Customer Reviews

How to Rebuild Small-Block Ford Engines

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are familiar with Ford engines or not this book is a valuable tool for rebuilding small block Fords. The information inside will save you time and headaches if read before you attempt your engine rebuild. The book is well written in a step by step easy to read format.

I found How to Rebuild Small-Block Ford Engines to be a very informative book. This book goes over almost everything envolved in rebuilding all Ford small-block V-8 engines from the 221 to the 351W, including parts that interchange with other small-block Fords and tuning up your freshly rebuilt engine.
Soon, I will begin to rebuild the engine in my '89 Mustang. The 302 small-block under the hood has definitely seen better days. It is down on power and it smokes. Now that I have read this book I have a much clearer understanding of what makes my engine do this and now I know how to fix it.
This book answered many questions I have been trying to answer since I first became interested in motors, such as, what parts should I buy for the rebuild?, what tools do I need to install them?, what machine processes should I have done?, and most importantly, do I even need a rebuild?
This book does a great job of explaning a rebuild but I was kind of bummed that it didn't have much information on performance engine builds. The book did make reference to the 289HP and the Boss and Cleveland engines but it didn't include information like how to port your cylinder heads, or how to pick a high performance camshaft. I would have liked the book to have mentioned something about how to increase the crankshaft stoke also.
This book is a bit old being written in the late '70s. It doesn't include information about the hydraulic roller cam engines or electronic fuel injection. The information in this book is still very useful despite not being current though. I personally recommend this book to anyone who is intending to do a small-block Ford rebuild or anyone who just enjoys learning about cars.

THIS BOOK IS A FANTASTIC REFERENCE TOOL FOR BUILDING SMALL BLOCK FORDS. THE TEXT IS WRITTEN IN PLAIN LANGUAGE EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND. IT SHOULD BE NOTED, HOWEVER, THAT THIS BOOK ONLY COVERS UP 1980.

I built a 351W from a long block kit with the help of this book. And the engine ran the first time!

The book points out many of the little parts that you need but which are not advertised in catalogs or magazines. Some parts guys at the local Ford dealership did not even know what some of the parts were. But you need them, all the same.

I'm the author of this book, so I watch the reviews, albeit a little late on this one. I've been busy authoring a book on how to build Windsor racing engines.

None the less, Shane Edwards said in his review, "Following the instructions contained in this book will ensure the speedy failure of your valvetrain." From this statement, either Mr. Edwards was reading the wrong book (giving him the benefit of the doubt) or he doesn't know the proper way to do valve jobs or set up valvetrains. I gave several methods of reconditioning heads and valves, including how to check springs and setting up the valvetrain. I warned against quick-fix methods, but opted instead for methods to give better than original life.

A telling statement Mr. Edwards made was, " He should try to write one book that tells you how to do the job correctly and find an editor who can eliminate the plethera of spelling and grammatical errors that rittle his work." I can assure you, all methods are discussed and shown being done correctly. From a review made in Road & Track Magazine, the reviewer said, "If you can't rebuild your small-block Ford using this book you're using it as a coffee-cup coaster." As for editing, Bill Fisher aka California Bill, the Publisher and editor of HPBooks at the time had a reputation for being the toughtest editor on the planet . . . literally. So nothing got past him or the experts who read the book. That's not to say an error or two got into print, but they've been corrected a long time ago.

For really hardcore racing information on engine building, which includes valvetrain setup and all other aspects of the process, my book "The Racing Engine Builder's Handbook" is now available. The Windsor Ford Race engine book is in process.

Mr. Edwards is right about one thing. This is not an FE engine. That's the big block. Steve Christ wrote that one. Clevelands and M-series engines are part of the 335-series of Ford engines and the 385 series makes up the 429 and 460 Ford engines. These are covered in the Ford V-8 book, all of which are available from Amazon.

Judge for yourself.

This book has been around a lot longer than most books.It does offer a lot.A good guide from inspection of your engine to assembly,installation and tune up.Tom Monroe writes in an easy to understand way.His books are helpful so you wont be wasting your money.Plenty of information throughout make this a reasonable book despite its age.The 351C isnt included in this book.

Its a good book and is worth adding to your collection.Good value.Its 3.5 stars as there are newer books out there that offer more.

Purchased this book to assist in the restoration of my 1964 Falcon Sprint. Looks like it is going to be quite a bit of help. Not has extensive as a Ford shop manual, but will work well as a reminder of what needs to be done and in what order.

It is great when you have a book that gives you a glance at historical information. This book covers many years with useful information. The author has a good writing style that is easy to read and interpret. This is NOT a technical book with Torque specs but it is a great source of information on Ford Small blocks in general. This does going into detailed explaination of how parts function and affect the overall performance of an engine. This explains the breakdown process and the buildup process.

I highly recommend this book for anybody that is learning how to build engines and want a historical perspective.

It's not my first rodeo, but I've not rebuilt a Ford V-8 before. I found this manual to be pretty decent, but it was published about 30 years ago and didn't have info on fuel injection, newer aftermarket cylinder heads, cams, etc. If you're building a stroker, fuel injected, or modified engine, this may not be your cup of tea, but for a basic, stock rebuild of a mid-70's small block, it should provide what you're looking for.

Has lots of info, but youll need more than one book if youre doing your first engine build like me. Im a straight up noob, and require more detailed info than this.

Good value though, must have