My buddy drives a 69' Fairlane with a 302/C4. He is planning on purchasing a new motor/tranny combo that is said to be a 348 stroked out to a 390. This doesn't sound like anything I have ever heard of, and a Ford guru concurs. ...Someone mentioned it might have originally been a Chevy motor? What in the heck is this thing going to be?
..It supposedly fits the smallblock bolt patten on his tranny.

-Patrick

 

Sounds like a good story!! It might be a 351W stroked to 392/393 depending on how you round it. Might ask in the small block forum.

 

There was never any Ford 348. There was a Chevy 348, but even they try to deny it.

 

I would be leary. The seller of the engine doesn't seem to know what he has. That is not a good thing.

 

Could be a stroked 302 to 347, but 390 seems to be a little imaginative. I can't wait to find out the results...

--Mike

 

I'll keep you posted - it's difficult to get information out of this guy. : ) Any time I ask about his car, it's like I am attacking him or something, despite our being good friends. So it goes.

At any rate - it supposedly came out of a Ford truck and will match a small block bolt pattern. I am going to see if he'll let me look at it before he drops $1500 for a motor and tranny that "sounded strong."

-Patrick

 

He's probably confusing a 352 for a 348, the 352 can be bored & stroked to a 390. There are still lots of people out there that have never heard of a 390. I had one call yesterday in response to the ad I placed for a complete running 390. He wanted to know if it would bolt in place of his blown engine in a 97 F150. I naturally told him, Yes it will------- with enough time and $$$, anything's possible.

 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the small block bolt patters are 289/302/351w and 351c. I do not believe the 351c was available in the trucks so you may be able to rule that out. With any luck, it's a stroked 351. If I was buying a used "performance" motor, I'd comb that thing over armed with measuring tools and crud scraper, let alone want to hear it run.

My $.02 (I had more, spent it on my truck) --Mike

 

Ok - so I am going to go look at the motor tomorrow. We have established that it is a modified 352 of some sort - to what extent, we do not know. My question is this:

Assuming it is indeed a 352 FE - can motor mounts/perches be had relatively easily for a 1969 Ford Fairlane that currently has a 302/C4 combo?

As well, will the 302/C4 need a different x-member/tranny mount than what I am assuming is a 352/C6?

(Someone has to be a Fairlane guy form way back when. : )

-Patrick

 

My understanding is that there are quite a few people that think that they have a 351C (smallblock pattern) when they actually have a 351M-400M (429/460 pattern).
I, personally, have never heard of a factory installed 351C in a pickup.

 

Sounds like you should just back off and allow your friend to learn things the hard way.

I have a friend just like yours. He hated life when his poor '69 El Camino couldn't keep my '69 Galaxie with 429/2V off his butt.

He spent about 2 grand to build the poor little Chevy small block to be something. Little does he know that if I spent 2 grand on my 429, I'd run over him before he could get out of the way.

 

Relatively easy? Yes. relatively cheap ? No. And while I haven't had a Fairlane, I did have a Bigblock Stang, and the transmission X member for the C6 is different from the one for a C4.

 

Looks as though it has a 4-bbl cast iron intake and C7AE-A heads. What can ya'll tell me about the heads?
The motor itself looks clean, but not necessarily "rebuilt." I'm gonna see if he'll let me pull the valve covers and a plug so I can check things out/measure the stroke.

Thanks for the info thus far, guys.

-Patrick

 

the heads are nothing special they came on several different size motors 352, 360, 390, 428.

 

I dunno. If your friend gets defensive whenever you ask questions, he's probably not valuing your advice that much when you give it. I'd gracefully back out and let him make his own choices so that he doesn't come back to you when things go wrong.

If you really want advice on stuffing it in a Fairlane, you might try asking the guys at fordfe.com.