I picked up a 72 Ranger from a neighbor a few weeks ago. He said it was running good when he parked it so me hope was to put and Edelbrock intake, carb, and headers on it and enjoy driving it for a while before deciding what to do long term. Well, after finding a lot of carbon build up, two cylinders that looked like they had been leaking and debris in the oil pan it’s now a rebuild.

I am trying to weigh my options and not trying to empty the bank account.

Option 1) Upgrade and build as a 390 and rebuild factory heads.

Option 2) Rebuild the 360 and plan to put Edelbrock heads & Cam, and of course headers.

Q: Does anyone have any experience with aftermarket 390 crank and rods? Can you recommend some?

 

Going all in with the Edelbrock kit on either engine combination will work good. If you add headers be sure to replace the starter with a PMGD style starter. Is your truck standard or automatic?

 

I ordered a power master starter so hopefully I’ll be ok. It is an automatic C6.

Now I am entertaining the idea of a 460. Not sure what all I will need to consider with that other than perches.

 

With this in mind:
I am trying to weigh my options and not trying to empty the bank account.

For now, just clean everything up... New hoses and gaskets and get the motor to start. It may need head gaskets and a carb rebuild..... We don't know how good of a mechanic you are. If you are good enough to get this old motor running then you can go to thinking about a 460..... We are in some uncertain times and a "runner" in your driveway is much more valuable than a "project" in your garage.

Hobo

 

Hello Hobo, I’ve been wrenching for many years and even rebuilt a 360 about 15 years ago. Loved the experience and the engine ran great, but I didn’t know at the time that it would have been better to upgrade to a 390.

The truck has been setting for about 7 years so I’ve already have about 6k in the truck before the engine rebuild. I’d like to keep that part to 3k if possible. I’m guessing I’ll have to go aftermarket to get a crank and rods unless I luck across them somewhere. That will eat up a good chunk of my budget.

 

Understood....... $3K in an engine, these days, is doable...... challenge will be finding quality parts for the dollars spent.... Sounds like your truck is well on the way to completion...

Post a few photos so we can follow along.

Best of luck.

Hobo

 

Might want to do a leak down test just to see where the current engine is. Tune it up, add some chevron with techron to the fuel, and do some heavy throttle runs up hill to blow some of that carbon out.

As for building a 390, you'll get about the same hp and lb/ft per cube assuming you build a 390 the same as the 360 (same heads, carb, intake etc). The right heads, carb, and intake will get you around 30 more hp and 40 more lb/ft with the 390. So it's up to you to decide if the 30 extra cubes are worth getting a 390 rotating assembly.

 

I plan on building a 445 Stroker to replace my 360 when it gets tired. A full Hydraulic roller setup with Edelbrock heads, intake, Scat crank, rods, pistons, and all the goodies is looking into over $8,000. I had a budget of $5,000 and still looking at the drawing board.

 

Since you have a C6 and the transmission will need some work eventually contact a locally owned transmission shop and ask if they can add the wide ratio planetary which will really make a difference. A stock converter works well with this combination for a street driver/tow truck.
If you plan on a 460 conversion you will also need a C6 case that your current transmission internals can be swapped in to.

 

I am putting a EFI 460 in place of my 352. It is not cheap. One thing after another and it will be over $5k... YMMV

 

The snowball effect is real on these rebuilds. As soon as you start looking into aftermarket rotating assemblies you will be well on your way to justifying a 445 build.

If you just want to get it driving and enjoy it for a bit, resist the urge to start that snowball. Get the block, heads, and rotating assembly into the machine shop to be measured and magnafluxed to see whether or not any of those things need to be replaced. If not, I would just do a fairly plain rebuild unless you have local access to a 390 crank and rods that you can have magnafluxed before you drop the money on them. It won't be a cheap rebuild if you do it right, but it will be much cheaper than what you will end up with after dropping $2k on a Scat rotating assembly, $1600 on Edelbrock heads, $500 on an intake, $700 on a roller cam and lifter kit, etc. etc...

 

Oh, one more thing...the price to rebuild the FE engines is high. AND at the end you are still left with an "old" engine. Blocks can develop pinhole coolant leaks, etc...

This is why I went with a 1994 460. Going to use a Holley Terminator X to run it. New wiring, new computer, etc... If you are going to spend the money, might as well try and make it "good". Coyote swaps are coming down (slowly) also.

The old adage..."do it right the first time..." applies here. IMHO.

 

Many years ago I built a good 390, ran it for a couple of years and cracked a cylinder. I bought a wrecked '74 Lincoln, removed the engine and transmission, and put it in my '68 Camper Special. It was stock and had more power than the built 390 and got the same mileage. It had a 12' slide-in camper and usually pulled a 5000 lb boat with no problem.

 

I found that a 460 build was less than half the cost of a similar spec FE. The supporting parts of any engine swap add cost; different transmission, headers, exhaust, engine mounts, cooling system, and so on. But you most likely have to upgrade all these same items when adding significant power to an FE or any other engine family.

3k isn't going to go far. Can spend more than that on a decent basic rebuild with no upgrades. You will need more like 10k if you want another 100-150 hp.

 

So I have a few opinions. Not a fan of Edelbrock. Their stuff was ok 20 years ago, but it is seriously stale. Lots of really good stuff out there that works much better and doesn't cost more. Look into Trick Flow, BBM, or Survival (FELoney) heads, unported with just a bit of bowl blending they will all outperform a set of heavily worked Edelbrock heads. Go with a Holley carb, and if you do go with an Edelbrock intake make sure it is the Performer RPM. Having said that, go to the FE Power dot Net forum and order Jay Brown's Great FE Intake Comparo for $30 odd bucks and see his exemplary work on testing pretty much EVERY combination of carb, intake, and engine size. Then make an intake decision.

Don't rebuild a 360. You won't get much power. The very best original iron heads will top out in the low 400's for HP with the best cam and stroker combo. A pretty tame 445 build with modern aluminum heads will get you into the 500's. The BBM, FEloney, and Trick Flow heads all use modern combustion chamber design as well as better routing to the valve. And they don't need extreme compression AND they are resistant to detonation on pump fuel. BTW Jay is testing a new generation of heads that will make 800 hp out of the box, but they are not yet available (he has dyno'd them and the story is on the forum), but no 360/390 can take that much power.

If you want to have fun, Jay Brown offers intake adapters that let you put any 351 Cleveland intake on an FE, and he also has a timing cover that lets yo adjust the cam timing without pulling the timing cover (ask me how much I wish I'd had one on my build).

With a stock 360/390 block you don't want to go too crazy. Past 650 hp you run the very real risk of splitting the block. 550 hp and 550 foot-lbs are within reasonable reach with a 445, and the rotating assembly is not stupid expensive. The result is a very reliable engine with great power.