So i ran the vin to my old truck and all this time i wa thinking it had the somewhat legendary 390 in it as per what i was told by the seller. But after looking at the vin ( y) it shows it has the 360 . It wAs kind of a bummer to find that out anbive been trying to find a few things out about this particular engine. I know that the 360 and 390 are nearly the same engine (same block bore and such) but i have heard great things about the 360 aside from being a gutlless pig stock but ive also heard horrible things about it such as broken rods . Should i be worried and what would be some pros and cons of the 360 and what should i look out for? It runs great and with the new process 435 4spd power isnt an issue but i would like to know if there are things i should look for or save to bolt in a 390. What kind of power can i expect with a edelbrock 600cfm carb and matching intake? Sorry for all if the questions i just want to know my truck . Any help would be very appreciated thank you cery much in advance i appologize for the grammar too

 

The VIN tells you how it left the factory, 40 years later no way to tell by looking what you have.

If the truck is running well, leave it along, wait for a rebuild to upgrade the carb.


John

 

Jowilker is correct. wait on doing anything.
for the most part the 360 has a 2 barrel carb. and no you can not just get a 4 barrel and put it on it you will have to change the intake and for this family it is easyer said then done.

When you are ready to rebuild, pending on what you want, you can look at Survival motorsports and talk with Barry Robotnic and his people. They only deal with the FE family of engines and have been for 38+ years. Then you can also look at Barnnet Highperformence for some inexpensive head work.

I have done my home work with this family of engine and with just a little love you almost can not kill them. They are just beasts when it comes to raw tourque. Just some thing to look at when you deside to rebuild.

 

360 is a great Truck motor lots of Tq and low compression it will run on almost anything and give you lots of miles . bad part is lack of HP
If you want a hot rod find a donor 360/390 and build it on the side then just do the swap one weekend . the survival 445 stroker kit is a nice upgrade .

 

The only way you would throw a rod in a 360 is you're going downhill at 70MPH downshift to 2nd gear and pop the clutch

But then, the 435NP probably won't let you into 2nd at that speed anyway

A 4bbl will give you a bit more high-end RPM range, and might help the gas mileage a little bit at highway speeds. Other than that, leave well enough alone unless you intend on keeping the engine a long time as-is.

Like John said, after all this time, it COULD be a 390. Check the stroke with the dowel/wire trick...

 

Oh ok awesome and it has a 4 bbl carb with matching aftermarket intake haha thats what i meant to say so that pain in the neck has been done haha the carb amd intake are edelbrock not the original ford equipment lol but thank you for the info soundsnlike i shouldnt have abproblem at all i had just heard some funky things about it before but they didnt seem to match up with the goo things sobi was curious haha thank you again

 

I thought my truck had a 360 in it too, until I pulled the oil pan and pump, turned out to be a 390

 

I would love for it to be a 390 haha but with that 4spd im not worried about power as much as something that can take a beating. Im not going to abuse it but its going to be my wood hauler / weekend rut digger haha . Plus something for me to tinker with . I had an old toyota with just piles and piles of miles on it and it just kept going it bacame more of a hobby lol an ive kinda missed the tinker time . I thinkbthis pickup ought to be just fine im excited about it

 

hey i got a quick question about these motors.i know nothing about them.i currently have a 78 f100 with the 300 6cyl and 3spd and im thinking about trading it for a 72 f100 with a 360 and an automatic in it.im never gonna pull anything heavy with it and im not gonna drive 140mph in it.just want an opinion on it would you trade

 

I'd keep the '78 and put a 5 speed in it.

300: One of the best 6 cylinder motors

360: Not one of the best 8 cylinder motors......Great potential if you want to rebuild it, but stock it is thirsty, middling for power, but good for reliability.
More expensive to reman than the 300 also.

 

There must be more to this then you shared. The 78 should have power steering and disc brakes that the 72 wont unless it's been upgraded. If yours is not running and the other is, & in better shape might not be a bad trade off. The 360 will take more to feed that the 300.

Any reason not to look at a 80s or 90s truck?


John