So guys I'm in the process of rebuilding my 390 and I don't really have the time to do as much research as I'd like to so I'm hoping to get your thoughts and opinions.

All I'm reusing, assuming the sonic check comes back good, is the block. It's already bored 40 over. I also have a an Edelbrock 2105 intake and Holley 80457-12 carb from the previous owners rebuild.

Lookin to make over 400hp and lb/ft and spend under $8k, as little as possible though really. It'll do some towing and be my daily driver.

Should I get a different intake/carb?
What other parts do I need/should I get specifically? I'm not particularly well versed in engine building.
For example, I've been looking at the Edelbrock heads but they have a number of them and frankly I don't know which one fits my needs.

 

The biggest concern right out of the gate would be the block. The sonic test will tell the tale. But then the concern becomes the bore itself. When you buy pistons, you usually have the block bored and honed to fit the pistons, which will come with a range of piston to wall clearances depending on usage.

If your bores are worn, excess piston to wall clearance is going to result in a slapper or smoker or both.

Measure 8 times, rebuild once.

Beyond that for 400 HP you need 9.5ish to 10 compression, a decent cam like the 390GT/428 cam of yesteryear, or maybe something more aggressive. Headers of course--even shorties are better than stockers.

The intake says good to 5500 rpm, and that carb is 600 cfm. Those are good choices for a driver, but may net you less than the 400 horse you are looking for.

What are you doing for heads? Reworking stockers, especially if you need guides, valves and seats, gets to be a lot of money and not far from aftermarket heads.

There are many build threads here. Also, a rebuild book or two on the FE would be a good idea. So read through the forum, and watch for more replies.

 

Custom pistons can be had for very little more than off the shelf pistons. Not only match the piston diameter to your bore but dial in the compression as well.

IMO, the single best thing you can do is find a builder who does a lot of FE's, get his advice and buy the parts from him. Will save you lots of guess work and make a much better final result. For instance, cam selection will be suited to your components and performance goals.

 

Grove - congrats on building a 390.

A few things to consider - make sure the machine shop you choose has torque plates for an FE. FEs have thin walls and distort when you torque down the heads, so you want them torqued when they are machined. Also get the main bearing tunnel align honed.

You don't say where you are, but there are some good builders out there. Barry Rabotnick at Survival Motorsports sells nice packages - balanced rotating assemblies etc. for reasonable prices. Easy way to make good power out of a 390 is to stroke it.

The Edelbrock 2105 Performer intake has only the advantage of weight, otherwise it is not an improvement over a stock iron intake. The Performer RPM does very well in Jay Brown's "Great FE Intake Comparo", but so do the StreetMaster and Holley Street Dominator, which can be had used from time to time.

I would pass on Edelbrock heads and look at BBM or Survival's FElony heads. Both have made some improvements over the Edelbrocks and don't cost any more. Check out FE Power dot net - a lot of serious builders are on there and you can get some good ideas.

 

Well...this thread turned out to be pointless. A little while after posting, my step dad mentioned that the bore is apparently pretty messed up. Not sure why the machine shop or my mechanic didn't tell me this but whatever.

In any event, I did some looking around and even though I didn't want to spend this much, I'm just gonna say screw it and swap in a 460 from ATK.

My apologies guys. For what it's worth, I did read all your replies.

 

No worries. Mistakes avoided are the best kind.

 

I'm sorry but the felony or BBM heads are definitely more expensive than the Eds. And although I agree they are both much better both out of the box and potential-wise they are not at all necessary at this power level. That said if either fit in your budget Grove, heads are always one of the best places to spend $.

As for the Performer intake, in Jay Brown's book it was shown to be an improvement over the factory iron S, C4, T, edged the f427, and was better than the PI up to 4700rpm on his 410hp 428. The only factory iron intake that would be better would be a CJ. I'm not saying it's necessarily the right one for the job here, but clearly the results show it doesn't deserve such a bad rap. I know you're not a fan of edelbrock for whatever reason yellow truck but we need to call it like it is.

Its been about 7yrs since I built my 445 but it came in under $7k. Prices have changed for sure but I think stroker would be the best bang for the buck and keep it's street manners. Stroker kit-+/- 2k, headers +/- 500, heads - quite a range depending on if you rework factory iron to Eds, to FElony, to BBM, but say 800-2500, cam/lifters/springs 300ish for flat tappet (around 1kish for roller), 250-450 for intake, 200 for fresh recurved dizzy (less if you just need a recurve), damper&flywheel/flexplate- <400. Odds and ends maybe another couple hundred depending on your issues and fancy. That's around 6800 on the high end plus machine costs. And thats going to give you much more power than what you're asking for easily 500/500 and more-combo depending. All that to say your goals are well within budget.
You could spend much less. Deals on used parts are always out there and you could cut that parts price down by 2-2500 quite easily and still reach your goals

Edit: had my tab open for a while and didn't see your reply. Too bad on the FE. Best of luck on the 460 swap

 

Kind of vain now to mention anything in this thread, but I wanted to echo this. I have nothing but praise for the Performer when compared to the Streetmaster on my build (9.2:1 pistons, 215/215 cam, headers). My truck gets used as a truck regularly and the s/m was a total mistake on my part...what a dog. I actually bought it years ago on the cheap in preparation for my build and based off of the great praise it gets.

The idle is so much better since the swap and I have power NOW instead of at 2300 RPM.

I can also praise it in comparison to an iron intake because it is not slowly making me a candidate for spinal surgery.

Is the RPM better? The numbers seem to say so, but it does not have a heat crossover, which I'm not ready to give up in Iowa.