WE BUILD A VINTAGE FE USING PERFORMANCE AFTERMARKET HEADS, INTAKE, ETC. by Mike Mavrigian all photos by author The “old” Ford 427 FE side oiler has regained its popularity among both racers and street rod/custom car builders, especially for Cobra replica builders. This blast from the past is back with a vengeance.The Ford 427 “side [...]
Our JE forged pistons included wire locks for floating pin securing. The wire locks are installed by working your way around the lock with a small screwdriver. A nice option for wire lock installation is Lockintool’s W-927 installation tool. It takes some getting used to but, once you develop the knack, it’s a real time [...]
The side relief design provides additional clearance for the crank’s reluctor wheel. Without this added clearance, No. 8 piston would hit the reluctor wheel. Here’s an underside view that clearly illustrates the side relief/short pin design. Naturally, this also reduces reciprocating weight as a bonus. As you can see, the compression height resulted in the [...]
LS PROJECT, PART 2 BLOCK PREP AND BALANCING by Mike Mavrigian all photos by author We swapped out the OE torque-plus-angle main cap bolts for a set of ARP studs. This will provide added strength and will eliminate wear on the block’s female threads during future servicing. I recently visited Gressman Powersports where Scott Gressman [...]
CAMSHAFTS All LS series camshafts are of the roller style. The LS series of engines utilize a camshaft timing sensor. To provide a signal to the sensor, 1997-2004 LS engines feature a machined reluctor on the camshaft, located immediately in front of the No. 5 main cam journal. Camshafts from 2005 and later eliminate this [...]
Custom pistons are available in any configuration, but knowing what’s needed to order them requires careful measurement and sound decisions. Once the data sheet is accurately completed, your order begins to forge blank slugs. Initial machining begins with pin bore placement. Here the rod small end passage is machined, based on your reported small end [...]
STREET PERFORMANCE & RACING PISTON TECH Insight into the world of go-fast slugs. by Mike Mavrigian photos by author It should come as no surprise that piston technology has evolved over recent years, largely due to superior material availability and the advent of precision CNC-machining capabilities. While a custom piston order may have once required [...]
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