255 Ford V8

[Frank Catt]

A friend of mine who is slowly coolecting parts for a GT40 project recently bought what he thought was a good 302, but when he stripped it down found that it was a 255 cu inch ( 4.2 litre ) engine. According to my books these were only made in 1980, so does anyone know what they were built for and whether they were any good - doubtfull I would have thought because of the very short lifespan. Frank

[Adam C.]

The 255 is a strange little engine. In my 94 vintage SVO catalog it is listed as having a 3" stroke (a la 302 ci), 5.155" rod length (a la 289ci), and a sad little 3.68" bore. The compression and deck heights are listed as being nearly the same as 289-302, so is probably an error in one of the dimensions, as the piston would be sticking out of the deck .050" at TDC. That is a little agressive for a production engine.

Still, the block is worthless (can't be bored to any meaningful size), the heads (if equipped) are worthless (tiny valves to fit in tiny bore).

I too mistakenly bought one of these many years ago.