My dad's 74 F100 has a 390 he built sometime in late 80's. He says the cam he used was a factory 390HP hydraulic lifter cam that was located in a small town La Ford dealer's inventory and shipped to the dealership where he worked as a mechanic.
Anyone have any info about what kind of specs a stock 390HP cam would have? The engine has a relatively smooth idle, but the exhaust has a distinct "crisp" sound to it (duals w/glasspacks), and it has always had more than enough power to move this old truck along at a rather nice pace. I'm sure the stock 2bbl intake and stock exhaust manifolds are the main bottlenecks on this engine. Knowing dad, he also used higher compression pistons, such as the 360 "flat tops" that were readily available over the counter at the dealer, rather than the "tea cup" dished 390 truck pistons.
I'm working to get this truck back on the road, and plan to upgrade to a 4bbl intake and edelbrock 600 carb. I've already got the carb, so it will just have to do. I'm wanting to find a good dual plane, stock or alum aftermarket such as the edelbrock performer. I've heard good things about the perf and perf RPM intakes. I sort of doubt headers will ever go on. Dad didn't like the idea of headers on a street driven vehicle, and simply would not approve of them on his truck. He bought the truck new, so it's only previous owner is Ford Motor Company, so I reckon I should abide by his wishes.......

 

The original 390HP was from 61 and was a solid lifter cam. It's possible he used the later GT/CJ hyd cam which was .481 on the intake and .490 on the exhaust. You can see the factory cams here....... FE Engine Camshaft Specifications

 

Good headers are ok, cheap ones not so much. Given that the stock manifolds are going to limit the results you get from all the other mods, consider that if you get GOOD ones, your dad would probably at least grudgingly approve.

Just a thought.

Lucky you didn't have my dad, no mods AT ALL. Nothing like a hissing stock muffler to make power.....

 

Well one of the main power limiters and first thing most people change is the stock exhaust logs. So don't expect much gain from whatever else you do. Its already struggling to get rid of the air it takes in fast enough. Letting in inhale more without the ability to exhale will lead to meager results.

PM sent.

 

All I know, is he claims it's a factory cam, hydraulic lifters, and refered to it as a "390 Hi-Po" camshaft. That page has identification marks listed, maybe I can find something when/if I get that "3 men and a boy" intake off... (his words for how heavy it is)

Yeah, I have a header on my RX7. It's made from 7/16" plate and 1/8" (.125 wall) pipe, then ceramic coated. $250 for a single unit, that's just a 2-1 setup. Anything less than that kind of build quality, is just not gonna cut it with the heat of a rotary exhaust (1600-2000F) for very long.....
I once had headers on a 70 F100 w/302. Took 3 tries to find something that *actually* fit, and even then keeping them sealed up was almost a full time job. I was 16, and haven't put headers on a street driven vehicle since, aside from the RX7, and it's not a daily driver.....
I know the factory exhaust manifolds will be a bottleneck, but changing dad's mind will be slightly harder than reversing the earth's rotation......

 

Your dad is still with us?

Much easier to go against their wishes after they go.....

I made a believer out of my dad with some higher end shocks and 70 series tires on his wagon, so I'm pretty sure I could sell the headers if I found a good set that isn't going to leak and rust through in a year....

Good luck whichever way it falls..

 

Yeah, he's still with us. Nearly lost him almost 20 years ago in a collision (head-on), which has a lot to do with why he can barely get around these days.
He's ok with the 4 bbl swap, as he always intended to do that. Headers, he just doesn't like on a street vehicle. Leaks and rusting thru are 2 major reasons......

 

I use Remflex header gaskets. They aren't your typical gasket. They're super thick (3/8" or so) and have a ton of crush. They're made to seal uneven or warped surfaces and are guaranteed to seal. I used to have a continual leak on my passenger side (something wasn't flat) and after going through like 3 other gaskets, I found these and it hasn't given me any trouble since.
A good coated header should solve the rust.

 

FWIW, my dads 390 had a manifold leak and crack. Several threads about those here, so it appears the topic is exhausted.

 

If your dad doesn't like headers, maybe you should hunt down some of the hi flow manifolds from the mid 60s galaxies- they're basically a cast iron header and they've got a couple of genuine ford part #s on it. Here's a nice write up on manifold that are out there: Exhaust.htm


Sam

 

$1495 for Fairlane manifolds, not the best:

http://www.perogie.com/427.htm

Repros, $500:

FORD 390 406 427 428 FE SHORTY HEADER EXHAUST MANIFOLDS - eBay (item 360373247024 end time Jul-12-11 08:50:23 PDT)

Early models, not sure they fit trucks, $950:

63 64 FORD MERCURY 427 EXHAUST MANIFOLDS GALAXIE XL FE | eBay

15 pages of ebay "427 Ford parts" and that's what I found. That and about a thousand intake manifolds....

 

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Yeah that's why I didn't even mention them. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

 

Seems like those re-pops would be the best bet, money wise. If originality and performance are desired, it seems to be the only option.

Unless you wanna try porting he stock logs...

Sam

 

on another forum some guys bought those repop manifolds. it took roughly 4-6 months to receive them.
You can buy 6 sets of long tube headers from Summit for the price of one of those manifolds.... ohh no, they rusted and have a hole, ok throw them out and put a new set on. My experience with f-series and long tubes has been that you'll want a cherry picker and to unbolt the motor mounts to get them on. Maybe you don't NEED to, but it sure makes it real easy.

in regards to the other problems, one easy fix... buy the truck from your dad and let him use it. When I was a kid and did the same with an oldsmobile, my dad bought the car back after I got it running really fast :P