i have what i think is a 390. the cylinder head cast number is c7ae-a and they have 16 bolt exhaust bolt patern, the block casting number is DcTE anybody have any ideas as to what it is? thanks.

 

There is no way to tell by casting numbers on either the block or heads, they will give you a date of production but not the cid, your going to have to measure the stroke or take off the pan and get the number off the crank.

 

basically im trying to find out if the heads and block are anything special, im going to tare into the motor after the weekend and do some more research

 

oh and i measured the bore and its 4.05 so its a 390 block

 

not necessarily.......

The 360, 390, and 410 all use 4.05in bores.

These engines use different combinations of crankshafts and either a short or long connecting rod to come up with the final displacement.

do you have any idea what the engine came out of?

is there an external weight on the front of the crankshaft?

DcTE is not a lsited casting number for any FE block. Check the plate again the second slot should be a number.

You may have wound up with an odd combination. 16 bolt heads were used in mustangs and fairlanes equipped with a 428 CJ or SCJ where space was a premium with a big block. C7AE-A refers to a 1967 generic FE cylinder head casting for all bigblock 352, 390, 410, 428 without AIR holes. Yet 428 CJ or SCJ heads do not carry this casting number. EXCEPT for a run of 1200 1968 police engines to be installed in special order police package Ford Fairlanes,which needed to be delivered before the CJ heads were cleared for production. You may be sitting on a rare piece of Ford history.


If you have any numbers from the crank or rods i can help you identify them as i have the mother book from Ford of all the FE casting and machining numbers. It came in very handy when i was building my 427.

 

you need to measure the stroke .
buy a wood dowel 5/16 or 1/4 pull a plug and insert dowel rotate engine by hand till dowel is all the way in mark dowel with marker at a point like head bolt head
now rotate engine by hand till piston is at top mark dowel again .
measure from mark to mark 3.78 you have a 390 3.50 you have a 360 /352

 

Mike, Have you ever tried a piece of white 14-2 house wire? It is smaller than the dowel and travels in the hole easier.

After trying both ways, the wire wins hands down.




John

 

This is a great idea when trying to confirm a data plate out in the bone yard.

 

i've tried wire but it bends (even the sold type)
i guess a wire coat hanger might not bend as easy .

 

i used my antenna when i stroked mine... whatever you use hold it straight so it dont get stuck or break off!!!

 

Mike I usually put a slight bend in it for better movement. I just found trying to shove a wooden dowel was much harder.



John

 

ANTENNA great idea , tons of those laying around at junkyards !!

thanks

 

I finished taking the motor apart and the stroke was 3.78 (thankfully not 3.50)and found some more numbers, on the block on the passenger side the cast number is actually (D3TE) and on the driver side there is a circle with 13567 on it and a X below it, on the bellhousing area i found (I02) and (11) then a R and I painted on it.
The main caps had (D2TE)
The conrods (c6ae-c)
Cylinder numbers were (C7AE-A) and between the middle springs (6K20)
and a E on one end a 15 on the other.
All i could find on the crank was 0200, 10, 3U and E.
if you know what any of those numbers mean i would appreciate hearing back from ya
Cheers

 

D3TE is a generic casting for 1973 to 1976 360, 390, and 330HD, 359, 391 blocks.

This is actually a coveted block in FE racing circles for making screamer 390's. The lower portion of the block was cast form a mix of 390HP and 427 cores. Although it does not have crossblolted mains, the block has significant reinforcement on the bottom end and extra webs around the mains for added strength. It also has the more desireable post 65 4 bolt engine mounts. Your machining numbers indicate it is a 360/390 block machined for use in light duty truck.

Your D2TE main caps indicate they are the newer stress relieved main caps.

3U on the crank indicates a generic 3.784 stroke 390 crank it is a strong crank but nothing overly special.

C6AE-C Connecting rods are 68-70 390 (including GT), 410, 428, and 66 to 70 330 HD, 361, and 391 rods. This may be an indication this motor has been gone thru at least once.


Here is the interesting part. I had to go to the big book for these babies. C7AE-A cylinder heads were cast to be used as a generic cylinder head. The 6K20 means machined for "special purposes". This means it has the taller better contoured performance port, extra thick head mounting surface similar to 427 heads, and specially drilled for the 16 bolt exhaust flange for installation in mercury comet/cougars, and ford fairlanes/mustangs and especially shelbys. Unfortunately these are not the fairlane heads i hoped you had as i was about to offer you my daughters college money for them .

What you have here is a very nice set of 390 GT heads. This head is somewhat rare as only several hundred pairs exist before the line was switched to the dedicated casting C8AE-A or F heads.

be careful what pistons you choose as theese heads have small 67-70 cc chambers. Don't want to let that compression get too high unless you plan to run higher octane fuel.


From the mix of parts you have it sounds like whoever screwed this puppy together before you kinda knew what they were doing or were very lucky at the bone yard. This engine built propperly with a decent cam is easily capable of 4-500 horsepower and spinning 7500 rpms safely.

wht type of intake/carb(s) are you planning on running?

 

hey sorry i took so long to get back just got the block back from the shop got it bored .030 over and some 10.5:1 pistons Um as far as intake and carb i havn't got that far but im sure it'll be an eldedbrock rpm intake of some kind and maybe a demon or eldebrock carb. ive been looking into some cams but im not to sure on what to go with i would like to get high rpm but i dont wanna sacrifice bottom end any suggestons?