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The Ford MEL is a
big-block A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, and ...
90° V8 engine family produced in various configurations by the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
between 1958 and 1967 in displacements from , and used in Ford, Edsel, Mercury, and Lincoln vehicles. The MEL (for Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln) began as the replacement for the
Lincoln Y-block V8 engine The Lincoln Y-block V8 engine was Ford's earliest OHV V8 engine, introduced by Lincoln in the 1952 model year. Like the later and better-known but even more short-lived Ford Y-block engine, its block's deep skirts gave the block the appearance ...
for use in large passenger cars. These engines were produced in
Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...
at Ford's
Lima Engine Lima Engine is a Ford Motor Company automobile engine plant located in Lima, Ohio, United States. History The factory opened in 1957 as the site of production of Ford's '' MEL'' V8 for the Edsel car. It subsequently produced six-cylinder engi ...
plant. The MEL was in turn replaced by the Ford 385 series engine.


Overview

All MEL engines had wedge-shaped
combustion chamber A combustion chamber is part of an internal combustion engine in which the air–fuel ratio, fuel/air mix is burned. For steam engines, the term has also been used for an extension of the Firebox (steam engine), firebox which is used to allow a mo ...
s formed between a flat head surface and an angle milled block deck (10 degrees off square with the bore axis), with the piston top determining the compression ratio and combustion chamber shape, similar to the Chevrolet Big-Block 348 combustion chamber, also introduced in 1958, and the later 409 and 427. Unlike the Chevrolet, which had staggered valves and scalloped or M-shaped valve covers, the MEL valves were inline with shaft mounted
rocker arm A rocker arm is a valvetrain component that typically transfers the motion of a pushrod in an overhead valve engine, overhead valve internal combustion engine to the corresponding intake/exhaust poppet valve, valve. Rocker arms in automobiles are ...
s like the FE model Ford engines which were introduced at the same time. As with the previous generation V8s, an open runner
intake manifold An inlet manifold or intake manifold (in American English) is the part of an internal combustion engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinder (engine), cylinders. The word ''manifold (engineering), manifold'' comes from the Old Eng ...
was used, requiring the use of a stamped steel lifter valley cover similar to that of the
Pontiac V8 engine The Pontiac V8 engine is a family of overhead valve 90° V8 engines manufactured by the Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac Division of General Motors Corporation between 1955 and 1981. The engines feature a cast-iron block and head and two valves per ...
s. Also, the intake manifold provided no exhaust crossover passage to warm the air-fuel mixture. Further MEL engines employed two individual
thermostat A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. Thermostats are used in any device or system tha ...
s, aimed to improve the regulation of the engine's coolant temperature. It was introduced the same year Chrysler phased out the Hemi V8 for the
Chrysler B engine The Chrysler B and RB engines are a series of V8 engine#Size, layout, and classification, big-block V8 gasoline engines introduced in 1958 to replace the Chrysler Hemi engine#First, Chrysler FirePower (first generation Hemi) engines. The B and RB ...
which was also a wedge-shaped combustion chamber. The MEL bore some mechanical similarities with the Ford FE, using similar components such as the oiling system, bolt patterns, and
valve stem A valve stem is a self-contained valve that opens to admit gas to a chamber (such as air to inflate a tire), and is then automatically closed and kept sealed by the pressure in the chamber, or a spring (device), spring, or both, to prevent the g ...
s; however, the MEL was a Lincoln-specific engine and was even larger in displacement capacity. The
main bearing A main bearing is a bearing in a piston engine which holds the crankshaft in place and allows it to rotate within the engine block. The number of main bearings per engine varies between engines, often in accordance with the forces produced b ...
s were , while the rod bearings were . The
connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a reciprocating engine, piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank (mechanism), crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the p ...
beam had a unique triangular shape with the shoulders for the bolts sitting low toward the cap mating surface . There was one major difference between the MEL and FE engines besides their size and weight; the valves on MEL engines were arranged in alternating fashion (I-E-I-E-I-E-I-E) and not in the manner of the FE (E-I-E-I-I-E-I-E) where the ''I'' indicates an intake valve and the ''E'' indicates an exhaust valve. The MEL was one of three new engine families introduced by Lincoln and Ford in 1958. The others were the FE (Ford Edsel) and SD (super duty), the latter being large and extra powerful, slow-revving engines engineered for heavy-duty work trucks. The FE engine saw its use in the Edsel, a model which was introduced to the vehicle lineup by Ford, described as a car which blended design features of the Ford and Mercury lines combining them with its own individual styling. Further several new
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
vehicles, such as the Continental luxury sedan and coupe, as well as the all-new four-seat Thunderbird of the same year, were brought to market with the new engines.


