Hey guys so I'm rebuilding the 390 out of my 69 F100. The engine has been built a time or too and has parts from all sorts of years. Anyway I want to build it up for higher horsepower and was curious about a few things.

1. It is bored .060 and worn .001 and has a sleeve in 1 cylinder so I'm wondering if it is able to hold up to higher horsepower under these circumstances.

2. Most of the rods are from 66 or 67 according to date codes and I'm wondering what the stock hp rating is for those and should they be replaced?

I'd be getting flat top pistons and aluminum intake with a 650 carb. Heads I'm leaving the cast ones since I can't afford aluminum ones right now but before I go and spend money I was hoping to get some input on how I should proceed.

Walt

 

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Rebuilding stock heads is nearly comparable to new aluminum heads. I'd save up for the marginal cost because of it'll be money well spent.

 

I will do some reading into that for sure.

That's true. I wasn't going to go the full 9 yards on the heads but there's no point in building it up and not going with good heads.

Another thing I was curious about since it's bored big and worn was getting the cylinders sleeved back down to stock spec. Is there any down side to sleeves?

 

As long as the job is done correctly sleeves will do just fine. It's done on commercial tractors and marine engines all the time. Almost all of todays diesel trucks have ceramic or some type of sleeve(liner) as stock equip.

 

My friend said the same thing. I called the machine shop and it'll cost 100 per sleeve for labor so it'll be over 800 to do that. A new block to work with will be cheaper so I'm going to get a new block and go from there. I'm considering swapping to a 460 since this is a project truck and I'll have time to swap over. But I'm not still not sure yet.

 

High horse power? How are the brakes? Any plans for suspension upgrades? Not being a jerk here, but you must look at this like a whole package. And although these trucks have an IFS, it is by no means a performance suspension.
A 0.060+ block is basically end of life. Plus you don't know how abused it has been. I've measured plenty of blocks with a dial bore indicator and there will be more variance than 0.001 in a fresh bore, all cylinders considered unless the motor was machined by a race shop for race purposes which +0.060 and a sleeve pretty much eliminates. You need a different block, new or otherwise like you stated. Plenty of people have done the 460 swap. It's more weight, torque and hp in stock form for the same 8-10mpg. There's plenty of them around and you might find one that doesn't need much more than a top end job. Might be as lucky with another 390, and it will drop right in. All they really need are better breathing: intake, headers, cam and lifters. Instead of having your heads done for significant cost, look for ones already done. I've seen them in the 3 bill range as swaps at places that do nothing but heads and not specialized by a particular brand.

 

Also big horsepower will require serious upgrades on those stock heads. Will need to do away with non-adjustable rocker system.........

 

Great link!

 

When you say higher HP , how much ? stock truck 390 is under 200
so 300 ,400 hp>>>>>
if you are going 300-400 no problems

 

I wonder if these are any count, hard to believe you can get system like this for a little $$$.

Ford FE 390 428 Shaft Mount 1 76 Ratio Stainless Steel Rocker Arms w Hardware | eBay

 

i saw those too , wondered the same thing Quality or waste of money ?

 

If it is built like they say, gotta be better than stock rail........

 

SPECS looked good , but where is it made ? CHINA ?
they lie about their specs .

 

I will definitely be doing suspension and brake upgrades. The truck has nothing special in that department. 4 wheel drum brakes not boosted. Going to do a disc brake conversion at least up front. Haven't looked hard into suspension yet but it will be done. And 400 or more horsepower I would like to get. This is my project truck so I've got lots of time to get it going. No rush to get it running except my want to drive it. I'm looking into a 460 since from what I read you can make lots more power and torque and parts are cheaper for it. I don't know much about 460s so correct me if I'm wrong. I've heard it would cost about the same to convert to a 460 and get 400+ hp as it would to build up a 390 to 400+hp that will bolt right in.

 

And I don't know much about swap meets up where I'm at. I live in Alaska and cheap good quality engine parts are hard to find Where I'm at. I'm pretty well limited to ebay and scrap yards for cheap parts.