This is an undergraduate students personal web page. This makes a lot of assumptions. Where does he get his info? Could he have incorrectly input his data?

I am the second owner of this truck. I know the motor is original. The original owner had never even rebuilt this engine. I know the stroke is 3.78. I know the (stock) pistons do not have a full skirt (like the 360's do). Everything checks out that this is an FE 390.

I do not know what else to say.

 

The "Y" in your VIN says it's a 360 from the factory.

A 2V 390 would be a "H" and a 4V 390 would be a "M".

No factory option for a 390 4x4.

Dealers have been known to throw in 390's though.

Only the very early 360 pistons had the full skirt.

Barry

 

I learned long ago to never say never when it comes to what engine Ford put in what vehicle. I had a 70 F100 that had a 410 as it's original engine. I know a guy that has a 4X4 74 F100 that had a 390 originally. I pulled a 410 out of a 66 Merc that when taken apart was a 428. I took a 302 out of a 69 Galaxie that was built around a 289 Hi-po block by Ford. I have also seen one of the elusive 400M 4 bbl (1971) motors that supposedly didn't exist.-------------390's never came in 4X4's? I don't believe that for a second.

 

Ok, find me a 4x4 with a H or M in the VIN and I'll eat my words. The engine/trans combos all had to be EPA certified before Ford could sell them. If the EPA knew Ford was selling non-certified combo's, they'd be shut down in a second.

Barry

 

my 1974 F-100 4x4 has the original 390 Fe in it. it migh have been a fluke or a motor swap but Get yourself a haynes manual because im sure it wont lie to you. although when i do decode the vin number it says it is supposta hava a 302, but small blocks sure dont have that much torque and say 352 on the block. And the vin decoder from the undergrad says that I have a 4x2 which is very untrue.

 

The engine code in the VIN # doesn't mean squat when someone on the assembly line at Ford grabbed a 390 instead of a 360, or a 428 instead of a 410, etc,etc. Unless you pulled the motor and took it apart, you'd never know the difference. And I'm sure the EPA didn't go poking around Ford's new vehicle storage lot to check each and every new vehicle there to make sure it had the correct motor.

 

My wife grandfather bought a 79 f-250 2wd. It came in with a lincoln 460 motor because supposidly they had to many lincoln motors and needed to get rid of them. When ever it is taken in to get a tune up it really screws the mech up trying to put FORD plugs in the Lincoln head.

 

Read my lips, no "FACTORY" option.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Barry

 

Gosh... I didn't mean to start such a debate... almost as bad as, "what does FE stand for?".... (and no, I don't want to go there...)

All this talk now has me wondering if my original engine, I thought was a 390 that froze up, was actually a 428 police interceptor... it had the aluminum PI intake... I still have the heads as well... any special casting numbers I should look for to check?

Dang, I'll kick myself if I let a 428 crank go...

Mark

 

Yeah Mark, it’s all your fault!

I thought we checked the stroke on your engine and determined a 390 crank.

428PI heads were the ‘ol C8AE-H jobs.

Check the back of the block for a letter scratched in, maybe an “A” or “C”.

Flexplate will have a weight tacked on the tranny side.

Do you have the pan off?

Barry

 

Sorry Barry, Yeah the current engine is a 390... but when I bought the truck it had a "390" in it as well. That engine ran on only 6 cylinders since the two front cylinders failed the compression test at 45 lbs each where the rest were 150. Turns out there were bad valve seats. Unfortunately, the engine seized in a bad way before I had a chance to do anything about the valves.

I decided to pull the intake and find a new engine to work with not thinking there was anything special with the motor. Now it seems I was wrong.

I replaced it with the boat anchor 360 that's currently in the truck and the 390 I now have is on my engine stand. I hope to get it apart this weekend to determine once and for all what "Power-Pak" really entails, internally.

I'm definitely going to use the PI intake as it's aluminum as opposed to the steel 4bbl intake that's on it now. I was just wondering if the heads from the old "390" are actually from a 428 PI. I won't know which ones are better to use till this weekend.

Unless there is something spectacular about the "Power-Pak" heads, I may end up using the old "390" heads after a valve job of course since the heads on the new 390 have been drilled out where the headers bolt up, so they don't line up now with my headers.

If only the weekend would come faster... :-P

Mark

 

Just as an FYI... the casting numbers on the "old 390" heads are C7AE-A and the casting numbers on the new 390 are C4AE without the dash and fifth character. Though just next to this casting number there's also a second casting number. I don't know if it means anything but it's 8090.

As mentioned previously, the C7AE-A heads are in better shape, casting-wise, than the C4AE heads. (Header bosses have not been drilled out and are in great shape)

Will have more on internals this weekend.

Thanks,

Mark

 

Ok, I’ve had my five cups of coffee and feeling a little better now.

Let me reiterate a bit, I agree that a 390 could have found it’s way into a 4x4 but it was not a regular production option. We have a poster here that tried to factory order a 390 4x4 from a dealer that he had connections with and they still couldn’t do it (will try to find the thread on that). Another poster ordered a 360 4x4 and got the dealer to swap in a 390 before he took delivery (with headers too!) I have heard from other boards that Ford had warranty issues with a 390 4x4 combo. Concerns about over-revving with the tires spinning in 4 low.

Barry


P.S. Keep the numbers coming Mark!

 

According to my book the C7AE-A and the C4AE ( i'm assuming they're "A"'s as well due to the absence of the suffix) are virtually identical heads, same ports,valves and chambers. They're not PI heads. A Police Intercepter motor should not have the lifter oil passages drilled as they came with solid lifter cams. At this point in time ANY FE motor can be found with a PI aluminum intake. I've had 3 myself.

 

Ok folks... I just got the heads off and did a proper check of the bore and stroke...

hehehehe... bore 4.09... stroke 3.80

something tells me this isn't a 390....

please someone confirm...



Mark