DeTomaso Mailing List: March 2000, Message #17

> Maybe someone can clear this up for me?  When people talk about
> an "Aussie block", are we talking about one that was cast
> in Australia?
> 
Not necessarily.  It may have been cast in the U.S. but had 
machining done in Australia or it may have simply been a 
used block plucked from an Australian junkyard (could have 
been of U.S. or Australian origin).
 
> Now could someone tell me why would a small-car manufacturer
> (Ford Australia) with a limited market (13 million people, total
> population of Australia in 1970s) and producing at most 5,000 V8s
> per year, were making so many different blocks?  Especially, as
> far as I know, only one block casting was ever made for
> production-line cars.
> 
>From what I've been able to gather, there were:

1. Blocks imported from the U.S. before Australian sourced 
blocks were available.  Could be either 2 or 4 bolt mains.

2. "Blue blocks" (painted Ford blue).  These were the earliest 
Australian 2 bolt main castings.  May or may not have been any 
thicker.

3. "Black blocks".  These were later Australian 2 bolt main 
castings that were introduced along with electronic distributors.  
Apparently, the distributor hole (at the bottom) is smaller 
so U.S. and early Aussie distributors won't fit with modification.
Supposedly a thicker casting than the "blue blocks".
 
4.  4 bolt main non-Siamese bore.  A special casting for 
U.S. racing.  Only a few hundred made.  This is the one with 
the straight pan rails.

5. Same as number 4 but with Siamese bores.  There may 
be a cooling problem with using these on the street (strictly 
second hand rumor).

There could be others.  I've heard of truck blocks but I don't
know if they are any different than passenger car blocks.

> Australians care little for NASCAR or circle-track racing, prefering
> endurance circuits or off-road rallying, so I dont think there
> could have been any NASCAR connection.
> 
The NASCAR connection had nothing to do with the Australian 
market.  These were simply special Ford racing parts that were 
intended for NASCAR (or drag) racing.  I've heard more than 
one version of why and when, but at least some of the casting or 
machining was done in Australia then the blocks were sent to 
the U.S.  One version of the story had the blocks actually being 
cast in the United States then sent to Australia for machining then 
sent back to the U.S.  Another had all the Cleveland tooling shipped 
to Australia after U.S. production ceased, so the blocks were cast 
in Australia.    A limited number of these blocks were made and 
you're not likely to find one in an Aussie junkyard.

Dan Jones