Hello. My wife recently bought me a 1977 Ford F150 4x4 with a NP435 and a NP205 t-case and it has an fe engine in it(could not get over getting rid of the one I used to have years ago). The cast number on the block is C7ME-A, on the head is C8AE-H. The vin number is H which stands for a 351M, as far as I can find. Does anyone know where I can find out this info, year of engine and cid. Those fe engines can be very torquey and I would like to rebuild it. Thanks.  

I'm not much on the Ford thing, but always wondered what FE standed for. Do you or any one else know?

Does it mean its (Fixed Eventually) ?

No offence to you but this is just my two cents on Ford vehicles.

FE I think is a block designation. Ford made several different displacements of V-8's in the 60's with a single block for their larger engines. Engines in this family I know Ford made were the 390, 427 and 428. They probably also made a 351 and in the 70's probably other displacements around 400 cu. in. All they changed was different bore and stroke sizes as well as maybe cylinder head styles and/or valve train components.

Pretty much FE designated all the  big-block Fords made before 1968. In 1968 Ford made another big-block that was totally different than the FE engines with the 429/460 cu. V8's. They kept the FE family thoughout the 70's I believe.

THESE ENGINES DID NOT SUCK!!!

The C7ME-A is the identification number for a 428ci Fairlane Engine.  The C8AE-H were the standard heads used on most of the FEs.  The C8EA-H heads were more comon in the 68 thru 71 engines. The FE C7ME-A engine casting identifies it as a cobrajet engine.  An FE block's casting date can be found just below the oil filter adapter on the front driver side of the block. Their casting dates follow typical Ford convention with the first character (a digit) representing the year, the second character (a letter) representing the month, and the last one or two characters (one or two digits) representing the calendar date in the casting month.

If the engine was made before 1968 there is a good chance that it could be a police intercepter engine block.  It is the same casting just made with a weaker type of iron.

The FT engines were designed for trucks and the FE engines were for "muscle cars".

The FE motors also had the camshaft running on top of the heads.  Which eliminated all of the lifters and a few other parts.  

I remember a while back when 4Wheel&Offroad was talking about the turds of the past. One of them was the Ford FE engines. I guess this was just their opinion. I myself don't know anything about these engines.  

One thing to check for sure is casting number on crankshaft. 2T is 352/360, 2U/3U is for 390. Also the 352 has 3.5 stroke and 390 has 3.78 strk. The FE 410 has 3.98 strk, 428 has 3.98 strk. One of the things you have to repair on cylinder heads is the exhaust valve seats usually have non hardened seats. Need to get upgraded for leaded fuel. On the combustion chambers are they circular in shape or are they about 2/3'd combustion chamber. A lot of the C7 heads have a smaller combustion chamber around 73cc's. I have personally built and ran and ported these heads and they have ran exellent. Also verify the connecting rod length. Some connecting rods come bushed on small end for floating piston pin and require a snap ring on pistons.  Their are a animal called 361 FE and 391 FE engine. These are industrial engines and have a larger crank snout up front compared to cars and trucks. What ever you do verify crankshaft casting number before spending money. These are great engines but have a few oil leak issues at rear main that need to be upgraded and felpro sells the kits to help cure these issues. Back in the day used to build with 268comp cams and timeing chain kit for 4wds and ran awesome with a little port matching with about a 700 cfm or 750 cfm holleys and carters. I have more info but its getting late. Drop me a note for any more info.  

Forgot to mention a 352 with a 268 comp cam HYD with flat top pistons and C7 head makes over 330 hrspwr on dyno in houston TX. Great little truck engine but are very heavy The extended skirts on block make it a little heavy. Their are some block issues you need to know that can be easily repaired in garage with dremel tools and most machine shops ignor unless you request it!!! for a fee$$$  

FE stands for Ford Edsel (Edsel was Henry Fords sons first name)Other than leaking lots of oil these engines were very tough and reliable. Not turds  

Thanks deanm forgot that little piece of info. I even checked some of my books and it wasn't mentioned.