Folks,
What would be the most fuel efficient FE for my truck used mostly for cruisin', hauling a small boat, and have enough grunt to pull a car on a trailer?
I saw a '58 Wagon with either a 332 or 352 the other day and it got me wondering if this would be an alternative to a y-block for my '59 F100.
Are the machined chamber early heads any better?
Yes I know a 351w or 302 is the easy route, but I'm looking for something more retro. I was looking at specs, and the 292 Y block and the 332 FE are both 3.3" stroke motors. The 352 is a 4"x3.5" motor like the 351W/C/M's. My personal experience with 70's 360's has not been too impressive. 390's are great, but thirsty and more engine than I need. I have 360 and 390 parts motors in the pile.
As a wrap up, is there such thing as a fuel efficient FE?
Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Brett

 

I think a 390 can be as efficient as any FE, given the proper setup. The 332 is probably hard to come by. the 360 is very similar to a 390 and should provide the same reliability, despite your bad experience with the 360.

I would consdier a 360 or 390 with a small 4V carb, a hot ignition setup and headers with dual exhaust 2.25"-2.5" pipe.

Keep the vehicle weight down, gears around 3.55 or smaller, tires with good pressure and keep the brakes adjusted properly. Consider a slightly hotter thermostat to let it run on the warm side(most FEs do this on their own :-)

Then consider an OD tranny, if in the budget.

 

Fuel economy, thats something I havent thought about before. I have an idea for your mileage engine, you may or may not like it, but here goes:

1. 330 MD block, heads, pistons, and intake manifold

2. 352 or 360 internal balance crank and flywheel. Get it all balanced by a competent machine shop.

3. Dove 252-h cam

4. Holley 600 vacuum secondary

5. A good set of headers

You'll get an engine with gobs of low end power, the ability to run on unleaded (because of the hardened valve seats in the FT heads), and good mileage because of the small ports, valves and bore. The modern cam will help your mileage also. You might think about milling the heads to increase the compression. Dont go too far or your intake wont fit right.

If you found an adapter plate to use an AOD transmission with a lock-up torque converter, that would be the best for this engine IMO.

 

Rusty,
I didn't think of using the 330 pieces, but that's why I was asking about the early 332 heads. Any advantage to the early 332 'machined combustion chambers'?

Anyway, thanks for the info. What sort of mileage do you get out of your '70 360? What do you think could be gotten out of the 330/352 hybrid?

Thanks again,
Brett
PS. I know a guy runnin' an 80's Ford 4spd OD top shift behind a 390 in a 70 F100. So far it's holdin'.

 

I get 10mpg in town and 15mpg on a trip. If I get on it, I get 8mpg.

I did some additional reading in my book, and the 330 MD uses a cast 352 internally balanced crank already, so you wont have to go looking for one. The stroke is the same on the 330 FT, the 352 FE and the 360 FE. The only difference is the bore.

The other part of the reason I went with 330 heads is the small ports and valves. Make no mistake, this will not be a high rpm engine. It should make good low end power, though. I would anticipate that it'd run out of wind at about 3500 - 4000 rpm.

The 332 heads have the same ports and valves as a standard FE. This is not necessarily bad, but you'd have to have hardened seats put in for unleaded fuel usage. Plus, as was already pointed out, you'll have a hard time finding the 332 heads, as the 332 was only offered for 2 years.

I wouldn't use a 332 crank, as the stroke is too short IMO.

I would expect with the engine built up as I described it, with the AOD, and depending on your final compression ratio, that you might get from 15 - 17 mpg out of it. It may be significantly better than that even, depending on your carb and ignition setup. This is a rough guesstimate. It's really hard to figure mileage untill your second fill up! All you can do is what you're trying to do, build it for mileage and hope for the best.

Jegs sells built AOD's, check here.

As to the machined combustion chambers, the only advantage is that carbon wont stick as easily. That's it. Not a big deal.

