"Ford in a Ford." This phrase is something of a mantra to the crew at Roush Performance, people who firmly believe that something like a '32 Ford hotrod or Cobra replica shouldn't be hobbled with a Brand X powertrain. They also feel that someone wanting to liven up the drivetrain on pretty much any classic Ford should be able to buy a carefully matched engine and transmission duo that will not only slip right in, but fire right up and drive away without any compatibility or driveability issues, or the need for further small-parts shopping. A tall order? Maybe, but from what we saw and heard during a recent visit to Roush, your project's ideal pairing of potent Ford V-8 and four-speed overdrive automatic may only be a phone call away.
Roush is hardly new to crate engines; it has been offering them for some time and was one of the first to offer a complete engine, ready to run right out of the shipping container. And, by the way, though it's most efficient for us to refer to these simply as "crate" engines, they're really more like "custom crate" engines, as buyers have plenty of choices in the purchase process, right down to the color the block is painted. In fact, buyers have a multitude of options, when it comes to dressing up their engines. Using Roush's most popular crate engine, the 351-based, 525hp 427SR, as an example, buyers can choose between complete or partial polish; custom finishes including paint, anodize, and powder coat options; eight different custom valve cover designs; and two air cleaner options.
OK, so the crate engines are plentiful, but in recent months, the Roush focus has been on matching these hardy powerplants with a modern, electronically controlled automatic overdrive transmission--specifically the 4R70W--upgraded to handle the specific engine's output, and tuned to suit the purchaser's particular application and desired shift characteristics. The 4R70W (otherwise known as the wide-ratio AODE) was chosen both for packaging purposes, as it's small enough to fit nearly any application, and because it has been well proven to be capable of handling massive power once suitably modified. Each Roush 4R70W will be built to spec by renowned auto trans specialist, Mark Bowler. Being electronically controlled (rather than by throttle valve) the package's 4R70W has its own powertrain control processor, and will communicate clearly with the upstream engine--no matter whether it is carbureted or fuel-injected.
Overseeing the project is Bob Corn who, before joining Roush, spent the majority of his 19-year career at Ford Motor Company in engine engineering. Bob joined FoMoCo in 1962, right at the start of the Total Performance era, and was deeply involved in the FE engine family and other V-8s. To say he knows Blue Oval powertrains is understatement at its finest. Though Roush offers a huge palette of crate engines based on everything from the 302 small-block to the 385-series big-block, most of the initial batch of packaged powertrains will have their stroker roots in either 351W or 427FE architecture, with the small-blocks displacing 427 cubes and the FEs being of either 468 or 511 cubic inches. Roush crate engines are fully dressed from air breather to oil pan, including a selection of roughly a half-dozen available front-end accessory drive (FEAD) options.
The whole concept is to make these various engines (and powertrain combos) as application-specific and user-friendly as possible. For instance, Roush performance engine marketing manager, Todd Andrews, talks about the units made specifically for the Superformance MKIII Roadster, Daytona Coupe, and GT40: "We know that when a guy orders a Superformance rolling chassis, in whatever configuration he has chosen, there's a [Roush] part number that will fit into that car--correct oil pan, fuel pump clocked so it fits between the framerails, the right accessory drive on it, and so on."
...
>>next page