Ford 3.8 engine valve cover update

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Click here to view more Engine Covers on eBay. When it comes to your vehicle's aesthetic it is important to remember what is under the hood. Some of the changes are relatively minor and others are pretty significant, but all of them are specific to certain years and applications, so none of them can be interchanged. The original block was unique because it had a two-piece, rope rear seal that required a slinger on the crank and a corresponding groove in the block.

It was an E2AE casting. In April , Ford switched to a one-piece, rear seal, so the slinger on the crank was eliminated along with the groove in the block. The new block was an E3AE casting. Everything else on the block stayed the same, so most rebuilders combine both the E2AE and E3AE short blocks and sell them under the same part number, even though they have a different rear seal. The cam thrust button was replaced by a half-moon thrust plate as a running change very early in , so there were two drilled pads added to the front of the block to accommodate the change.

Look for an E4AE casting. Ford installed the 3. They also added a balance shaft to cancel out the primary vertical imbalance that was present in all of these engines. Both of these blocks are quite different than any of the previous RWD castings because the 1 main was moved back about.

There were also two bearing bores added above the cam for the balance shaft, one in the front of the block and one in the back of the block. These two blocks are easy to tell apart because they have either FWD or RWD cast on both the front and the back of the block.

Ford put a roller cam in the 3. There was also a big boss added for a large hex plug that was located a half way back on the passenger side and two inches up from the pan rail. Some of the plugs had a small 10 x 1. There were several changes made to the RWD block in , too. The roller cam and chain tensioner were added, so there were four more bolt holes in the valley and three more in the front of the engine.

Apparently, Ford decided they could mask the primary imbalance in the RWD cars by underbalancing the engine and tuning the motor mounts, so they saved both the weight and the expense of the balance shaft for the RWD cars until they finally put it back in the Mustang engine in In , the FWD 3.

The sides of the block were contoured around the cylinders, the bolt bosses on the sides were revised, the pan rails were wider, and the supports between the pan rails and the mains were much thicker. The deep, heavy duty, main caps like the ones that had been used on the supercharged engines were installed on this block, too. All of these changes were intended to reinforce the block and help reduce noise, vibration and harshness NVH.

The F68E block that came out in was replaced by the F78E in , but they were identical castings so they can be used interchangeably. The RWD block was revised in , too. The sides of the block were contoured around the cylinders and there were two ribs added on each side of the block above the holes for the freeze plugs. The pan rails were reinforced, the supports between the pan rails and the mains were thicker, and there were two ribs added on each side of the block in the lifter valley.

All of these changes made the block stronger and helped reduce NVH. The only RWD blocks we have seen have all been F6ZE castings, but there are some F7ZE castings, too, according to some other rebuilders, so watch for both casting numbers.

The bolt holes were all the same and this block still had the deep mains, so it can be interchanged with the F68E and F78E castings. The RWD engine was used in the Mustang that was competing directly with the Camaro and Firebird that came with the new Buick Series II V6 that had horsepower, so Ford finally put the horse Windstar motor with the balance shaft in the Mustang to make it more competitive.

The block is the same XL3E casting that was used for 4. There were four long spacers installed between the main caps and the windage tray that kept the crank from hitting it. The XF2E casting was carried over into the model year, but the deep main caps were replaced by the shorter ones. There are four spacers that go between the main caps and the windage tray that move it down far enough to clear the crank and the rods.

The XL3E block was carried over from , but it had six, long, studded mains and the thick girdle that had a windage tray in the middle. The FWD block is a 1F2E casting that has the short mains, but it has six studded main bolts that are used for the stud girdle that has a windage tray in the center.

This girdle is much thicker than the earlier designs, so it clears the crank and rods without the spacers that were used under the windage tray in It may or may not be the same as the XF2E casting. The Mustang came with a 1L3E casting that had six studs for the thick girdle that had the windage tray in the middle.

There have been four different variations of the crank used in the 3. Each one is unique, but some of the early ones can be converted into the later ones with a little machining. The original 3.

Look for a E2AE casting number on the crank. In April , Ford converted the 3. This revised E3AE casting originally came with the shorter front main that measured 1.

The length of the front main was increased from about 1. Ford updated the crank in by adding rolled fillets on the rod journals. Confirm New Password. Create Account Forgot Password. Keep Me Logged In. Gift Certificates. About Us. Repair Index Calculator. Show Quick Cart. Intentionally blank. No parts for vehicles in selected markets.

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