The new Ford Racing aluminum Boss 351 block serves as the basis for the new 427 crate engines. Image courtesy of Ford Racing Performance Parts

Although Ford Motor Company hasn’t offered a pushrod-based V-8 engine in a passenger car for quite some time now, Ford Racing continues to satisfy the needs of enthusiasts and racers who crave traditional Blue Oval power. The latest offering is a 427-cubic-inch crate engine, conjuring warm feelings harking back to the legendary FE-series monster that powered some of Ford’s greatest performance machines of the Total Performance era. The new engine is actually based on the Windsor-type small-block, and makes use of Ford Racing’s new “Z351″ aluminum block, itself based on a high-quality 356-T6 casting that features cast-iron cylinder sleeves and billet-steel four-bolt main caps; despite its strength, the block weighs only 126 pounds.

The new crate package uses a forged-steel stroker crankshaft, forged aluminum pistons and forged steel cap-screw-style connecting rods to make its 427 inches; a set of CNC-ported Ford Racing aluminum “Z” cylinder heads top it off, making 10.5:1 compression. The package also includes new oil and water pumps, a high-performance harmonic balancer and a performance oil pan, offered in either front or rear sump configurations; the intake manifold and distributor shown are not included.

All listings of this engine’s specifications we found seemed to remain fairly cryptic when it came to camshaft specs; some Ford Racing listings even showed it as a “TBD” (to be determined), and the release material for the aluminum crate engines also doesn’t assign a power figure. However, Ford Racing’s iron-block 427 Windsor crate package uses a hydraulic roller camshaft that features 242/248 duration at .050-inch lift and lift values of .576/.600-inch, which when combined with the same cylinder heads, produce 535hp at 5,600 RPM and 545-lbs.ft. at 4,500 RPM. One source showed that the aluminum engines would use the same camshaft, and even if the specs prove to vary, this should at least give an idea of the package’s potential.

Two versions are listed: M-6007-Z427ART comes with a rear-sump oil pan while M-6007-Z427AFT uses a front-sump pan.