Questions and advice needed. I currently have a 65 F250 with the 352 and NP 4 speed. At first looking to rebuild the engine but prices are crazy. It was suggested I look at a crate engine and couple that with a new trans. What have others done, what crate engine companies used/recommended? Do I stick with a rebuilt 352/390 FE or go another route? Not sure what bolts up and what doesn’t. Truck will be used as a daily driver and seldom see trips over 100 miles.

 

FE motors tend to be a bit expensive to work on.

I found a 360 for $1795:
https://sunwestautoinc.com/product/f...lt-long-block/

If you search for "360/390 long block" you will find several hits.

Having it rebuilt locally is an option that seems to be more popular than buying a reman. You get to dictate the parts used vs. taking whatever they decide for you.

As for what bolts up, any FE will bolt up. 352s are probably going to be harder to find. 360s pretty easy, as well as 390s that are actually 360s. 390s are plentiful via the long block search as well, but for a bit more money. (parts are nearly the same).

One of the things about a 390 long block is the difference between a car vs. a pickup motor. Pickup motors used Mercury 410 pistons so the piston sits .100+ below the deck for low compression. (and less power for the gas used) The car spec motors are 9-9.5 up to 10.5 for compression ratio.

As to the suggestion to get a crate motor and new trans, if you are switching engine series that is another can of worms as mounting, exhaust etc needs to be changed.

You could always just put new valve seals in your motor, run a ball hone down the cylinders, put new standard rings in, put new bearing inserts in the rods and mains, put a new oil pump in it, hose it down with WD-40, put it back together and hope for the best....

How much do you want to spend? How much can you do yourself? In your searches for rebuild services, what kind of prices have your found?

 

85e150, thanks for info! i ended up getting a 390 Long Block from S&J Engines. Not cheap but not crazy considering a rebuild on my current 352 was going to run me $7-8k. From there a local engine shop is going to install the new block.

 

Good luck with it!

 

Who was going to charge you that kind of money to rebuild a 352 ? I want to know so I can stay well away from that place. ****, you can build an all new 427 for that.

 

Tell me about it! Welcome to the great state of New Jersey...that’s why I ended up going the route I did. Getting the long block allowed me to bump up to the 390 and design the rest of my engine build, swap the gears and get a custom exhaust for just a bit more then my quoted price of 8K

 

Seems kinda steep for a rebuild, when I had the 390 rebuilt by a reputable shop cost came to $4500. About the same time had to replace a 302 on my other 65 F100 and shopped around and sought out the best warranty offered and decided to go with S&S rebuilder out of the state of Washington, I believe they change their name but they offered a 7-year warranty since I installed the engine myself suspect the warranty would have been void. This was 10 years ago, tune-up 2 days ago and compression is very good and the engine is still running strong. I was very pleased with their customer service.