 

Do they sell a AOD that fits an FE? I saw a place that sells adaptor plates to put a 700R-4 on just about anything. I will never be able to afford one but I would like to have a Gear Vendors o/d on a C-6.

 

check out lentech transmisions they have an AOD for FE motors

 

I used to get 16mpg out of my 360 in my 4x4. That was stock with no mods. Gets 10 on a good day with my 390 now.

 

Hey, Brett. Interesting question.

I read that Ford was developing combustion chamber technology as far back as the early Y-blocks. I'd be looking at the combustion chambers to see what's been happening with their designs. As I'm sure you know, a nice closed-chamber design is what you'd want. And zero-deck yada-yada-yada, quench height at .035" yada. Compression at 9-1.

I would want to use a block with a 4" bore so that I could find hypereutectic pistons for it. Polish the chambers and piston tops.

Use an EGR type iron intake manifold and a matching distributor. Use a solid-state (electronic) ignition.

If you want to be really tricky, see if you can adapt Ford's EEC IV computer system and use one of those electronically controlled Holley carbs from the mid-80s. I'll bet there's got to be an iron intake with a Holley 4bbl design and EGR.

I'll bet you can get above 20mpg.

 

I would whole heartedly dissagree with using a feed back carb. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING has to be operating within factory specs for the system to work properly. If anything goes out of spec (Wireing, sensors, tune, ect...) then it will run like complete crap. I have first hand experiance dealing with this night mare on my 85 Bronco II. Old wireing, sensors that test bad and are $50+ apiece or aren't available, new carbs that cost $450....I could only imagine what a reman feedback Holley would cost. The rebulid kit for the 2V on my 2.8 cost $60!!! I removed all of that feedback, EEC IV garbage, and replaced it with a standard 2150 2V and Duraspark ignition. I went from 12 mpg, to 19 mpg, with a 2.8, in a B2. EEC is a great control system, with fuel injection. A properly tuned carb with a electronic ignition will provide satisfactory economy without all of the hassles.

Besides, economy and F.E. are not things that match. If you really want econmy, look at a windsor V8. I believe the above recipies will provide you with the best ecomomy you could expect out of an F.E.

 

I agree with pat on the feedback carb. That was one of the least mechanic friendly systems I ever had to service. Of course my opinion of carburated Bronco IIs as a mechanic would insult anyone that owned one. I never had one come in that would pass an emissions test and they were almost new then. Noisey, underpowered, ill handleing, and the ones with the automatic really irked me because you just about had to take off the shoulder belt to reach the shifter. I guess they thought the passenger was going to do the shifting since they put it on his side. The EFI 2.9 was a great improvement.

 

build the engine for low end torque. the easier it is for the truck to get moving the better it will get.

 

I am not a Y block expert but! I raced 312s and 292s back in the day and they ran well and held up pretty good. If I had one in a older pickup and wanted to stay retro, I'd build a Y block for my truck. I drove 60 Ford pickup with a 312 3 on the tree and it ran like a scalded dog. That was over 40 years ago and I still remember the power of that old truck!

 

William, one of my favorite trucks out of the 50 or so I have owned was a 57 F-350 dually with a 312 and 5:13 gears. I would like to build a 57 1/2 ton shorty with a 312, 3 dueces and 3 speed with overdrive. I keep looking for a project truck but 57s are a little scarce. I recently bought a whole 57 front end with chrome grille for $50 at a swap meet. The guy had torched it off right behind the core support while the pickup was on a trailer headed for the crusher. I also got the hood. Now if I find a 58 I can change to the single headlights of the 57. I will still need to find 57-58 fenders to change a 59-60 and may end up doing that since they are much easier to come by than a 57.

 

Anybody know the net weight difference between a Y-block and an FE, outfitted the same way; iron intake and exhausts, single 4bbl, etc?
I've seen a wide variety of weights posted for each over the years....
Thanks,
Brett