FE and MEL Engines

[Bubba]

Bros:
Time for a bench racing discussion.
When I was a wild and crazy youth my cousin Fred had a 58 Ford two door sedan that he bought at a Police auction.  The Ford had a 430 Cu. In. Mercury Engine with a factory three duce set up which was back in the day listed as the first factory production 400 HP engine and was optional on the Merc Trunpike Cruiser.  We always suspected that the car was parts car built in the local police garage, but with a three speed overdrive trans it ran like a scalded cat and we didn't care about its genesis.  Fred always referred to the engine as an FE, yet I also heard it referred to as a MEL.  So what was the difference between the FE's and the MEL's.
BuBBa

[CDN.SD]

Before my time, but Wiki has this to say...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_MEL_engine

[Lou]

Check out this sight.... http://www.fordclassics.com/enginespecs.html

[canadian_ranchero]

when ford brought out there new engines in 1958,they made 2 series of engines the FE[ford edsel]and the MEL[mercury edsel lincoln]the FE was a 332.352[ford]361[small edsel].the MEL was 383[mercury]410[big edsel]430[mercury and lincoln]very few parts interchange between the 2 series.looks like the bell housing bolt up is the same

[KidKourier]

  Makes you wonder why they(Ford--aftermarket)made all the high performance parts for the FE but nothing for the MEL's with their bigger cubic inches? Any ideas? KID

[canadian_ranchero]

offenhauser,iskenderian and wiend used to make performance parts for the MEL.by1961 only the 430 was in the lincoln and was replaced by the 460 in 1968. the FE, in 1966 ford put the 390 in the fairlane and in 1967 in the mustang and used it till 1971[1976 in f100].the FE was fords performance engine in the 60's.that is why there is more parts available for the FE than the MEL   

[Ford_Crazy]

The 430 Lincoln Mercury motor had it's day back in the early sixties.  Some T-Birds were available with the big 430.  Speed equipment for the 430 was available back then and I remember a few very fast cars with these motors.  What killed the 430 was the introduction of the HiPo 390s, 406s and 427 FE motors. Ford started making aluminum manifolds, multi-carb setups, HiPo cams and such for the FE motors.  There were no such factory parts for the 430 engines.  In 1963-67 every real Ford guy in the world lusted after the 427s.  With the Cobra and Lemans wins, the HiPo FE engines became an icon which explains why FE parts are so expensive today. $$$$ 

[Frankenstein57]

I learn something new all the time on this site.  Bubba, tell me another story.   ha ha  Mark

[Lou]

The 430 did not have a very strong bottom end, reving one past 5000 rpm usually ended with a hole in the block or pan. The also had a odd set up for power steering, with the PS pump being mounted at the end of the crankshaft.