Rich, I took a yardstick to my Lincoln Mark VIII engine after removing
the top cover the other day. These are but crude figures but it looks
like it is 28-1/2" wide across the valve covers, the heads are 24" long,
and the overall length of the engine is 25-26". I couldn't measure top
to bottom but it is probably "average" in proportion, and has a rear
sump pan. I saw a figure on a Mustang Cobra(this engine is used in the
1996-2004 Mustang as an option)website of only 470 lbs for the aluminum
block V8.
Whilst we're daydreaming, I can see this excellent, state-of-the-art
unit as a speed trials engine, with(here comes the heresy) all the
electronics and various gadgets stripped off, replaced by a fabricated
box on the front to carry a Vertex mag and a Hilborn pump, driven by a
Gilmer belt off a pulley in front of the stock vibration dampener on the
crank.
In reality, looking at the factory service manual, maintenance on the
unit for racing would be a pain, the assembly procedure for the
crankshaft into the block, and the heads, with instructions to replace
the special torque-to-yield cylinder head bolts, etc. Most likely, its
value will be what it is, a super-good engine that will give long and
excellent service in a Mark VIII, never be opened, and then scrapped.
That Ford goes to an iron block in the supercharged version suggests
that the aluminum block is not very suitable for high power outputs.
And, the stock crank is cast steel. I wonder if Ford still uses the
same cast steel material for it they used for all those Flathead cranks
from '35 to '53('32-'34 were forged steel)? That wouldn't surprise me.
Bill Hoddinott
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