361 Edsel engine question

H

hoss73ford

Senior Member
Is the 361 Edsel engine the same as the 332 or 352 that was produced in 1959? I am now the proud owner of a 1959 Edsel Villager wagon. It looks so good next to my 66,72 & 73 trucks.

The car has no motor but does have a 3 on the tree. I was expecting it to have a 292 Y block until I did some research & found that wagons had the big block.

I LOVE my Edsel & ignore those who still feel they are a loser from 55 years ago to this day. I plan to buy an Edsel Ranger 2 dr HT from the same owner when time permits. That has the 292 in it.
 
hoss73ford said:
I was expecting it to have a 292 Y block until I did some research & found that wagons had the big block.

I LOVE my Edsel & ignore those who still feel they are a loser from 55 years ago to this day. I plan to buy an Edsel Ranger 2 dr HT from the same owner when time permits. That has the 292 in it.
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Wagons came with every engine option Ford had at that time. Your VIN will tell you what engine came in the car. Could have been a six, 292 or a 352.
 
The 361 is an FE engine similar in design to 332, 352, 390, 406, 427 and 428. There were also some truck engines such as the 360. If you decide to start mixing parts from one to another, be careful as there are differences such as in oiling systems and the fact that some have oil fill tubes on the intake manifold and others have this on the valve cover. If you don't care too much about purity, a 390 looks very similar to the 361 and they are plentiful. There is a book "Building Big Block Fords" that is very helpful.

The quickest way to determine an FE is that the intake manifold to head split is located about 1/3 of the way under the valve cover and you can readily see the gasket which runs perpendicular to the valve cover gasket.

Gotta love those Edsels.
 
I might go an early 390 (1964 or earlier) & simply put Edsel valve covers on it, yes. Seems to be quite a few around.
 
i have a 59 villager wagon but took the 332 out for my 58 ranchero 4 edsels still sitting here to be redone!! let me know if you need anything on 58 or 59 I might have it. Hey! great cars glad you are woking on one to keep them on the road!!
 
hoss73ford said:
I might go an early 390 (1964 or earlier) & simply put Edsel valve covers on it, yes. Seems to be quite a few around.
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You will have to 1-fashion an oil fill tube into the intake or, 2-use an early FE manifold that has a fill tube on it already or, 3-you will have to modify one of the E400 valve covers. I opted to modify the intake because they are more plentiful than the Edsel valve covers. Remember that if you modify an intake or valve cover, to make a baffle for the underside so the oil doesn't splash out the tube.
 
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