Hello,

First off, awesome forums.

Second, I just purchased a 1976 Ford Ranger 4WD F150 with a 360 in it. I'm looking to increase it's horsepower and torque and was wondering what everyone suggests I do.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Slade Sable

 

I would start with a 390 crank, a decent aluminum intake and good carb. Making it a 390 will give you more power with virtually no change in fuel mileage.

 

The most efficient way is a 390 With that being said, these FE engine's have a inherent breathing problem in the stock configuration. My oppinion, the cheapest bang for the buck is 1. add headers 2. 4bbl intake from a 390 3. 4bbl carb (pick your poison, but I like the Eldelbrock for it's simplicity, some here actually think a stock ford 4bbl carb from that era can be considered a performance carb) Then adding a RV type cam\W lifters will work wonders in that engine. The RV cam and lifters wont do much for you untill you swap out the 2 bbl intake and the factory log type exhaust manifold's. The engine needs to breath. Adding a 4 barrel carb and intake alone gains you about nothing. What air\fuel mixture goes in must come out in an efficent manner. Black smoke is unburned fuel...

Then after doing all of that, guess what, your Torq\HP restriction is internal. That being the 360 rotating assembly ... That is another issue

Aluminum intake, mayby aluminum heads, etc help as well. Now your into $$$$$$

 

intake carb and HEADERS, and then the 390 crank assembly if still desired

 

i did the intake,carb and headers on mine and it made a good bit of difference.

 

If ya wanna work with what ya got, here's a grouped that you can work with and assumes you can do all your own labor (including welding the exhaust). All prices are quoted from Jeg's:

Part 1
Hedman headers (PN 89120) $186
U-fit street rod exhaust mandrel bent 2.5-inch tubing kit (PN 555-30671): $220
2.5-inch mufflers (Flowmaster PN 842542) $173

subtotal: $579

Part 2
Edelbrock Performer RPM Intake (PN 7105) $350
600 cfm carburetor (Edelbrock PN 1405 or 1406) $300
3-inch open element air cleaner & filter: +/- $60

subtotal: $770

... add an Edelbrock cam & lifters (PN 7106) $193

Total: $1482
__________

Btw, the Ford's 600 cfm Autolite 4100 is an awesome carb. More simple than the Eddy 1405/1406... I picked one up at a swap meet for $40. Look for "1.12" stamped on the side of the front bowl cuz the ones stamped "1.08" only flow 480 cfm.

 

I have a factory 390 4bbl intake so I can scratch that off my list, I just need to put it on when I get the 4bbl carb.

Thanks for all the info, I'm currently putting in an order with Jegs and Summitracing.

- Slade

 

Hope you have a crane to install that factory intake. Well worth it to spring for the alum intake in my opinion.

 

Yeah the factory "T" intake that comes on the trucks weighs 76 herniating pounds (the aluminum intakes are between 23-27lbs). A hoist is your friend. The first thing I do to any FE is headers. Then 4bbl intake (of your choice) and carb.You should change your timing set as the 73 and later 360s had a factory 4° retarded cam timing. Getting a straight up timing set will help alot. After all that if you still want more power, then I'd be looking to swap in the 390 crank and rods which will really wake it up. And if you do rebuild it to a 390, then throw a RV type cam in.

I have a Edelbrock Performer intake I'm looking to get rid of (cheap)
Let me know if your interested.

Edit: I see that you didn't specify which factory intake you have. Do you know which it is? Look for a casting number and an "S" or a "T" or the like.

 

Cast iron intakes for FE's are what my dad always called a "3 men and a boy" affair. Takes that much muscle to swap them out. Really need 4 men, but there really isn't enough room for him so ya gotta get a boy.......

Sleepy, I'd love to be able to take that intake off your hands, but the funds just ain't there yet...... Maybe soon though.

 

I'm interested in your intake, let me know how much you want for it.

My intake has a "T" on it. What is the significance of the S or T?

Thanks for all the info.

- Slade

 

when you do exhaust,stay away from flowmaster mufflers.all you are paying for is the name,they are some of the worst flowing mufflers on the market.

 

$175 plus the ride. It's $300 new so it's a decent deal. I wish I could hold it for ya Rogue_Wulff but the sooner I can make money the sooner I can fix some things of my own. First come first serve. But I know of 2 others at this price so I'll keep you in mind when I'm thumbin through the classifieds.

The T, S, as well as casting numbers tell what intake it is. The S makes a bit better tq and the T makes a bit better hp. Both are well below the aftermarket intakes. The Performer is 20ftlbs/15hp better and 53lbs lighter than the T.

Flowmasters are particularly bad on FEs in cars. They tend to drone inside for whatever reason. Might be fine on a truck though.

Sorry to the mods, I would PM him to get this done but he can't do PMs yet. (You can once you have 25 posts if you're wondering Slade)

 

Opinions and prices of mufflers are one of those things that can widely vary. Personally, I went with Moroso Spiral Flows for their small size and no fiberglass packing. But race bullets, glass packs, Dynomax, Cherry Bombs, Thrush, Pypes, and Magnaflow are also candidates. It's your call in the end.

However, I recommend staying away from the Dynomax VT.. the exhaust stream is a hostile environment and not a place for any moving parts.

 

Sleepy, I wish I could buy your intake but I think I'm going to spend my money on my exhaust system first, and then I'm going to work on upgrading my fuel system. It's a great price though and if I had the extra money I would buy it along with the exhaust.

I just bought some 2 1/4" Cherry Bombs, 18 inches long.

Here is what I'm thinking about buying for the rest of my exhaust:

Flowtech 12542FLT

Flowtech 12542FLT - FlowTech Headers - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Hooker Competition Header-Back Exhaust Systems 16562HKR

Hooker Headers 16562HKR - Hooker Competition Header-Back Exhaust Systems - Overview - SummitRacing.com

So that would give me the Flowtech Headers with a complete exhaust system from the header to the rear along with my Cherry Bombs.

My question is, as a novice on exhaust, will I need to watch for my headers hitting anything or heating up anything after I put them on? Should I wrap the headers with tape if I do run into problems?

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it very much.

- Slade