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Welcome EdDee. Feel free to join the VA Chapter if so inclined. While cleaning up the garage I found another 360 I forgot about.....
Where in Virginia? I'm W of Martinsville near Stuart.
I'm kinda/sorta in Amelia. That's Southside, if you're familiar with that part of Va. Amelia is in the address, but I'm a long ways from town, way out on the Dinwiddie county line. We lived in Martinsville from 92-94. Nicest people I ever met were in western Va. Pretty country up there, too.
Thanks for the welcome. There's a lot of good reading on these forums.
Me too. This thread is making me want to rebuild mine. It's in a '68 Ranger Camper Special. I'm about to replace the exhaust from manifolds to tailpipe, all stock spec.
Good Deal! Mine isn't exactly stock anymore but still has original pistons and standard rod and main bearings.....
Good Deal! Mine isn't exactly stock anymore but still has original pistons and standard rod and main bearings.....
Mine's never been pulled. I doubt I can do a rebuild myself right now. My left arm is still recovering from a wreck in June, but maybe next year.......
There's a reason the tachs only go to 4K. It has more to do with the springs on the valves than rod length. Besides, I bet you can watch the gas gauge needle drop when you spool it up like that.
The 360 in my 75 3/4 ton C-6 would get 11 mpg loaded or empty. Dropped a cylinder, still got 11 mpg.
Compared to my 86 F250 351 C-6 4.10 rear, (8-11 mpg) and 87 F250 460 C-6 4.10 rear (6-11 mpg)
The 360 mpg doesn't seem too bad.
So for the 4th, I put the heads on the 360. Installed the shim gaskets dry just like the instructions said. Now I can get the rocker assembly on and measure the correct rod length needed.
I was doing some google machanicery this weekend. I found an article by Barry R that says you MUST do the engine break in with the inner valve springs removed. Is that something you have read or know of?
I figured since you just put your heads on, it might be a thought to process.
Although there are two springs per-se in the stock FE head, the inner one is a damper and contributes very little to the overall spring pressure. I am using stock-ish springs (slightly stiffer, they match the cam) as my originals were no longer square. A true dual spring system actually uses two springs and not a flat wire damper. Using two actual springs will increase the spring pressure in a high performance application because a high lift cam needs a much 'stiffer spring' to avoid valve float at high RPM's and a single spring is insufficient. My 'school bus' 360 is not one of those motors. I know the COMP CAMS info states you must remove the inner spring, but they are talking about higher performance applications. Note they use 'dual or high pressure' in conjunction. Here is their TB on the subject: COMP Cams - Performance Camshafts, Lifters, Valve Springs, Rocker Arms
This is a great blog on motor oil, btw: https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/201...-test-ranking/
It explores the zinc myth in gory detail.
Further, the FE is a cam priority oiling system and I have installed a high volume (not high pressure) oil pump as I am running the crank bearings on the loose side.
Thanks! Now I have to figure out what the new rod length needs to be. Bought the tool from Alex's Parts. It bothers me that we have an automatically adjustable system (hydraulic lifter) that you setup like a solid system and then the lash just gets loose with age. Seems like you should really set it to .005 under or something so you can at least take up the majority of the wear throughout the life of the motor. Going to measure the original push rods and see how much they lost, if any at all. The old rockers certainly had pretty witness marks in the cup. I would imagine the soft cast iron took the majority of the wear. Don't know how you would reliably measure that.
Well, it's been a while, but I am to the point of putting the clutch back on and then this happens. PO must have replaced the clutch at some point and used the 'tight as I can get it' torque method. It is the first time I felt one go and was able to simply back it out. ARP 100-2801 here I come!
Looking forward to seeing how you like the engine when it is done. I currently have a FE360 in my 67' F100 4x4. The power is there but the gas mileage is slightly worse than I think it should be. Averaging about 9-11 a tank, (and that's with no hauling of weight and taking it semi easy.) I always talked about building the engine into a 390 one day, but the more I think about, I would like to find a 352 donor block from a 67' and rebuild a FE352 with stock parts. Keep everything cast iron and get a refurbished Autolite 2100 2 bbl carb with my original 352 oil bath air cleaner to top it off. Yeah, it is a 352 and it is cast iron, but it is an American V8. The cast iron parts and stock exhaust manifolds are pretty dreadful, and an Autolite 2100 with a restrictive oil bath air cleaner are probably the opposite of performance, but my 67' 4x4 and performance don't do well in the same sentence. I didn't buy the truck to go around racing people or trying to keep up with Hondas on the freeway or try to enjoy my drive to work every day, I bought the truck because I am fascinated by history and fascinated by Fords and personally love Ford's 5th generation of pickups. People back in the late 60's early 70's used those bone stock "restrictive" set-ups and moved more weight than any half ton pickups probably do today. (Not saying they can't do it, but...)
I think of it this way, it doesn't matter how much horsepower you have if your gearing only lets you go 65 MPH @ 3,000 RPMs. You could have 700 horsepower but if you don't change your gearing your still cruising at 65 MPH. I didn't buy my truck go fast, and I think anyone who does is just fooling themselves. Not aerodynamic in any way and extremely heavy.
If Ford thought a cast iron head / intake manifold with an Autolite 2100 and an oil bath air cleaner went good on a 67' 4x4 with a 352, then I can't disagree. The only thing thats been making me question whether I wanted to do it is people saying, "Oh you need to build a 390, blah blah..." which I'm sure isn't a bad idea if you are just building the truck how you like it, and more horsepower is what you like. I prefer factory / OEM / correct over any of that, call me crazy.
Good luck with your rebuild.
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Couldn't agree more. My 67 352 had plenty of torque and it was bone stock with 90 k on it.
12-21-2015, 06:30 PM
