Ford SVO ?

[blown428fe]

How do you identify an SVO block from the outside? An engine builder was looking at my boat today and noticed I have screw in freeze plugs.:confused:

[Sleeper CP]

what engine family FE,385?
I'm guessing by SVO you mean an A-460 Block?
Sleeper CP
565" Ford Lover

[blown428fe]

what engine family FE,385?
I'm guessing by SVO you mean an A-460 Block?
Sleeper CP
565" Ford Lover
Yeah, 385 series

[Sleeper CP]

Yeah, 385 series
I'll check my block when I get home. Yes, screw in freeze plugs, but some where on the out side I think it has an A-460 casting. I'll see if I can find it.
Sleeper CP
565" Ford Lover

[blown428fe]

Thanks.

[Sleeper CP]

Is the engine assembled? If it is do you remember if it has siamesed cylinder walls. There would also be an A-460 stamp in the lifter valley, I'm not sure if there is an external casting stamp but I'll check.
Sleeper CP
565" Ford Lover

[Blown 472]

Boss 429 block had those too.

[Sleeper CP]

Boss 429 block had those too.
When he wrote SVO I just assumed it was a newer block. You could be correct if it is an older block 10.30 deck vs 10.322 SVO
Sleeper CP

[blown428fe]

Its got D1VE on the side and motor is complete and I never had the lower end apart.

[Blown 472]

Its got D1VE on the side and motor is complete and I never had the lower end apart.
Does it have 4 bolt mains? and reciever holes in the deck for o rings where the head gasket would go?

[LakesOnly]

How do you identify an SVO block from the outside? An engine builder was looking at my boat today and noticed I have screw in freeze plugs.:confused:As far as identifying an A460 block from the outside: the newest Ford Racing (previously SVO) blocks have an 18 bolt deck (8 extra head bolts ber bank) to accomodate 18-bolt cylinder heads, and so for identifying these blocks from the outside, 4 additional head bolt lug bosses will be on the outside of each cylinder bank (the outside of the block where you can see them). Of course, the inside of each cylinder bank (in the lifter valley) will have the lugs for the other 4 extra holt lugs per bank. However, the earlier SVO A460 racing block (mid 1980's and earlier) did not have this feature. So here you are looking at screw-in freeze plugs...this is still not 100% verification; deck height means nothing, as all these blocks are 10.322" nominal or likely machined since factory. I suppose you could go though the hassle of unscrewing a freeze plug and look into the the water jacket and see if there is space between the cylinders or not, as the A460 block has siamesed cylinders (no space between the cylinders/they touch each other). Then there are lots of similarities between the Boss 429 block and the A460 block (the Boss block is the father of the A460 block), but for external identification, you are limited except for a few features...unless you have a trained eye. Wish I had side-by-side pics.
It's got a "D1VE" on the side and the motor is complete and never had the lower end apart.I suspect that what you are looking at is a dime-a-dozen D1VE 2-bolt block made anywhere between 1971 and 1978...and...hmmmm...I'm going to take a wild ass guess that it's a 1976 casting. :idea:
Anything and everything is addressed at the factory for the purposes of keeping the production line going (provided the repair meets the standards of the part as intended), and this includes installing a screw-in freeze plug into an imperfect block casting that has insufficient material to machine it for a press-in expansion plug(s). I've seen them more than once (looking for a picture but can't find it). And why not? It's stronger than an expansion plug. By the way, I assume that not ALL of the plugs in your block are screw-in, are they? That might be a different story, although highly unlikely on a D1VE block.
Like the screw-in freeze plugs being installed in a passenger car block, the opposite is also possible, although a 50,000:1 shot: It is possible that a Boss 429 casting was machined for use in a passenger car application. In this case, the C9AE Boss block casting would be a finished 2-bolt block with thick main webs and provisions for (but not drilled for) priority main oiling. I've only heard of one being stumbled upon.
Ford racing's A460 block part number is M-6010-A460 and would not have a D1VE casting revision on the side. The only other block that was intentionally produced with screw-in freeze plugs is the Boss 429 block, C9AE.
Other repairs I've seen include what appeared to be an original/never disassembled 428 (oem std Ford bearings, Ford valves, etc) and the crankcase was welded up where there was a hole into the water jacket from (presumably) casting porosity. I have a 460 truck block right now that looks to have had a weld repair on the deck, but close inspection reveals factory tooling marks (found on all 460 blocks) ON TOP OF the weld repair.
I'll look for the D1VE block I have with the screw in freeze plug...
LO

[LakesOnly]

Its got D1VE on the side and motor is complete and I never had the lower end apart.Here is a picture of a D1VE block with a factory screw-in freeze plug:
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5657D1VEScrewIn.jpg
Paul

[blown428fe]

Lakesonly- there all screw in, thanks for the info. Heres some pics.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/wfq_005.jpg
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/wfq_006.jpg
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/wfq_007.jpg

[LakesOnly]

428FE,
What you have there appears to be a regular ol' D1VE block to which someone has taken the time to add screw in
freeze plugs a la NPT plugs from a plumbing supply store. There is nothing wrong with that at all. The addition of
these plugs to the block is usually performed so as to stiffen the block, in theory. Also, those plugs are far less
likely to blow out under high water pressure conditions. In the interest of block stiffening, I consider it a worthwhile
modification to 385 Series passenger car engine blocks that are producing horsepower numbers above 900-1000hp
or so.
Most 1-1/2" NPT taps that we can buy over the counter are too long for tapping these cylinder blocks, because
before each freeze plug hole is fully threaded, the tip of the tap extends well into the water jacket and hits
the cylinders. This means that one usually has to first modify the tap by shortening the cutting threads. Therefore,
I would say that somebody went to a fair amount of trouble to properly prep your oem passneger car block and
I would not be surprised to find more block upgrades elsewhere inside that engine.
Nice,
LO

[blown428fe]

L O,
Thanks for clearing that for me.