Since the engine went south, I’ve looked at a lot of options for Thunderbird—from selling it as-is to dropping in a modern motor. As it turns out, I’m not (yet) ready to part with the car and dropping in a non-stock motor is fraught with more variables than I want to face.
That leaves repairing the motor I have or sourcing a replacement. My initial thought was to swallow the cost of sleeving all eight cylinders in my block to bring it back to stock displacement. What I’ve learned is that cylinder sleeves are really an extreme measure, and doing all eight degrades the structure of the block. The weakness in the block probably wouldn’t be an issue at stock power levels, but it feels wrong to move in that direction unless absolutely necessary. A better solution would be an assembled short block or a sound used block that has never been rebuilt and will clean up nicely when bored .030″ oversized. (The next step up, .060″, flirts with danger, as I have learned.)
I was able to get a short block quote from an FE rebuilder, but it was expensive and contingent on him finding a usable block to start from—he didn’t have any in stock. There was also considerable shipping to factor in as well. A second lead took me to a shop in Southern California that advertised sound, tested blocks at reasonable prices. I thought I had found the perfect solution, but a call to the owner shot it all down–blocks are too scarce and he doesn’t deal in them anymore. The final retail solution was a complete, assembled long block from JEGS, but it comes with a suspiciously low price tag and no information about the motor whatsoever.
I think I’ve exhausted all the retail possibilities. The last resort is Craigslist and eBay, where bare blocks and complete FE motors occasionally appear. I’ve found quite a lot of good things in the past on both these sites, but I’ve also experienced plenty of disappointment as well. At the moment, I’m in touch with someone that has a 68 block, supposedly unmolested. If all goes well, I’ll get a chance to inspect it later this week.
At the moment, I’ve got the old motor out of the car and partially disassembled. I hope to re-use the crank and connecting rods (and possibly the camshaft, too, since it’s relatively new). I believe I can keep the cost to a reasonable level, but history teaches that once in the midst of a project like this, extra expenses are a certainty.