Building the 521” Big Block Ford for the 1968 Ford Thunderbird Part 3 #nonamenationals

While digging for some photos, I came across all my timelapse engine building footage from building the 521 cubic inch big block for the 1968 Ford Thunderbird I call Bird of Prey. There is a lot of footage so I decided to break it up into multiple videos. This started life as a 1968 385 series Ford 429 that came out of the Thunderbird. The stock 4.360" bore was taken .030" over to 4.390". We added am Eagle 4.300" stroke crankshaft to get the 521". We went through every little detail on building this engine, decked the block, bored the block, opened up oil passages, port and polished the heads, port matched everything... parts came from Eagle rotating assembly, Howard's cams, Speedmaster head castings, Scorpion rockers, Howards valve springs, Carillo forged pistons, cometic head gaskets, Fel-Pro gasket set, Ferarra valves, Clay Smith Cams valve spring cups, Howard's push rods, Weiand Tunnel Ram, Quickfuel 750 carbs, Enderle linkage, MSD 6AL ignition, Autolite spark plugs, Ford Performance wire, Mellings oil pump, Canton racing oil pan, ARP bolts and studs, CVF racing pullet kit, and many other high quality speed parts. Now this was a long build, we ran into delays with parts and also some manufacturing defects. However, we turned lemons into lemonade and ultimately prevailed! Jimmy and I had lot of full throttle fun building this torque monster and I learned a lot along the way. This engine went in my vintage drag racing themed 1968 Ford Thunderbird. It has a race C6 automatic transmission, drag suspension by Spahn and Lakewood, Ford 9 inch with a traction lock and 4.30 gears, American racing wheels, Mickey Thompson Drag radials, and Pro Trac front runners. This was definitely a teamwork effort! Many changes are in store for this oddball muscle car, stay tuned.... and I hope you enjoy part 3 of this engine build series!

#engine #ford #dragrace