Ford S Max Engine
Adrienne Borgman
Ford was late to offer a six-cylinder engine in their cars, only introducing a six in 1941 after the failure of the 1906 Model K. The company relied on its famous Flathead V8 for most models, only seriously producing six-cylinder engines in the 1960s. The company was also late with a V6 engine, introducing a compact British V6 in 1967 but waiting until the 1980s to move their products to rely on V6 engines. The company has relied on seven major V6 families ever since, the Cologne/Taunus V6, British Essex V6, Canadian Essex V6, Vulcan V6, Mondeo V6, Cyclone V6, and Nano V6. The first five of these lines are no longer in production, leaving only the Cyclone and Nano as the company's midrange engines.
Ford introduced the Flathead V8 in their affordable 1932 Model 18, becoming a performance leader for decades. In the 1950s, Ford introduced a three-tier approach to engines, with small, mid-sized, and larger engines aimed at different markets. All of Ford's mainstream V8 engines were replaced by the overhead cam Modular family in the 1990s and the company introduced a new large architecture, the Boss family, for 2010.
The Fork and Blade V8 used a novel approach for the piston connecting rods, which meant two connecting rods shared one bearing on the crankshaft, which allowed for a short crankshaft and a smaller overall engine size.
Engines that can be used again
Engines today are designed to operate for many years and several hundred thousand kilometres in all imaginable conditions. However, in instances when an engine does fail, it is common that faulty units are simply replaced with a new engine, particularly when it is the engine interior that is in need of remanufacturing.
The all-new Mondeo features an industry-first application of hydro-formed high-strength steel. This is used to produce the A-pillars, B-pillars, and roof rails. A new magnesium inner tailgate structure for the four- and five-door models delivers a weight-saving of approximately 40 per cent compared to a traditional steel equivalent.
Working with H.J. Heinz Company, Ford is even investigating the use of the dried tomato skins that are a by-product of Heinz Ketchup production. These tomato skins could become the wiring brackets in a Ford vehicle, or the storage bins used to hold coins and other small objects.
Already Ford has in the Ford Focus, for the front grille, used a hybrid plastic-metal for the first time, and created a prototype glove box using the plant sisal. As part of the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance, Ford also supports the responsible development of plastics made from plant material. The goal is to help to build a more sustainable future for the bioplastics industry.
With the increasing need for improved global and European air quality new real world nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission standards have been set. Ford is ensuring that Ford diesel and gasoline engines will meet all upcoming stringent legislation. In addition to vehicle emissions testing in laboratories, vehicle performance also must meet the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) legislation, which adds public roads as a new environment for emission testing and certification. From 2016, all new Ford vehicles must be driven and tested on a mixture of urban, rural and motorway roads for up to 120 minutes.
Even after the DFV was retired, Ford continued to race with both turbo and naturally aspirated engines culminating in the Ford Zetec R V8 which powered Michael Schumacher to his first F1 World Championship in 1994.
Ford engines went on to win 8 of the 13 races that season, powering Jochen Rindt to the World Championship which tragically he won posthumously having lost his life at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
1980 was another dominant year for Ford powered cars which went on to win 11 of the 14 races that season. Alan Jones won his first World Championship in the Williams Ford while Williams also went on to win the Constructors Championship.
1981 saw 8 wins out of 15 for Ford powered cars with either Williams, Brabham or McLaren. Nelson Piquet won his first World Championship in the Brabham Ford while Williams Ford won the Constructors Championship.
1987 saw a return of naturally aspirated engines and the DFZ 3.5 V8 Ford engine in the back of the Tyrrell Ford and Benetton Ford teams amongst others. Ford engines came 5th and 6th in the Constructors Championships but did not win any races in a season that was dominated by Williams Honda
1989 saw Ford return to the top spot of the podium when Alessandro Nannini won the Japanese Grand Prix in his Benetton Ford. Ford-powered cars ended up 4th and 5th in the Constructors Championship with Benetton and Tyrrell respectively.
1993 saw Ford supplying engines to McLaren and Benetton as well as Minardi. Ford engines ended up winning 6 of 16 races that season with Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher both winning under Ford power. Senna ended up 2nd to Alain Prost that season while Williams Renault beat the McLaren Ford team in to 2nd with Benetton Ford coming in 3rd.
