Average Guy's Car Restoration, Mods and Racing

I love engines!!!  Not just the big block, but some of the off beat, lower production/limited use, power plants.   Of course that’s one of the great things about our hobby – there is a wide variety to choose from.

I haven’t writing a post in this series in some time, but just the other day, while on my hunt for a new project car, I ran across a Mercury project that had a 410 as the engine. I bet even if you are a die-hard Ford guy, you might not have run into this engine.  This prompted me to do a little research which further prompted me to write what I found.

The 410 from a 1966 Mercury.

Most engines are derived from an engineered design that came before it.   The 410 came in two different series.  Produced from 1958 to 1968 it was part of the MEL series.  MEL was Ford’s designation for Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln.  From 1968 through 1976 it was in the FE series.  The early MEL series 410 was used exclusively in the 1958 Edsel Corsair and Citation.  It was also called the E-475 for it’s 475 foot-pounds of torque.  It sported a 4.20 bore and a 3.70 stroke and a compression ratio of 10.5:1.  Top that with 4 barrel Holly and it would produce, finish it off with dual exhaust you’ve got enough power to pull around those big Edsels.

The FE Series 410 was essentially Ford’s 390 (as was the 406) only given a bump in the stroke length (0.20″) to 3.98″ from the 390’s 3.78″.  It used the same heads as the 390 (2.04 intake and 1.57 exhaust valves).  Topped with a cast iron intake manifold and a Ford carb, it produced 330 horse power.

The MEL Series 410 was, as stated above, only installed in Edsel’s Cosair and Citation and that was only for 1958. That would make it an extremely limited use engine.  It was a 4v Carb, produced about 345 horse power and 475 ft-lbs of torque with a compression ratio of 10.5:1.

The FE Series was also used in just two years, 1966 & 1967 and in just one sub-brand, Mercury. For those years the 410 carried a 4v carb produced 330 horse power and put done 444 ft-lbs of torque using 10.5:1 compression.

Production number for the 1958 Corsair was 9,987 units.  For the Citation 9,299 units were produced.  Together those tells you that there were about 20,286 for the 410 engines produced in the MEL version.  I wasn’t able to find true production numbers for the FE series.

I haven’t check into the availability of parts for either 410 Series, but the MEL would seem unique and difficult source, however the FE shared most of the FE 390 engine.  I do know that the MEL series engines had unique cylinder heads.  The heads and block were milled at a 10 degree angle, giving them a wedge-shaped combustion chamber.

I did, in fact, pass on the project that prompted this post.

Thanks for reading.  And if you have any additional information or want to share your project.  Post here or on twitter (@AGCarRestore) or Facebook  Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing.

Tim