At the same time as the 460 transplant power steering, disc brakes, front sway bar, rear locker, power windows and tilt wheel went in. Decent tires rounded out the picture. I agree the original truck was not something I was comfortable with. I love the body style and the rugged nature of the body BUT!
I am currently getting the fuel tank out of the cab and replacing the 460 with a fuel injected 5.0 motor (don't need the speed anymore)

 

I guess my main reason for wanting to keep with the fe block is I have parts for it and its what I know. Im only a youngin, but I've lost count of how many times I've had these engines apart and together, and its something I enjoy doing. In a way, I like the challenge of making some horsepower, while staying era correct..much like how a young car guy would have back then. That being said, I like knowing that I've only touched the tip of the iceburg as far as "knowing what I'm doing".


Back on topic.
I've located a guy who is selling a 360, a 390, extra 390 crank and rods, and a complete 9 inch rear end for a decent price.
I'm thinking I'm going to swing down and buy him out, build myself a mild 390, and have the 360 spare along with all the other parts, because I like parts haha.
I guess I'd like to steer this conversation in the direction of what would YOU do upon buying a short block (I'm using my own top end) with no proven history? I don't want to blow it up again and want to know its a good engine when it goes in.

 

When you are considering a block, the first thing is a basic inspection, and then mic the bores. FE motors were cast with cores that allowed for certain bores. And those cores could shift. Thus the discussion above about trying to bore a 352 from 4.00 to 4.13. It probably won't go and if it does, the cylinder walls will be too thin to support the loads or you will have overheating issues or both.

With a 390 sized bore, you can go to 445 with an aftermarket stroker, or 410 with a 428 crank. No need to make your bores paper thin to get cubes.

The 427 with 4.23 bores was a special casting. Those engines cost a lot to make and were not run down the same line as other FE motors. 427 blocks will barely take a .030 overbore.

See the FAQs up top in the FE forum for more.

 

Phenomenal info! That explained a whole lot that I didn't know about these blocks.

Another ? for the world: When picking up a "new engine" Would it make sense to go ahead and do all new bearings and rings or would that seem to be overkill if they don't look especially worn?
Probably heading down in the next week for that 360 and 390, and maybe one day I'll use one of them as a base for a stroker, some day.

 

Agree with 85e and TBM3 - get a mic done on all the bores then have the block sonic checked and Magnafluxed to check for wall thickness, core shift, and cracks. Then you'll know what you have to work with. One thing you haven't said is where do you want it to make power. Since it's a truck, I'd assume you want lots of low end torque but assumptions will often get one in trouble. I just built a 390 with lots of modern technology inside hoping for better gas mileage and lots of low end grunt. The mileage is disappointingly not much better, and while the torque is good, I was hoping for better. If I had a "do over" I might go for a 445 stroker kit. And Masked Rider - I'm pretty sure the 120 octane was available at Sunoco, not Conoco. At least it was in the midwest when I was growing up. Good luck!

 

You can buy a set of flat top pistons for the 352 bore or the 360/390 bore from multiple sources for under $200 that will put you in the area of 9.25:1; if you take ~0.010" of the heads and block you will nudge up to about 9.75:1. If you really want to sink all the $$$ into the engine than look as survivalmotorsports site and see what a fire breathing torque monster of a FE you can create. Just remember to have enough money left over to stop, steer, and control the monster.

 

Addendum --- you cannot get the compression with 360 crank and rods

 

It sounds like ill be doing the 390 crank and rods, so back to square one..where can I find those fancy flat top pistons? I already have .006 of a set of c8ae-h heads I JUST had redone.

 

Sunoco, Hmmm. Maybe. That was a very long time ago. I remember more about finding the best cost. That 32- 36 cents a gal could really get up there when you needed to fill the tank. Course as a kid with little $, who could fill it up. Unless good ol dad had deep pockets.


Some of those guys like survivalmotorsport have put together some fun stuff. All it takes is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Wrong. Slap on a set of C0AE heads with 352 pistons and you are over 10.5:1.

^That sounds harsh - I don't really know how to say it more tactfully though.

 

360's, 390's & 410's have the same bore size, 4.05. 352 bore is 4.00. A 406 & 428 have a 4.13 bore and a 427 has the largest bore of 4.23.

406's and 427's have a different block with a side oiler and cross bolt mains and solid lifters.

Fellenz has a 360 to start with so it should be easy to build a 390 or if she wants to build something special make a 410.

I recommend this book to read by Steve Christ: How To Rebuild BIG-BLOCK FORD ENGINES, ISBN 978-0-89586-070-5 published by HP Books, Rebuild Bb Ford Hp708 by Steve Christ - Penguin Books USA.


This book covers all FE and FT engines, their similarities and differences. Lists performance part numbers, what parts interchange, head mods, head differences, important oil mods for reliability. This book tells you how build a really good FE of whatever bore you want.

I used this book years ago in the 80's (it's still in print) when I redid the 390 in my T-Bird. After I pulled it and tore it down i took all the big parts over to a machine shop and had it hot tanked, magnafluxed, bored and line bored for the crank and cam I recommend using forged pistons to start with. I used TRW 10.5 to 1 The book will tell you about rods, pistons and cranks etc. I used a 428 Cobra Jet cam with hydraulic lifters, a Cloyes true double roller timing chain. The 428 cam works good in the Bird as it has a decent idle but when you kick in the 4 barrels it gets on the freeway real quick. I can cruise it and get 16 to 18 MPG all day long. I have a 3:00 rear gears. I use a 650 Holley with vacuum secondaries, I run .010 under jets in the primaries and .010 over in the secondaries. I experimented with jet sizes and this is the combo that works good for me.

Do some head work as per the book. I did a 3 angle valve grind, hardened seats and sodium filled valves, got it ready for unleaded gas. The heads were shaved a couple thou for flatness, them deck was true. Do some distributor (dizzy) work or use after market like MSD or Accel. The machine shop balanced all the necessary moving parts. I could safely say my 390 puts out 350 to 360 horse power easily.

Whatever cam you choose don't go too wild. RV type grind will give you more torque where you need it. I used a Norris Cams RV Grind in one of the 390's I built and it went into a tow truck. The guy used to push his transit buses out of the muddy yard he had.


The book will tell you the whole thing.



Good Luck...

 

C8AE-H heads are standard heads and the combustion chamber volume is 68.1 to 71.1 These heads will work great if you have them flowed.

C8AE-A heads have a slightly small combustion chamber volume of 67.1 to 70.1 same as the high per heads

428 heads had the same volume as the C8AE-H heads.

 

I built a 410 (416). It runs good, but it wouldn't have cost much more to just go 445. By the time it was all said and done, my rotating assembly was only about $300 cheaper than a 445 rotating assembly.

 

I bet you'll see that 300 back in gas savings.