inch bore and 6.80-inch rod with a--say it with us--Chevy big-block-sized pin.

With a compression height of 1.35 inches and a dished-dome volume of 39cc, our compression ratio with our 75cc-chambered Edelbrock heads comes out to be 9.7:1. Perfect for pump gas with aluminum heads. Rings are also from JE Pistons and are the file-to-fit variety. The top ring gap was set to 0.02 inch and the second ring came in at 0.015.

Pistons, pins, rods, and rings were carefully connected and inspected at the workbench before they were squeezed into their bores.

Finished with the assembly, Speed-O-Motive's Mitch Jackson put the final twist on the fasteners. Ford used nice Grade 8 bolts on the mains so they were reused and torqued to 100 lb-ft. The rods' cap screws were given 65 lb-ft and the Speed-O-Motive stroker short-block was finished. Punch in the numbers and you come up with five hundred and thirty-three cubic inches of American muscle. We ought to snap driveline parts now like an Abrams tank hooked up to a Saddam statue.

And now for the clearance check. As you can see in the photo, crankshaft counterweights easily clear the sides of the block and the bottoms of the pistons with room to spare. We figure if you can stick a finger between the parts without getting pinched, they're good to go.

The JE Pistons just top out at zero deck--this, and the piston dish, should make one sweet-running stoked stroker.

To turn our short- into a long-block, we turned to the Edelbrock Performer RPM line. Good for maximum power from 1,500 to 6,500 rpm--we figured massive displacement would substitute below 1,500 rpm--Edelbrock's power package starts with a camshaft and lifter kit (PN 7157) and a roller timing set (PN 7812). The Performer RPM cam has an advertised duration of 290 degrees intake and 300 degrees exhaust along with a 0.556-inch lift intake and a 0.581-inch lift exhaust.

Since our engine came from Speed-O-Motive instead of the junkyard, we had to scrounge a few parts like the fuel pump eccentric and thrust plate with bolts. The sprocket bolt holding it all together came from ARP (PN 255-1001). We slathered moly lube on the cam and temporarily attached the sprocket to use as a handle as it was (carefully) slid home.

To finish off the front of the engine you'll need a timing cover and a water pump with cover. The timing cover is still available new from Ford (PN E5TZ-6019-K) or restoration suppliers. The same holds true for the sheetmetal plate (Ford PN C8SZ-8508-A) that covers the rear of the water pump. The water pump itself is another high-performance Edelbrock piece (PN 8866).

Here's the only place where things got a little tricky. Ford used a separate spacer sleeve on the crankshaft between the harmonic balancer and timing gear. Externally balanced engines from '79-up used this spacer (shown) with a balance weight (Ford PN D9TZ-6359-A). A matching weight on the flywheel/ flexplate put the engine into balance. With our engine already internally balanced at Speed-O-Motive, we needed a spacer sleeve sans balance weight from a '78-or-earlier big-block, which we couldn't find. So, being the garage "innovators" we are, we cut and ground the counterweight of our late-model spacer down to neutral balance.

Since damping vibrational forces on big engines is so important, we used this racing (SFI-approved) balancer from Fluidampr (PN 712510). It's the only damper we could find that has four bolt holes, as opposed to three, to directly mate up with Ford pulleys. An ARP Square-drive damper bolt (PN 150-2503) pulled it all together. The ARP bolt is made with a square hole in its head that will accept a 1/2-inch drive ratchet or breaker bar for easy turning of the crank in either direction.

Pro Magnum roller rockers from Comp Cams (PN 1330-16) bolt right on the head's 3/8-inch studs and have a standard Ford ratio of 1.7:1 (and, guess what, they fit big-block Chevys too).

We held off ordering the pushrods until we had used the Comp Cams Hi-Tech length-checking pushrod (PN 7703-1) to measure for proper rocker positioning on the valve. At mid-lift on the cam, the rocker's tip should be centered on the valve stem for maximum valve guide life. Once we discerned what length we needed by counting the number of turns we extended the length checker, we ordered the hardened, 3/8-inch-diameter, Comp Cams Hi-Tech pushrods at 8.45 inches (PN 7992-16). Your particular engine may require a different length, but no-worry, 'cause Comp Cams has whatever you need.

Edelbrock has recently introduced these beautiful head castings (PN 60679, complete, 75cc chambers) to fit big-block Fords. Not only does the head's aluminum construction (A356 heat treated to T-6 spec) save weight, it features ports and combustion chambers designed from the start for high-performance. Porting gods often work for hours to make stock iron heads perform well (big-block Fords take alot of Dremel time)--the rest of us can just buy these.

Plus, they're already assembled with all the good stuff such as 2.19-inch intake and 1.76-inch exhaust valves, bronze guides, heavy-duty springs and retainers, guideplates (for 3/8-inch-diameter pushrods), and port-matched high-flow ports.

Our long-block stroker project is wrapped up for this month with Edelbrock's Performer RPM intake manifold (PN 7166). This dual-plane manifold is designed for mid-range power and will accept square-bore carburetors such as the suggested 800-cfm Edelbrock Performer Series (wink, wink) or, strangely enough, spread-bore carbs such as Edelbrock's Q-jets--your choice. Did you know early Ford Cobra Jets ran Quadrajet carbs? You do now. See, even Ford used big-block Chevy parts. So don't you dare send us your whining Ford-versus-Chevy comments. Can't we all just get along? Tune in next month as L&L Products helps us swing our big Ford into a '79 Bronco and fire her up.