Hello I am knew to fixing motors. My 79 Ford with a 360 stock started smoking and had water in the oil. I was told it sounded like a blown gasket. The problem I have is while i was taking the manfoild bolts out the head broke,where the bolt threads in. My question is what is the best set of heads I can use for my stock 360 motor? 360 motors are hard to find around here I was hoping to rebuild a set of 390 heads.Will these work? I dont want to spend a ton of money on aftermarket heads. Thanks and any help would be great. Also any small cheap things I can do to help out the upper half of this 360?

 

I'm sure one of the experts will chime in soon. Anyway here is what I know. Heads for the 360, 390 and 410 are pretty much interchangeable. However they went through a number of changes in combustion chamber volume. You can find volumes of 71.2-74.2, 68.1-71.1 and 67.1- 70.1 in Ford's standard cylinder heads. Your 1979 360 surely has a head with the 68.1-71.1 chamber size. If you put a larger chamber on the engine you will see your compression ratio drop quite a bit and it is already very low in a 360. From what I can see any head after D2TE will work fine but before that casting you have to be careful.

 

360&390 never came stock in a 79' Unless you did a swap. Just letting you know. The 360 and 390 are the same block and heads. Only diff is in the crank, rods and pistons. Any set of heads will work from a 360 or 390. The DT2 (casting #) have hardend seats for unleaded gas so that is good. I have seen a pair rebuilt of heads go for like 600-700. For the cheapest route you could get the 360 heads milled and it would be good as new. A popular mod is to use a 390 crank and rods and then use the 360 pistons. 360 pistons are flat top and make good compression with the 390 bottom end. Headers are always good for more power.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Slinger is right the 360 wasn't available after 1976. And yes the 360/390/410 all have the same everything but rotating assy. The combustion chamber volumes aren't related as much to year as application. Here are some casting #'s deemed performance
C6OE-AB, " "-Y, " "-AC, " "-AA,
C8OE-A, " "-B, -F, -XX, and -H(cobrajet)

Look for some of these around the junk yards. There is no bad FE head. Especially if you have a 360, the heads are not what is limiting performance. I myself have a set of C8AE-H heads with the cobra jet sized valves, hardened seats, stiffer springs. etc. and they were only about $550. They are the same head as the D2TE heads but they werent originially made with the hardened seats and guides. That being said the main restriction to your 360 is the exhaust manifold. Get some headers 4v intake and carb and the thinnest head gaskets you can find for your 360 and that should wake it up a bit. Other than that, there are plenty of easy 410 conversion threads on here.

By the way I still have my old D2TE-AA heads, need rebuilt, goin' for cheap PM me if you want em. Sorry for the ad. lol

 

I woudln't think you'd have any issues finding a set of FE heads in a bone yard or even on craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums in your area. The ear(I assume) may be repairable but a set of used heads would likely be a tradeoff there. A remanned set from (?Checkers Auto) might be the best bet for short term. But if you want to rest assured get a good used set and take them to a Machinist with experience with Ford FE's (do not take them to just any machinist) if you dont see another FE leave!

 

As several people have questioned,are you certain its a 360? If stock,it would have i believe either a 351M or a 400,and its a different series of engine.

 

The OP's "About Me" says he has a 1976, but the avatar pic is of a 1978/79.

In his first post he says he has a 1979 with a 360.

If he has a 1979, it's prolly a 351M or 400.

1977/79 V8 engine choices: 302 2V / 351M 2V / 400 2V / 460 4V.

Valve Cover Bolt Holes - Per Side

360/390 = 5 / 302 = 6 / 460 = 7 / 351M/400 = 8.

 

OK gentlemen here is the deal. My truck is a 1976 but has the 79 grill installed. If you pay close attention to the pic look at the bed, It has the screw in gas lid not the flip door tight found on the 79 model. Thanks just clearing this up and yes it is a 360