Thread: 428 purchased from ford in 70's

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I agree with Bill it's a 390. Measure the bore first of all to be sure. 4.13 std +.040 would be 4.17 on a 428. A 390 is a 4.05 std +.040 and 4.09. The 2UA is a 73-76 390 truck crank with a 3.78 stroke. 2E31 is the date code of 72/May/31. If this was bought in the early 70's as a 428 it would have been possibly a service replacement engine as the 428 by then was no longer available in production. I know Ford had a reman plant in Fairlawn NJ where they did most of the rebuilds on the reman engines. I've got the wrong engine both times I ordered a reman from them at Ford. First was what was to be a 390 and turned out to be a 429. Second a 428 that was delivered as a 390. So it's very possible they mixed up even if a new shortblock was ordered. The 53 is the mold number and the partial vin must be the 252618 which should not be on a service replacement block which tells me it's a rebuilt. Unless it's some sort of product number used at the reman plants. There should be another letter after the C6AE on the rods. Look for C6AE-D which are the good 428 rods. These I've found in 390's before a few times and was not uncommon. Sounds like your bud was burned on this way back when. Maybe the engine was tagged wrong and they all look the same on the outside so anything is possible. Bummer, G.