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Reply to "Seeking advice regarding the value of an XE block with 2 bolt main caps."

The blocks were cast in Australia (at the Geelong plant in Norlane) for US Ford's racing program. The cylinder walls were about 0.220 inch thick on the thrust walls as I remember. The outer cylinder walls were oval shaped, thus there was a small gap in the water jacket between adjacent cylinders. The non-thrust walls were about 0.160 inch thick. For comparison the thrust walls of the "standard" block are nominal 0.160 inch thick ... assuming there's zero core shift.

US Ford only accepted the best castings, those with near zero core shift, thus the cylinder walls were uniformly thick. The good blocks were equipped with nodular iron 4 bolt main caps and shipped to America. The castings that weren't good enough for US Ford were equipped with standard 2 bolt main caps and used by Ford of Australia in standard production vehicles.  These blocks with the pillows on the sides of the water jackets were supposedly cast circa 1981 through 1982 (I don't know what's up with the "7D2" casting date on the block). Of course 1982 was the last year the Falcons were equipped with V8s.

The block isn't as valuable with 2 bolt caps as it would be with the nodular iron 4 bolt caps. We know this particular block is one which had too much core shift for US Ford, but the question is how much core shift did this block have?  It has the potential to be a desirable block, but until you know the wall thickness there's no telling if it lives up to that potential. Thus without a "report" showing the cylinder wall thickness of each cylinder (via sonic checking) I personally wouldn't pay any more for this block than I would for any other rusty used block with 2 bolt main caps.

Also note that it was painted black, which dates it as 1979 or later, and the later blocks were machined for Bosch distributors.

Last edited by George P
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