Hello everyone,
My name is Kevin McClain, I am 24 years old, from Elk Grove,CA (just south of Sacramento). I have an '82 ford F-250 with a 400M and a C-6, but I am getting ready to build up an FE, hopefully for a Model T pick-up. I got two FEs for free in the local Penny Saver a while back, a 390 short block, and a 352 (i'm only 90% sure it's not a 360) I traded the short block for a new 360 crank, and rod and main bearings, and a cam from a 390 six pack. I then bought a gasket set; so for $40.00 total cash outlay I'm almost ready to go.
I have a couple of questions.
First, Am I correct in my understanding that a 352 and a 360 crank are identical? I don't want to lower the compression and I am happy with a 352, and don't want to build a 390.
Second, I am thinking about just re-ringing it. The ridge in the bore is about .003". Do you think this is safe, or should I have it punched out .030 over? If I do bore it out should I just bore it to 4.13,or 4.23 and use std. bore 427, or 428 pistons or will they lower compression when used with a 3.5" stroke crank? And if so are they readily available for a decent price?
I know I'm asking alot, but better safe than sorry. I have rebuilt several engines, mostly small block chevys, and info is widely available for them , but this is new territory. I'm excited to get started, and thankfull to have found a forum with as much combined knowledge as is here. I have been scoping out the archive, trying to answer my ownquestions, but will inevitably be back to ask more, and hopefully help a little as well. -Kevin

 

Well speaking of answering my own questions I just re-read my post, and obviously I can't overbore the block to 4.13, or 4.23. So... I guess what I need to know is are there readily available cheap(ish) .030 352 pistons.-Kevin

 

Well, Kevin, first of all a WELCOME is in order. This is a great board, and you will find a lot of great details and an accumulated wealth of knowledge.

Yes, the 360 and 352 cranks are the same. Essentially, the 360 is a 390 cast and bored block with a 352 crank and rods. You have more meat for future rebuilds in a 360/360 block tahn in a 352 block.

As for overboring, be careful about just buying pistons for any FE. I believe the different engines have different wrist pin to piston top heights, so be careful. I do not know the details, but others more knowledgeable than I will chime in.

Again, welcome and jump on in, the water's fine!

 

Thank you for the reply. I know I need to keep that compression ratio up, so I'm not going to just take whatever Napa has on the shelf. I 'm not looking to set low E.T. at the strip with this thing, but would like to get 300-350 honest HP. I don't know if this has been asked before, but I'll risk getting banned from the site and ask. What about 4.030 Small block chevy pistons. Has anyone looked at the piston deck height to see what the compression ration would be? It may be Sacreligious, but I'm a cheap son of a gun. I figue if it gets you in the ball park you'd be set, as high compression SBC pistons are so widely available at such reasonable prices. What do you think?-Kevin

 

if you use the 352 block, and it is original bore of 4.00", then you can go for a 4.05" bore and use standard 360 pistons. Those will likely be low compression pistons that 360s came with in trucks. What rods do you have?

I'm not sure about that cam. It sounds like a big question mark to me. You're going to want a very mild cam to go with the low compression ratio of the standard 360.

tell us more about what you want the motor to do.

 

I want to build a mildly warm engine for street/strip duty in a 2500lb car. I would like to get about 350HP and 370lb/ft@ 5000RPM with around 9.0 to 1 Compression. The cam I have right now is a single pattern hyd. with 270* duration and .401" valve lift and 44* overlap, although I dont know the lobe displacement(FORD #C3AZ-6250-U). The cam will go if it cannot do the job. I am going to port my C7AE-A heads, which should have no problem supporting the HP levels I want to make. I will likely swap out the factory intake manifold for an Edelbrock Perf, or Perf RPM that I will gasket match, and throw on a 650 or 750CFM holley with a milled choke horn. I may even put a plate system 125HP shot of Nitrous Oxide. I'm not 100% sure on the Nitrous, as I want to keep the stock connecting rods which I hear aren't the best in the 352.

The engine should be good for 11.7 seconds @ 116.5 Mph in a car of that weight. Or 10.5 @ 129 with nitrous. So says the ET calculator, although those numbers seem a little optomistic. Should be a kick in the shorts though.

If someone who is equipped with Desktop Dyno would be so kind as to run the engine as detailed above (with those cam specs) and let me know what it spits out for HP, and TQ, and where they peak, I would be forever grateful.-Kevin

 

Welcome! That cam has a 270 / 270 duration. Lift at valve is .401 at lobe .232 and overlap of 44 deg. It should have a YA to identify the C3-U hyd cam. I have full specs on that cam if you need them. G.