DEAR EXPERT HAVE A 68 F-100 WITH 390 78K MILES HAVE ENGINE PULLED AND READY FOR MACHINE SHOP WILL PUT IN ALL PARTS NEEDED WILL USE EDELBROCK CARB INTAKE CAM LIFTERS HEADERS MY QUESTION REALLY IS HOW TO RAISE COMPRESSION? DO NOT WANT TO REPLACE HEADS WITH EDELBROCK TOO MANY $$$S CAN I SWAP HEADS OUT OF ANOTHER FE TO GAIN THIS OR DO I SWAP THE PISTONS? I AM WILLING TO SPEND SOME MONEY BUT STILL NEED TO BE REALISTIC. THIS TRUCK WILL BE A DAILY DRIVER BUT STILL MUST HAVE ENOUGH PONYS TO KEEP BOWTIES IN THEIR PLACE. ALL I NEED IS THE PERFECT RECIPE FOR THE390 HELP PLEASE OH BY THE WAY THIS AINT MY FIRST RODEO BUT WOULD REALLY LIKE THIS TO BE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME THANKS

 

you can deck the block up to .050 and you can do the heads .025, which will give you a little better than a 1.5 point increase in compression. The better route to go is to put in a nice set of flat top pistons to gain the increase. Flat tops just plain work better. You need to plane the heads if you want to use felpro no retorque head gaskets, as they are .025 thicker than the stock steel shim gaskets. An aluminum intake will also help with flow and take 70 pounds or so off the front of your truck.....D44HD

 

Okie, before we raise the compression, are you sure you want more ? Your '68 390 should have 9~9 1/2 already. Isn't that enough ? If you plan on the truck being a daily driver, you don't want any more than that. Are you planning on running normal gasoline for fuel ? If you live out in farm country, Ethanol might be available, in which case you can run lots more compression. DF

 

Okie Allan, welcome to FTE. Please do not type in all caps. The L2291F pistons from TRW will give you a little over 9.5:1 with no milling of the heads etc.. I would forget the edelbrock cams. The performer is too small and the RPM is too big. Might take a look at the 343941 cam from crane. It will give you plenty of RPMs but will also give you some low end grunt.

 

Here you go:
Part #
Item
Price
Qty
Line Total
Select
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ARP-154-7902
Ford: 360-428, chromemoly steel, black oxide finished, oil pump driveshaft...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$16.95
1
$16.95
_
Add to Cart
_
ARP-155-4001
Ford: 390-428, chromemoly steel, black oxide finish, hex nut, head stud kit...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$99.95
1
$99.95
_
Add to Cart
_
ARP-155-5401
Ford: 352-428 FE engines, 2-bolt main, main stud kit...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$48.95
1
$48.95
_
Add to Cart
_
ARP-155-6002
Ford: 390-428, 3/8 in. diameter, high performance, connecting rod bolts...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$49.95
1
$49.95
_
Add to Cart
_
CRN-34645-16
Ford: 332-428 FE, stock length, hydraulic lifters and adjustable rockers, 3/8 in. diameter, 9.234 in...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$89.50
1
$89.50
_
Add to Cart
_
CRN-34772-16
Ford: 352-428 FE, 1.76 ratio, shaft mount, hardened steel, Ductile Iron rocker arm kit...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$199.95
1
$199.95
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-1407
Manual choke, 750 cfm, carburetor...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$239.95
1
$239.95
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-4462
Ford: 332-428, chrome plated, Signature series valve covers...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$41.95
1
$41.95
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-5767
Ford: 1961-up 390, 428, high performance, Performer RPM/Torker, valve springs...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$89.99
1
$89.99
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-6009
Rocker Shaft Stud Kit, All Edelbrock Ford FE Cylinder Heads

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$89.39
1
$89.39
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-7105
Ford: 390-428, with low or medium rise heads, dual plane, non-EGR, 1,500 to 6,500 rpm, aluminum, Per...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$289.95
1
$289.95
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-7106
Camshaft Kit, Performer RPM, Ford 390-428, w/ Camshaft/Lifters/Lube...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$156.95
1
$156.95
_
Add to Cart
_
EDL-7808
Ford: 1963-76 332-428, timing chain set...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$52.95
1
$52.95
_
Add to Cart
_
FEM-3230CP
Ford: 352-428 FE, standard size, tri-metal copper-lead, connecting rod bearing...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$6.39
8
$51.12
_
Add to Cart
_
FEM-4261M
MAIN BEARING SET

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$61.69
1
$61.69
_
Add to Cart
_
MSD-6420
MSD-6AL Ignition Control with Soft Touch Rev Control ...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$195.95
1
$195.95
_
Add to Cart
_
MSD-8205
Ford: Blaster 2F coil for MSD ignitions/late model applications ...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$36.95
1
$36.95
_
Add to Cart
_
SLP-260-1035
Ford: 1958-76 352-428, engine gasket set ...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$62.99
1
$62.99
_
Add to Cart
_
SLP-E-180K030
Chromemoly, 4.080 in. bore, 5/64 in. top ring, 3/32 in. second ring, 3/16 in. oil control ring, pist...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$50.39
1
$50.39
_
Add to Cart
_
TRW-L2291F30
Ford: 390, .030 in. overbore, 3.78 in. stroke, 6.489 in. connecting rod, flat top, forged, piston...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$34.99
8
$279.92
_
Add to Cart
__Add some iron heads with CJ valves and some port work and yor set.

 

Randyb12 thanks so much for the list. Some parts I had info on some I did not. Your attention to detail is impressive.Did you have this info from your own experience? Block is at machine shop now waiting for initial work to be done.Had the transmition re-worked too, will pick it up in a few days.To all of you that answered my call for help I really appreciate it.I'll keep you up to date on my progress. Thanks again
okieallan

 

If you want to raise the comp ratio, then you first need to tell which heads you now have. C8AE-H's have the smaller 67 cc chambers that will give you a 10.5 to 1 comp with flattops. This is what I'm running with a Crane 272 degree Energizer cam and it runs fine on 87 octane mixed with CD2 lead substitute.

 

Consider doing the oil gallery modifications now! Skip the main bearing studs from ARP. These do not clear the oil pan on the number five main bearing. Use the ARP Main bearing bolts for Fe motors, these will work fine. Measure the stroke for this engine, it may actually be a 360?

 

If you have the money you can use the Crane PowerMax Roller cam and retro roller lifters they just drop in no machine work required:CRN-349521
Cam Hyd. Roller Ford FE 352-428 Adv. Dur. 282/288 Lift 584/607

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$320.99
1
$320.99
_
Add to Cart
_
CRN-35532-16
Ford: 1963-1976 352-428FE, 1968-97 370/429/460, vertical locking bar design, hydraulic, roller lifte...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$409.95
1
$409.95
_
Add to Cart
_
CRN-99893-16
1.460 in. O.D., 1.075 in. I.D., 0.803 in. I.D. of inner, steel, black, dual valve spring set...

Assigned to:
Mighty 390!
$125.95
1
$125.95
_
Add to Cart You will need custon push rods from crane.
this article is a great reference: http://www.hotrod.com/webonly_january/index.html
With this cam and the list above you will have a 450HP and 460TQ 390!