How do I tell a 5.2 from a 5.9

Our U pull it places in Georgia will let you pull heads and find good heads and block mixing and matching until you find what you like. No, they will not supply anything at the prices they charge. You can get a basic long block for 158 dollars. What do you expect? For them to come pull it for you for that price? Not hardly.


That said, be glad you are not into Fords. Why you ask? I have a 351M engine in my F250 for example. There is no way to tell the difference between the 351M and 400 engines, other than either removing a head and measuring the piston stroke, or removing the oil pan and getting the crank casting number. No way. No how, because both blocks use the exact same casting numbers. My 351M even has "400" cast into the block in the intake valley, because that's how Ford created the 351M, since the 400 was made first and the 351M used the 400 block. You also cannot tell using the old trick of removing a plug and using welding rod to measure piston stroke, because the plug hole is at such a drastic angle. I got luck when my buddy PanGasket found my 400. The heads were already off and he easily saw the piston was 4" down in the bore at BDC, so we knew it was a 400. Since both engines are 4" bore and use the same casting numbers, that's the only way to tell.

The Ford "FE" series engines are much the same. There is no way to tell whether you have a 352-428 because they all use the same series of casting numbers. Your 428 may have "352" cast into the block. The only way to know for sure on those is to look at the crank casting number and measure the bore.

So Mopar guys have it easy comparatively.