Did some shed tidying over the break and seeing as were looking at putting a 460 into a mates ED Fairmont I thought I'd try my 390 engine on the V8 K-member I have lying around. Now ok it's a different engine family but the signs are good. FE's have a 10.17" deck so it's only a smidge shorter than the 385 series big blocks' 10.3" deck which means similar(read minimal)header issues. BTW 5.4's have a 10.07" deck but their heads make them even wider!
The FE has a 4.63" bore spacing which makes them a little shorter in length than the 4.9" bore spacing gives in a 385 series.

Here's some pics.....

I positioned the engine with it's bellhousing face the same distance back on the K-member as a 5.0...whether this can be accomplished in the actual car remains to be seen.

I left a bit of space between the engine mounts and block to allow for adaptor brackets to the 5.0 mounts...

Looks like a small gear reduction starter would be required for steering shaft clearance...

Plenty of sump clearance from K-member but a remote oil filter location will be required...

and the other side..

that will be one hell tough ED when its finished, good luck

Great work XR9UTE

Keep up the good work

Yeah it should be fun. I'll post the pics of the 429 and toploader when we drop that on there.

Never a dull moment at your place mate.

What was the outcome of this build? Scored a 460 out of a skid pig that cracked a head; was going to rebuild it and get another XD but would be more a hell of a lot more wow factor in my EB

Should be finished by now.....been over 5 years ago that thread......

The ED Fairmont was T-boned before the conversion started.

Did you have a transmission that you planned to use? Did you notice any engine mounting issues? What were K-frame and rack clearances like? If you had the chance would you give the project a go?

Sorry about all the questions mate, just figure it's safest to do some homework before committing to the project

Nope, didn't even get to trial fit the 429/toploader combo that he already had(and still has in fact) because after the car got hit he just gave up on the idea and started building the XA Coupe that it was originally from. That isn't finished either but I can't talk, my Cougar ain't built either!

I've got some pics of a 6.8 V10 in my ED that I dangled for size. Also not quite as big as a 385 series engine but still same deck as 5.4 and obviously quite long it's a good example. I think the 10.3" deck of the 460 will actually help with header room. Rack clearance shouldn't be an issue. I would mod your bellhousing to take a left hand starter and if able use a B-series V8 starter which goes on the trans side rather than engine side of the bell. You'd want to look at setting back your accessories somehow(like a modular) to keep engine length to a minimum.

Here's some pics of that...

That looks like the Jag V10? Me and the old man scored one years ago with the intent of putting it into our mud buggy (had 8 exhaust stacks, our thought was that 10 would look cooler lol)

Thanks for the info mate............. I'm looking getting an adaptor plate for the BTR 4 speed to mate of to the big block, still unsure if the input shafts will match up yet though......... 9" in the back........... Seem weld the chassis........... Looking at BA BF brake upgrade........... Then see if I still got a mate a Fulcrum and sort out some upgraded suspension........... Take all my theories to the local engineer and see if he would consider passing it

What jaguar V10? they only had a V12.
It's a 2002 Ford modular 2V PI V10.
Input shaft won't be a problem...making a BTR live will be the problem.
I'd be using a manual like a T56. Or if you really want an auto get a built 4R70w with a BBF bell. Factory bigblock E4OD/4R100 won't fit in the tunnel.
Don't think you have a hope in hell of getting it registered unless you used a final year '97 ish EFI 460 which would surpass the ADR emissions requirements...I'd just do it anyway though

Thought it was a Jag engine, either way the engine ended up stolen before we got a chance to buy it.............. I think the BTR can handle it..... How many big horsepower XR6Ts and supercharged GTs running around out there? I reckon there's enough to prove the BTR can handle some pretty serious punishment............ I've thought about a T56, great in theory, not so much fun in reality because the car will be "driven not hidden" plus it's a Fairmont and would like to keep all the luxuries that it offered lol..... What was the 4R70W used in?........... The emissions testing is pretty basic over here, as long as I can match the CO2 emissions test set back in 1993 it'll pass......... Good ignition, and a fuel injection set up should hopefully have me covered, I have been told the age of the block won't really matter once it receives a freshen up with some modern day technology....... I get on good with the local engineer, he's currently helping me on a my supercharged and turbo C*******E project............. If it's a no go, I'll do a BA/F 6 cyl upgrade and build a compound boost falcon to lol............... You seem like a pretty smart cookie mate, and look just as silly as me lol, building stupid cars has to be a genetic flaw sometimes lol

If you can find a BTR builder to do it right ok. I've never seen any big hp ones last though.
You mean in WA where I am.
If it's an auto it'll only be half driven....a manual is a truly driven car and twice the fun!
Besides it's going to cost you less and it'll be stronger.
The 4R70w is used in Mustangs,5.0 Explorers and F-series. Lentech in Canada machines the bell off and has bolt on Bellhousings to suit any engine. Plus you can use a stand alone controller like the Baumann Optishift that I use on my Rangie(check my 351 Range Ford thread in the garage section).
Yeah I'm a terminal rev head but I don't have enough money or shed space to keep or finish everything I do
Did a lot of EFI Ford engines into just about anything from the early 90's to 00's. Even setup Ford EECIV onto some GM s**t.
Did quite a bit with Emissions at Orbital engine company too. Probably would still be there if not for f**k in muslims and 9/11.
That's why I say do it anyway because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't with the powers that be. Christ, just write 5.0L on the rocker cover and you'll be right I reckon
Got an EFI 460 lower intake kickin around if you need it. You need to use the late EFI head which are different to the early stuff though. The late heads are pretty good when ported but I'd be losing any iron head for ally ones on any bigblock. Actually we were doing a tunnel ram base converted for EFI on a mates 460 XG ute but he piked it and used a carby.
If you want to persist with the BTR your best bet would be to run AU EECV and a moates 1/4 horse to run both engine and box. COuld easily make an encoder wheel to fit behind your balancer too. We do em for E-series 5.0 Balancers already. Be even easier with the crank spacer that 460's have. This would allow you to piss the dizzy off for a front facing t-body on a tunnel ram base as I mentioned. Should stay under bonnet that way.
Another possibilty for management is the PCM-122 from a BA. It's something I'm workin on for my 351 rangie which is currently running with EECIV. Have to test if I can enable dizzy ignition and an 8 tooth encoder. We can turn drive by wire off I think.

Everything is still on the cards at the moment, every pre-build concept, plan and aspect will be covered then I'll take it to my engineer (we breifly discussed it last night) and see what he says wheather it's an achievable or not............ The compound boost V6 will be engineer approved and will be registered as such, also having an engineer helping with the build will go a long way lol.......... Fuel wise looking at an Edlebrock pro flo xt set up, log style manifold, handheld calibrator, can also be tuned via laptop if I can get the Dyno time (never done much tuning work so could be a nice little learning curve) The fuel injection kit also comes with an ignition system.......... Then fire the engine and see how it goes emissions wise, could end up with another XD/E/F or try and get a mate with XC to buy it lol.......... So the encoder wheel you're talking about is for running a coil pack ignition system right? coil packs were something I toyed with but is a bit beyond what I know so took it off the cards.......... Tunnel ram sounds great but I want a big lazy lump of an engine, not chasing big numbers, there'll be enough horsepower with a big block, won't chase anymore until I know if the chassis and drive train can handle it