i thought the wrist pins in a 390 were pressed in with a press and could not move but instead there is 2 clips on both ends 2 of which broke in different cylinders and let the wrist pin go into the cylinder wall a ruin the block

 

OOOOPPPPSSS... Were they installed correctly? If I recall, the rounded edge goes in toward the pin.

--Mike

 

but are they meant to come free after you remove the c clip

 

if the c clips some how were to come out, the wrist pin could move back and forth. i never heard of the c clips breaking though.

 

great just my luck are there different c clip strengths 2 broke in my engine both on the same side

 

Those C-Clips are better known as spirolocks and you can install them backwards. The rounded side need to pint towards the piston.

 

There's difference between Spiro-locs and C clips. Spiro-locs are just that, spiral wound flat springs that replace the C clips that are known to break. Had C clips come loose in my 427, also grooved one cylinder wall, but had it sleeved. In response to ford390gashog's original question, all FE's had the C clip retained pins, better known as Floating Pins. Most of the better high performance engines have this feature.