1997 saw the emergence of the Stewart Ford F1 team with Rubens Barichello and Jan Magnussen behind the wheel as well as with the Tyrrell team with Jos Verstappen on board. Sadly, there were no wins and little to cheer about this year either.
2003 saw the last win for a Ford-powered car in F1 when Giancarlo Fisichella won the Brazilian Grand Prix in his Jordan Ford. It was a rare bright spot as Jordan finished in 9th behind Jaguar in 7th in the Constructors Championship
In the late 1940s, the Ford Motor Company decided to expand its engine production facilities. Ford intended to build more manufacturing plants outside of the Detroit area, with this project calling for a new engine plant and foundry. Five states and hundreds of communities attempted to attract the project. In the end, Ford decided that a 204 acre site in the Village of Brook Park, Ohio would be the ideal place. The site lies along the main line of the New York Central Railroad which certainly made it attractive. The clinching argument, however, was that the nearby city of Cleveland was a port city on the Great Lakes, making it even more convenient to import raw materials into the plant and sending finished products out of it.
Therefore, In 1951, Ford built the Cleveland Engine plant, which was the first Ford engine plant in Ohio. The plant was the center of production for Ford's first overhead valve engine, the Lincoln V8. The engine foundry opened in 1952 to produce cast iron engine blocks. Also, in 1955, Ford built Engine Plant 2 on the site. Plant 2 was opened to produce the Y-block V8 for the Ford Thunderbird. Indeed, the plants have produced a wide variety of V6 and V8 engines throughout the years. The engines were used in cars, including everything from the Edsel to the Mustang, and in trucks like the F-100 and the F-150. By 1955, the Brook Park facility was the second largest Ford complex in the world behind only the River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. Over 34 million engines have been built in Brook Park since 1951.
The plant has gone through a variety of changes in the nearly 60 years it has been in operation. During the 1960s the plant employed over 15,000 workers. Of that number, more than 10,000 worked in the casting plant's foundry. Yet, markets, economies, and techniques change, and the foundry closed in October 2010, leading to the loss of a number of jobs. The plant was no longer needed since most of Ford's engine blocks are now made of aluminum. The few iron engine blocks that Ford currently uses are produced by a company in Mexico.
Also, Engine Plant 1 was idled in 2007 and for a time employed only 72 workers. After a $350 million investment by Ford in 2009, the plant rebounded and employment numbers rose. In 2011, the plant was producing about 900 engines per day during its two shifts. However, in 2012 Engine Plant 2 shut down, leaving Engine Plant 1, with some 1,600 workers, as the only operational facility. The second plant site was more recently redeveloped as Forward Innovation Center, offering speculative facilities to lure new industry.
I won't repeat what others have said, because it's all correct. I'll just add from experience that if you're going to build one of these, in most cases these days a 429/460 is a better way to go. The FE's, for all the glory they got because of Cobra's, etc.. weren't very good breathing engines. In fact, depending on what you're doing, a 351 can be stroked to 427 cu in, and in many cases is a better option than a big block. Now, do you want to get into 351W vs 351C vs 351M engines?
427's were designed mostly for NASCAR. They worked HORRIBLY for drag racing, unless you were in the A or B/FX classes at the time. Although through the ages, people have figured out to make them work in the Super Stock classes. In the comparable Stock classes, you are better off running a 69 Camaro with the 375hp 396 if you want to win class.
Actually, the "M" doesn't stand for Mexican. Those engines were built in Cleveland with the castings done in Michigan. I've mostly heard it referred to as "Modified", since it's a conglomeration of parts from other engines, but in reality they only used M to distinguish it from the 351W and C.
I believe some of the argument about 428 vs 427 is actually slightly off. The BIG argument in 69 and 70 was which was better the 429 BOSS(pos) or the 428 CJ, and SCJ. HERE is where the argument was... the BOSS engine SUCKED @ drag racing.. IT was designed for NASCRAP
I was being a dick from personal experience with them.....sarcasm is extremely hard to express via computer. Still, the modified is nowhere near as good as the Cleveland, and nowhere near as good as the windsor.....that clear that up?
Basically, they came out in the 70's, as I understand it, they were meant for emissions purposes- a medium block, if oyu will, for the big cars that used to run big block engines. Most of them went into LTDs and Grand Marquis'. Our LTD Landau had a 400M before we yanked it for the 460.
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