The pillow block was used in XD and XE Falcon/Fairmonts and F100s it came about due to a perceived need to increase the cooling capacity and capability of the Cleveland block. Ford felt that as more and more cars were fitted with accesories, and specifically air-conditioning, it would be better to make some modifications to the block. These took the form of adding bulges, or pillows, to the casts to allow extra water jacket capacity.Some ‘pillow’ blocks where fitted to some XE ESP cars, built as 302C’s. Some people disregard these blocks as being inferior. Not true I say and I am sure Dick Johnson would back my statement as would a lot of Ford race teams and if you grout them the extra water capacity is handy.
Australian NASCAR Blocks
The U.S. had long ceased production of Clevelands and were very keen to still use them in NASCAR racing, they approached Ford Australia and asked them to cast up a series of special blocks which had additional metal in them, this would allow some extra machining of the block, specifically some over-boring. In standard form the Cleveland is a thin wall casting which limited its over-bore capability. By casting in extra metal, there was a hope that some internal trickery could be achieved. These blocks carried the casting number XE192540. Apart from thicker bore walls, the XE blocks had thicker pan rails. Unfortunately, there was a problem and the castings suffered from core shift, to such an extent that Ford U.S. rejected them and left Ford Australia with them. Now Ford Australia, never being ones to miss an opportunity simply used the blocks in passenger cars and trucks where the core shift problem was not noticable under normal driving conditions. These blocks have acquired some mythical status, but some accounts show that, while the extra metal may be handy, actually benefitting from its presence while building a hi-po engine can be problematic.
Hope this sheds some light on things for you guys. I am by no means a die hard Ford bloke and this is just general info I have picked up by hanging around with some mates that have a few Tuff Clevos. Happy to hear from more knowledgable people.
Australian NASCAR Blocks
The U.S. had long ceased production of Clevelands and were very keen to still use them in NASCAR racing, they approached Ford Australia and asked them to cast up a series of special blocks which had additional metal in them, this would allow some extra machining of the block, specifically some over-boring. In standard form the Cleveland is a thin wall casting which limited its over-bore capability. By casting in extra metal, there was a hope that some internal trickery could be achieved. These blocks carried the casting number XE192540. Apart from thicker bore walls, the XE blocks had thicker pan rails. Unfortunately, there was a problem and the castings suffered from core shift, to such an extent that Ford U.S. rejected them and left Ford Australia with them. Now Ford Australia, never being ones to miss an opportunity simply used the blocks in passenger cars and trucks where the core shift problem was not noticable under normal driving conditions. These blocks have acquired some mythical status, but some accounts show that, while the extra metal may be handy, actually benefitting from its presence while building a hi-po engine can be problematic.
Hope this sheds some light on things for you guys. I am by no means a die hard Ford bloke and this is just general info I have picked up by hanging around with some mates that have a few Tuff Clevos. Happy to hear from more knowledgable people.
Crane is Made in US [WINKING FACE] Regards Lars DK73