383

The ''Marauder'' was the smallest member of the family. Produced from 1958 through 1960, it was only used in Mercury vehicles. It used a bore and stroke. Output began at , both with a four-barrel
carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...
. The was the only output for 1959, and power dropped to for the final year.


410

The MEL engine was the only engine offered in the 1958 Edsel Citation and Corsair models. It was rated at and . Bore and stroke were respectively. It was not an option on the Pacer, Ranger or station wagon models, which exclusively used the FE 361 engine. There were no other Ford Motor Company applications for this engine such as in Ford and Mercury cars and Ford Trucks. The MEL engine range also included 383 (exclusive to Mercury), 430 (Thunderbird, Mercury, Lincoln, Continental, and Lincoln Continental) and a engine that was exclusive to Lincoln Continentals. In 1965, Ford produced a 410 version of the FE engine that was exclusive to Mercury. Other than displacement, there is no relation between the two engines.


430

The engine was produced from 1958 through 1965, and used in Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products. It was the standard engine on all 1958 to 1960 Lincolns and Continentals. Power was in 1958, in 1959, in 1960, in 1961 and in 1964. It was an optional engine on all Mercurys from 1958 to 1960 but Mercury models horsepower ratings were slightly less than the Lincolns and Continentals. The 430 was also an optional engine in 1959 and 1960
Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1955 to 2005, with a hiatus from 1998 to 2001. Ultimately gaining a broadly used colloquial nickname, the ''T-Bird'', Ford Introduce ...
s. It was commonly referred to as the Thunderbird 430 Special. The 1958 ''Super Marauder'' version used three Holley 2300 two-barrel carburetors to generate , the first American production car to reach this figure. It was an option on all 430 equipped 1958 Mercurys and all 1958 Lincolns and Continentals. The 430 had a bore (same as the 383) and shared the stroke of the 410. The compression ratio started at 10.5:1 for , , and , but was reduced to 10.0:1 the following year. These 1959 engines produced , but power was down to for 1960. Some 1958 Continental Mark IIIs came brand new with the Holley 4150 four-barrel carburetor. New pistons and a four-barrel carburetor were added for 1963; the 10.1:1 compression brought output back to . One of the later installations of the 430 was in the fourth-generation 1961-65 Lincoln Continental. The subsequent bored and stroked 462 cu in MEL was installed in 1966-68 Continentals; however, during the 1968 run, Ford’s lighter new 385-series "Lima" engine was phased-in and replaced the MEL, which was discontinued entirely.


462

The 430 was replaced by the engine in 1966. Bore and stroke were entirely different at and the 462 MEL engine produced and as much as of torque. This engine was fitted with hydraulic lifters and a four-barrel Carter AFB carburetor. This large, torquey engine was used only in Lincoln Continentals, from 1966 until mid-year in 1968 when it was replaced by the new lighter weight Ford 385-series 460 V8. Production ended after 1968, and production facilities in Lima were converted to produce the new engine family.


Applications

* 1958: all
Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was produced by the Ford Motor Company in the 1958 to 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort to ...
Citation and Corsair models as standard equipment (410 only) * 1958–1960: all
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
models Marks III, IV, V as standard equipment (430 only) * 1958–1960: all
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
models as standard equipment (430 only) * 1958–1960: all Mercury models as standard or optional equipment (383 and 430 only) * 1959–1960: all
Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1955 to 2005, with a hiatus from 1998 to 2001. Ultimately gaining a broadly used colloquial nickname, the ''T-Bird'', Ford Introduce ...
models as optional equipment (430 only) * 1961–1965: all
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a per ...
models as standard equipment (430 only) * 1966–1968: all
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a per ...
models as standard equipment (462 only)


See also

*
List of Ford engines Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve straight-three engines with Twin In ...


References

{{Ford_v8_engines MEL V8 engines Gasoline engines by model