mckoloum sorry to hear about the sticker shock from the machine shop. Looks like they marked up the lifter price a little, but not bad, summit lists them at 527 for link bar roller lifters. Sadly I have read quite a few stories of guys getting "good deals" on used heads only to find out the work involved in getting those heads to actually be "good" cost them more than new aftermarket heads. I hope everything else is smooth sailing for you, or that at least you continue to have fun with it.

 

I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones. Usually I'm kinda leery of buying rebuilt parts on E-bay too but when I couldn't find any cranks or rods locally at a decent price, I went ahead and bought a reconditioned crank and a set of connecting rods off of E-bay to do my 390 conversion.
When I got the parts I broke out the micrometers, the crank was "spot on". Journal size was right in the middle of what the spec called for, journal finish right and, most important, none of the journals had been built up and the undersize was 20/10. The only thing I didn't like was the bolt hole for the damper was Helicoiled, but that's just my OCD kicking in, it will function fine.
The rods too were near perfect, shot peened, honed big end, new bolts, new bushings, C/C length just right, even the bushings were finish honed and the pin clearance was right in the middle of the spec too.
The only "extra" that I had to do to the reciprocating assy was have it all balanced.

 

Thanks Blue04.5, but yes I still have some fun.
Mike you are the lucky one.


Why would someone do this ???



I believe they make all the holes bigger, but why?

 

I swear, I recognize that truck. Where in Florida are you?

 

Hi gm4walls,
I am in Boynton Beach, I got the truck in March, didn't have time to enjoy it and start work on it. I can't wait to put it back together!

 

My first guess would be someone did a body lift and could get the steering column to line up anymore .
A torch can't be substituted for proper engineering.

 

A 600 cfm carb should be fine at sea level ..
I have a edelbrock 1406 currently on my 390 but I have been working on a fraken build holley/ford 4180c for it .. I have this carb (reworked) on my 460 and I really like it .. It's a 600 cfm carb .. With some mods they perform very well better than the 4160 IMO ..

Sorry to hear about the heads

 

Mike this gave me a good laugh.....

Redroad you were talking about modifications on this carb, but depending on the serial number, there is one here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251654031166?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2661&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AITDoes this one will perform well?

Also I just saw a Mallory 2555301 distributor lightly use locally for $59 or best offer:
MALLORY DIST GENTLY USED

Is it a good distributor?

 

The best base version is the 85' (E5HE) It has 4 corner adjustment (both primary and secondary sides) and diaphragm type choke plate pull down ..

If you need more info just let me know .. On the mallory does it have a vacuum advance canister?

 

Hi guys,

A little update and again it come from the machine shop.

Here is the email I received yesterday:
"
I have the Sealed Power pistons in stock at the warehouse and I can match the Summit price.

We discovered a couple of things about your parts:
The block is a 1973 casting, so it cannot be a 352. The bore right now is a worn-out standard 390, which will work out fine at .030 over.
The crank is actually a 427, which is the same stroke as a 390, but the balance is way off. Balancing the assembly with this crank could be very expensive.

Thanks,"

Yeah a 427 crank, how lucky I will be if it was true right?
And The crank come from Survival, I think I should forward this email to Barry to see what if think about it..

So I heard the FE engine was the most expensive to rebuilt, Yes they are!.....
And maybe I am the most unlucky man when it comes to engine....

Well other than that I received some part, the Performer RPM arrived, like the description said, never used and this is true, no scratch at all.
I also receive a refurbished oil filter housing.
I ordered a Cloyes timing set, oil shaft and timing gasket.

Still a long way to go but it is still very exciting

 

HI guys,
I thought I will bring some news on this post since this is the original thread.
I am going to get all my engine part from the engine shop. I had some problem with them concerning the rebuild cylinder heads I bought.


I drop the block August 15 and here is what they did:
-Strip clean block
-Bore & Hone with plate
-Align hone mains
-Square decks
-Hone con rod big ends to high side
-Pin fit rods
-Final clean block


concerning the Heads:
-Install 16 bronze guide liners
-Competition 45* valve job
-Machine guides for springs


Total Labor: $1293


I don't know about the competition 45*??


I still need to install the cam bearing and I was wondering if there is only one size, I looked on Summit's website and I could find only the std size.
I am planning of putting the bearing myself. I don't want to bring the block in another shop just for that, and if you want the job done correctly, do it yourself, right?


I will also need to balance the rotating assembly. The good news is I found 2 other machine shop.


I have almost all the part except the piston rings, freeze plug and cam bearing.
I almost forgot I will also need a set of new cylinder heads probably, I am really curious to see if it is possible to fix them or not.


That's it for now, I will take picture of the block and heads tonight.
Thanks for your support guys,
Cheers.


Laurent

 

On an FE block the cam journals get smaller as you go down the line from cam journal 1 through 5 .. Without the tools to check ID and OD this work would be best left to a trustworthy machine shop .. Have your motor balanced at the same place hopefully .. Maybe bring the head with the issue and see what they have to say ..

 

Done, I got my part back yesterday. I was able to inspect everything, specially the head. The intake side on this picture show a little gap under the seat. And this is the only intake who have a seat, all exhaust have a seat. If I understand correctly, the seat are needed only on the exhaust side to be able to use regular gas, please correct me if I am wrong. So basically the only problem I have on the head is this gap, other than that they should be ok. At least I have one good head.



I ordered the cam bearing and piston rings set and ring filer.

I went to see a new machine shop, I show the guy the problem on the head, and he said he might be able to fix it, replace the seat and pressure test. And if it does not work, I will bring the good original head who came with the engine. In the end I might have one D2TE and one C8AE...

John, I didn't know that! And you are right I will let the machine shop do it.

 

That is correct unless you are going with a cam that requires more valve spring then hardened seats on the intake side is also a good idea especially if the motor will see frequent rpms above 5,500 ..

I would think the problem head could be fixed ..

 

Today I brought the block to the new guy to have him install the cam bearing.
I also dropped the crank, piston etc... for balancing the rotating assembly. He asked me for the pressure plate for the balancing. I didn't know you needed to use the PP for balancing, but it make sense.

I will have the block in the beginning of next week. This is exciting, I am like a kid at christmas time, I have most of the part needed.













Well I am really looking forward to start the assembly. Still need a 130Amp alternator, distributor and carb.

Then it will be the time for the transmission shifter, linkage kit, etc...