Ford Perfromance Parts

[Blue II]

The Ford Racing Performance Parts (FRPP) division is the topic of two articles on Blue Oval. They are discussing the succeses of 25 years. Everything can't be all roses. Not too long ago they were trying to get Roush to take it over. He said they wanted too much for the business. FRPP's big block (385 series) parts program will be discontinued. Currently the A-460 block is on back order. The tooling is of a poor design and the vendor who casts them has told FRPP several times about the problem and FRPP will not correct the problem. The 460/514 crate engine program will go away when FRPP runs out of junk yard blocks. (note: Ford no longer has any service replacement blocks for the 460 engine and will not cast any).

 

I know this is a small part of FRPP but it is disappointing for a company who claims to be involved in all forms of racing. You would think that Dan Davis is afraid of Drag Racing. It is second only to NASCAR in popularity.

 

Mr. Davis would rather badge Cosworth Champ Car engines with a contract that lasts through 2015! When you attend an NHRA event there is almost no Ford presence. All you see is John Force with a Chrysler powered Mustang Funny car. Dan Davis has been accused of being afraid of supporting a Pro Stock program. DCX and GM own this class.

 

The sportsman racers get exactly no support. There isn't any NHRA representative at FRPP to work with Stock and Super Stock Ford racers on a replacement parts program.

 

Ford has the largest grass roots group in Drag Racing and they totally ignore them. FRPP is a marketing tool and hopfully Mark Fields can fix this are as well.

[classicford]

Ford since the discontinuance of the 5.0L/5.8L small blocks has always been like this when it comes to aftermarket support for their products.

 

If it weren't for the 5.0L Mustang and the excitement for Ford products it created, Ford probably wouldn't be here today, or at least Ford wouldn't be nowhere near the company they are today. EVERYBODY in high school back in the late '80s who had any interest in cars knew the 5.0L was hot, and they wanted one. I was certainly one of those people.

 

That single engine created an entire new generation of Ford lovers, and what did Ford do, they ditched the engine for something that was much more refined and efficient, but was nowhere near as user-friendly for hotrodders as the '89-'93 Mustangs were. Today, there are several superior aftermarket parts for any comparable part for the old pushrod engines FRPP has.

 

The 5.0L Mustang is increasingly the enthusiasts/aftermarket's own car, and while this is part of what has made the Mustang so successful, it shows that Ford isn't willing to try to offer actual Ford parts for their old cars that have been made into hotrods, showcars, dragsters, etc.

 

The Ford community is now it's own business supporting and running their own 5.0L-catering businesses more than ever. Again, this is part of what has made the Mustang so succesful though, but it just shows that Ford neither cares or wants to support the people who support Ford.

 

----------------------------now, to the point-------------------------------------

 

Ford's abandonement of the big block market absolutely does not surprise me. They would rather let the few people who do use BBF's to switch to Chevys or Mopars, who both have in-house performance parts programs that offer quite a nice choice of big block parts. I myself right now would prefer to build a 426 Hemi-based big block than an FE or a 385-Series, and until very recently I was a die hard Ford fan. My blood runs plain red today, not a trace of blue in it.

 

I imagine some sort of plan only capable of being thought of by crackheads and meth addicts is currently in practice at Ford today, a plan to end all support of the aftermarket community, Ford Racing, and any high-performance cars alltogether. It seems Ford's turning Japanese.............they wish to offer great cars, but cars with no personality to them. Outside of the Mustang I don't know of any brand new Ford's that people will be keeping and restoring 40 years from today.

 

It is stuff like this which has made me no longer a Ford fan. I'm not moving to any other manufacturer, non of them impress me enough to like them anymore. I'll always love the Mustang and the Windsor engine, but I'm no longer any more inclined to buy a Ford than I am to buy a Dodge or a Pontiac now.

 

 

 

IF, if Ford can do enough to attract me back then I'll keep buying exclusively Ford. Time will tell....

[Stray Kat]

I disagree somewhat with these viewpoints regarding the FRPP division. IMO the FRPP division, unlike say the Ford NASCAR program is a stand alone business with a full emphasis put on earning a profit to justify their existence. The NASCAR program on the other hand is an advertising vehicle that absorbs money. If the big block parts are going away it must mean that no one is buying them, at least not from Ford. I think the support for the small pushrod V8's is underestimated, I have never seen more factory support all the way from "trickle- down" NASCAR technology to bolt on 5.0 parts. Don't forget the new 3- valve `05 Mustang drag packs and drag race program. These are direct ways of connecting with today's customers.

 

I have my own frustrations with FRPP. Stuff like their apparent naievity with regards to what it takes to serve the "street rod" crowd. Yes there is a little effort placed there but I feel there is much to be gained in the street rod genre and it would'nt take cutting edge rocket science to gain wider acceptance, just common sense solutions to typical problems combined with competitive or better pricing.

[classicford]

Stray Kat,

 

I completely agree with you about street rod parts. I think the 5.0L engine is popular enough now that with some incentive we could actually start seeing old Ford streetrods with FORD engines again. The SBF market is massive, enough so that Ford ought to realize they could reap some benefits from the 5.0L yet.

 

I've yet to see a reason why FRPP doesn't offer complete EFI SBF crate engines complete with an EEC computer and the wiring harness. Quite a few streetrod guys I've talked to use or would like to use EFI anymore.

 

 

 

would say more but I'll let it go for now--American Grafitti is on.