Pulled what I was told was a 390 by previous owner out of my 75 f100. Since getting it on a stand, I have come to the realization that it is not a 390, and is looking more like a 360. I have listed all cast numbers below from the items I have removed so far, with what I have researched as the appropriate engine.

Block: D3TE (360/390 block)
Crank: 2TA (360)
Camshaft: (Upside down A) followed by, U (not quite sure, but read it might be a 390 camshaft?)
Connecting Rods: C7TE-A
Pistons: Stamped with 360

I have everything disassembled except for the crank (still in block) and the heads (removed from block, removed rods and rocker arms). My original plan was to pull the engine, do a mild re-rebuild and refresh of the 390, and finish by re-painting my engine bay before putting the engine back in. Now figuring out that I am probably working with a 360 I am trying to decide which route to go.

1st route was to finish the build as is. Have the machine shop go through everything. Cam and lifters will be getting replaced as well. Pistons will be reused if possible.

2nd route is to hunt down a 390 crank and rods, then repeat the process above.

This truck is my daily driver. I am trying to build something reliable, with a little bit of get-up. Which ever route I go will be coupled with a Holley 500cfm, flowtech headers, 2bbl stock intake, auto trans.

Thoughts?

 

Your not helping yourself with a 2bbl intake a a 2bbl carb. Even a stock 360 with stock compression ratio benefits immensely from a 4bbl and a 600cfm with vacuum secondaries.

 

For a regular truck engine keep it 360ci and add some performance to it.....compression/cam/intake/exhaust

 

2Xs on what Gashog is telling you. Get a 3 angle valve job and have some milled off the heads. Go with a complete kit from 1 manufacturer either Edelbrock or Holley for the cam/manifold carburetor that is matched together. If you want to really go all in get a set of Edelbrock heads. Headers will probably not be worth the effort as they will only really help after 500 HP. Dual exhaust with either a crossover or “X” pipe will not hurt.
Which transmission do you have?

 

Kenny where do you find such data to support this statement?

 

In the 67-72 forum Ed aka "Rasputin53" went through a 360 for his truck.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...i-said-it.html

 

There was a U tube where they were comparing headers on LS engines. They ran Dyno passes with several combinations of built engines and stock. It was eye opening. The built up engines really started to benefit where there was only a small improvement on the stock version. If the engine is built for over 6k rpm is where things start to improve. Needless to say a NASCAR engine turns up over 8-9K, without the tuned headers it would be interesting to see one with iron exhaust manifolds on a dyno.
I had a set of mid length headers on the last 460 I had on my truck, they sounded good but getting them to fit without hitting the frame and #2 crossmember and ps box took a lot of work without denting the tubes. I ended up having a muffler shop make up some ball mouth fittings that I welded to the collector before I was satisfied.

 

If you insist on the 2V leave it a 360 , if you'd go to a 4v make it a 390. the performance gain would be very noticeable, but sometimes it's just not important and I get that.

 

Go back 15 years in these forums. Lots of nice builds, I believe I posted dyno numbers. Unless you have the compression and the required quench the headers can actually lower low end torque and move power upwards in the powerband. This is very noticeable as the powerband past 4500 isn't usable in a truck. Like I mentioned earlier money is better spent on a 4bbl intake and a properly tuned carb. My current preference is the summit racing brand carbs.

Was able to make a reliable 315hp/420tq 360 on a budget and 80k miles later she is still running. To the OP look at articles from around 2006 by Jay Brown he did lots of great write up on the hot rod network.

 

Jay's book doesn't support your claim?

on a 425hp FE with a modest hp peak at 5400rpm the difference between log manifolds and tri-y headers at 2500rpm is worth 55 ftlbs of torque and 26hp on his dyno.
when equipped with log's, tq peak was 3700rpm (436 ft-lbs) and hp peak 5400 rpm (395hp)
same engine with tri-y headers tq peak was 3700rpm (477 ft-lbs) and hp peak at 5300rpm (424hp)

peak difference was 41 ft-lbs and 29hp and the hp peaked 100 rpm earlier

Avg tq/hp between 2500-5800rpm was 396 ft-lbs/297hp for the manifolds
Avg tq/hp between 2500-5800rpm was 443 ft-lbs/330hp for the headers

Same sweep, more hp/tq from beginning to end.
More peak at same rpm or less.

Reference: The Great FE Intake Comparo: Systematic Dyno Testing in Pursuit of FE Horsepower Authored by Jay Brown

Page 197 for sweep avg's and pages 277 and 278 Annex 2 for data points