Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of refreshing the 330 in my 68 N700, is there any upgrades that can be made to gain a little more power for towing? Not looking for a hotrod by any means just a little more power to help make towing easier.
It's current setup is all stock with a 2 barrel intake, I'm planning to add a Holley efi system to it in the form of a tbi setup. I know these are low compression engines...... but in my thinking and with lots of access in the engine area since I don't have anything other than an alternator was to add a turbo up front mounted in the passenger side. Im not wanting to make big power or add lots of boost, so my idea was a somewhat larger turbo that spools later in the rpm with full boost of say 5 psi at around 2500 rpm so I can be happy hauling large loads down the interstate without too much struggle. (If you've ever driven a first generation 7.3 power stroke truck this is how I'm wanting it to respond with little to no boost at the lower rpm) I don't know the limits of the factory rods, but I don't want to bend any with low rpm high boost numbers.
Also looking into an Hei style distributor as well, (yes I know the engine has a bigger oil pump drive shaft than a regular FE engine)


Any thought and or opinions on my direction??

 

Price out the turbo, and price out a 391 FT and see where you land.

The rods are the same as the FE motors and will probably be ok as long as you stay in the lower RPMs.

 

Why price out a 391? Other than a few more cubes I don't see why I would gain anything.

 

Bigger motor, more power. Might compare favorably to the price of hanging a hair dryer on the 330, and less likely to blow up.

 

I wonder what the 391 is rated at in terms of power, I know the 330 is rated at 164hp, I'm not sure what the torque output is though.

 

391 4V = 199 certified net HP at 3800 RPM

330 2V = 164 certified net HP at 3800 RPM.

Using a HP/Torque calculator:

199 HP @ 3800 RPM = 275 ft lbs

164 HP @ 3800 RPM = 226 ft lbs.

The only post I could find that has a source is here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...tml#post603031

It agrees with other posts showing 391 torque at 372 ft lbs @ 2000 RPM.

So a pretty good difference, but not astounding. But it will be less likely to blow up.

The history DIY gasoline turbo installations is not encouraging. Given what you have to fiddle with, a 391 would probably be cheaper.

You need:

--manifold and exhaust work

--oil supply

--intake plumbing

--carb box or blow-through carb

--fuel pump and regulator and plumbing

--other stuff like mounts etc.

 

A 391 might be cheaper..... if I can find one, not to mention what the condition of the engine would be, the cost to have it rebuilt is another cost to consider even if I do all the work myself minus the machine work.

Turbos are not a new thing to me, i also am going away from the carb to efi.
the engine is out of the truck now so adding a return line into the oil pan isn't a huge deal. An oil line is going to be super simple as well. The hardest part would be the exhaust and again that won't be very hard considering how much room their is in the engine bay as well as under the truck.

If I was a novice at the turbo thing then yes the 391 would make more sense but ive been playing with turbos since i was in highschool with my 79 mustang.

Plumbing is simple and would be just a pipe, with the low boost an intercooler isnt necessary as long as I size the turbo on the high side to make it lazy an not do much at the low rpm.

Here is a picture of the mustangs engine when I was in highschool.

 

The larger stroke really helps move heavy loads. Testimonials from back in the day. Assuming a lower mileage healthy engine.

 

That makes sense, around here these engines aren't readily available, the 330 I have was rebuilt at one point in its life and has no cylinder ridge like a high mileage engine tends to have. I'm trying to go about this relatively cheap. Sourcing a 391 isn't a super easy task.
that's why I was plan on a turbo at low boost, I feel like the elevated torque output from the forced induction would help. Is there any mods to the 330 that will help power all around like a different cam, or maybe different cam timing. Does anyone know where I can find the specs of the stock cam so I can degree it in to the appropriate specs for my application?
I know exhaust manifolds are the only thing to run as well as intakes, a 4 barrel intake would be a good upgrade for more power but finding one isn't an easy task.