Ford Goes Crate - Ford's New Racing Crate Engine

There is no denying that crate motors are now a big part of stock car racing. The lower initial cost of a sealed crate motor-versus a built race engine-has allowed many new racers to find their way into the sport and made racing just a bit more affordable for veterans.

So far, Chevrolet has been the 800-pound gorilla in the crate motor market. To its credit, the company was the first on the scene with a viable crate motor that could be raced economically. Chevrolet has made its crate motors readily available, and they make good power. Since crate classes began gaining acceptance a few years ago, Chevrolet's 602 and 604 oval track crate motors have been so dominant that they've practically become the only options available. That's too bad, because part of the fun of racing is enjoying the competition between the sport's two major players, Ford and Chevrolet. Without Ford in the mix, it always seemed like something was missing in the crate motor classes.

Hopefully, all of that is about to change with the introduction of Ford's newest circle-track-specific sealed crate motor. This is Ford's second attempt at a racing crate engine, and quite a few changes have been made to make this engine more attractive to racers. Also, while Ford's new motor has the same out-put figures as the Chevrolet crate engine (sanctioning bodies would never accept the engine if it were more powerful than Chevy's offering), its design is a departure from what you might see in a Chevy crate motor.

"We're in a bit of a different situation than Chevrolet when it comes to producing crate motors," explains Jesse Kershaw of Ford Racing Performance Parts. "A cam-in-block V-8 isn't an engine configuration in any of our cars or trucks anymore, so to build a race motor like this, we can't simply pull one off of the assembly line.

"This means we have to go with parts out of our Performance Parts catalog and supplement them with some select aftermarket parts. Because of this, we know we won't be able to build the least expensive crate motor available, but we do feel we are offering one of the most economical engines because of the durability that comes from the high-quality parts used. Still, there's nothing exotic here. All the components are off-the-shelf, and costs have been contained pretty well."

Ford is actually producing two new crate motors. One of them is a a 347 based on a 302 block with a shorter deck height. This is an interesting piece but not as likely to be accepted by circle track sanctioning bodies because the 302 block gives the engine a lower center of gravity than comparable Chevy 350s. The motor that caught our eye is Ford's Z351SR, which is based on a 351 Windsor block. Ford's list price for this sealed crate motor is going to be somewhere around $7,700, but the street price will likely be below $7,300. That sounds like a lot, but when we got the opportunity to dig into one, we were genuinely impressed by the quality of the components used throughout the build. For example, full-roller aluminum rockers are used where you might expect to find cheap stamped-steel units. The combustion chambers in the cylinder heads are CNC-cut for consistency from one engine to the next. And a performance damper is used that is a lot less likely to slip and cause timing problems than a stock damper. These are the kinds of touches that just might give Ford loyalists racing in the crate motor classes an opportunity to return to the Blue Oval.

Ford Racing is attempting...        read full caption Ford Racing is attempting to make its entry into sealed motor stock car racing classes.	The engine is sealed by these...        read full caption The engine is sealed by these two-piece caps over specific bolts. The bolt slides through a hole in the bottom half of the cap. Once the bolt is properly torqued into place, the top half of the cap is popped in. The top half of the cap is designed so that once in place, it cannot be removed without distorting the metal. This should make it easy for a tech man to spot an engine that has been tampered with. Caps are used on the front cover (so you can't get the camshaft out), the intake manifold (so you can't get the intake or heads off), and the oil pan (so you can't get to the crank or rods).	Thanks to the aluminum heads,...        read full caption Thanks to the aluminum heads, our motor weighed in at a svelte 475 pounds.
High-rise Ford Racing valve...        read full caption High-rise Ford Racing valve covers are necessary to clear the full-race rocker arms housed beneath. They are cast instead of stamped to stand up to abuse without bending and arrive already vented. All you need to do is add the cover of your choice.	The rocker arms are full-roller...        read full caption The rocker arms are full-roller aluminum units (manufactured by Crane but marked as Ford Racing). The ratio for both intakes and exhausts is 1.65:1. Total valve lift is 0.822 for the intakes and 0.842 for the exhausts. The intake rocker arm uses an offset pushrod cup to clean up the geometry. Two rockers on each bank of heads require grinding to clear the corners of the valve covers. We spoke with several engine builders who agreed that this is common practice with aluminum rockers in Ford motors. It isn't a concern as long as the grinding isn't excessive. Crane will be modifying the rockers specifically for this engine, making the clearancing much less noticeable.	Ford is using lightweight...        read full caption Ford is using lightweight beehive springs that Kershaw says help limit valve float up to 6,300 rpm, even with the hydraulic roller lifters.
The block is Ford's Sportsman...        read full caption The block is Ford's Sportsman casting, which is normally built with flat-tappet lifters. The roller lifters use a retrofit kit. A "dog bone" between each pair of lifters prevents spinning, and a valley tray "spider" holds the entire assembly in place. This is a common practice when upgrading street motors to roller lifters and should work well in this arena, too.	A nice touch is the ARP studs...        read full caption A nice touch is the ARP studs used to hold the heads to the block. Studs provide a more uniform clamping force across the head and aid in sealing the combustion chambers. ARP bolts are also used to secure the rod caps.	Ford uses a performance damper...        read full caption Ford uses a performance damper that should maintain tolerances under high-rpm racing applications. A flywheel isn't included, and since the engine is internally balanced, you will need a flywheel with zero balance.