building a 390 here in a few weeks and am narrowing down my parts. is the 390 edelbrock performer the best bang for the buck? how do aluminum intakes hold up to 200,000 miles of truck driving? would it be better to get an edelbrock 390 performer intake/carb package as opposed to holley carb? also i was told that if my cr turns out to be to high and it pings i can put on an egr to compensate...can i get a spacer to go between the carb and intake for this? thanks guys

 

Why would your compression ratio be too high? What have you done to the engine?

As for the Performer, you should consider an old Ford 4V intake or upgrade to the Edelbrock Performer RPM. The RPM is better suited for other mods from mild to medium hot :-) The regular Performer isn't much better than stock.

As for aluminum, I know of no reasons why it won't run 200,000 miles.

As for Carbs. It's your call. The Edelbrock is fine and so is the Holley. It's been argued many times with few distinguishing pros or cons for one or the other. Assuming your talking about comparably priced carbs.

 

well i've just gotten info comin from you guys and then a couple guys at my machine shop. the guy at my machine shop said all he did to his 360 was put 390 crank/rods in it and left the stock cam and all the rest and he had 10.5 cr and can run it on low grade which i thought was impossible. and theres just alot of variables that play into my build that i'm not sure i'm experienced enough to tackle myself but i'm not about to just let my 360 stay the way it is. i thought if i put 390 crank/rods with heddman hedders, 4v intake, 600 vac sec holley or edelbrock-i thought i would have close to 300 hp but i think i'm a little off from what i've read on other posts. i'd like 300 hp (course who wouldn't) but i've got about a $1000 budget. i've gotten the crank and rods already so $220 of it's going towards getting the rotating assembly balanced. so i've got $780 to spend on carb/intake/possibly cam/and headers. oh and also $60 of that will be a gasket set. my hope is that i can find a 4v intake in the junkyard down the road who charges $25 for one. then i've got roughly $690 to spend towards carb, intake, and headers. holley 600 vac/sec-$250, hedman-$306, and as far as a cam w/o having to do adjustable valve train (b/c i'm outa money by then) i dunno??? just wanna do this right guys! thanks for any help or push or motavation of any sort!

 

Are you running the 360 pistons? I believe that with teh 390 crank and rods makes for about 9.5 CR with popular FE heads. If so, the then the RPM intake with a Crane 941 cam or close, with a a 600 Vac Sec. Carb and you've got damn near 300 hp, if not more. I'm sure you can get a carb cheaper on ebay. I just sold a Barry Grant 750 for $233, so a regular Holley should fetch less.

I doubt very much your machinist has a 10.5:1 iron head 360 running on cheap pump gas. I'd consider finding another machine shop. My aluminum head 10.2:1 motor doesn't like the cheap stuff.

You can save some bucks on the headers. Are those the coated Hedmans or something? You might also find an older aluminum 4V intake that works well.

Some of the other guys will check in soon with some good suggestions for intakes etc.

 

go for te RPM and you'll be glad you did if you can swing it.. the dynomax headers for 130 bucks in summit go on easy and are pretty well built headers for the price.. only missing 3/8" flanges.. check ebay for aluminum intakes- seems like the old edelbrock streetmaster intake runs about $150 or so.. if all else, go for the carb headers and the 941 cam and do an intake later when you find a good deal or get a little cash sacked away- thats what i did.. :-) if you're gonna run the 941 cam, be sure to set up your valvetrain and get the right length pushrods or you may bend some things... like gtex said- go for the 360 truck pistons and then make sure you smooth out the cumbustion chambers to get rid of hot spots and help prevent detonation... Sounds like fun, the rest of the gang will be on this by morning.. LOL good luck!!

 

there are cheaper headers than $300, use a "s" or "T" intake, the s version is slightly better. Sell the performer or use it if you like but it provides no performance. The rpm is better but at $300 new it's not in the budget. Gotta get a camshaft, imo. The carb can wait as mentioned, it just sucks doing things on a budget, when i did my truck, I barely was able to finsh with a new starter. Then I had to wait for some gas money.

that 300hp might not happen.


edit, i get 312hp assuming 8.5 cr, 600 carb, 941 cam

 

You are there, just don't get discouraged or second guess yourself....

Run the 390 crank and rods with the 360 pistons. Go with the 941 cam or the 901 (that's what I run). Upgrade to adjustable Ford rockers, that will not set you back too much. The manifold, go aluminum to save weight if you have the Performer already, otherwise use a cast iron unit you can get for about $35. If you want the possibilty for upgrading, go to the RPM. You can get a 600 Holley off ebay all day long for around $50, ask me, I know

Save a few dollars on the headers and put it towards the other goodies. You will be right in the ball park of 300hp and can run the cheap gas all day.

Take a look in my gallery, you can see what this combo looks like completed.
--Mike

 

ya my 360 only has 5,000 on the rebuild so i'll keep the 360 pistons and get new rings. as far as the headers, i've seen the dynomax but i'm just look for some been there done that'ers. good i'll go with the dynomax, holley600vac/sec or edelbrock whichever i can find, hopefully a s-code intake, and the 941. I guess the valvetrain is the main thing that scares me. let me ask- to check the pushrods after installing the 941, you just compress the lifters and check the clearance between the valve and the rocker right? if it's too much you get a longer pushrod-too little and you get a shorter one right? the hedmans were 500-89830 at jegs and yes they're coated. also i notice the 941 cam operates from 2,000-5,000- is it still decent off idle? thanks fella's

 

the 941 is a great cam!! i've built 3 motors with it and they all run great and have tons of low end torque.. your best bet is to buy the $13 pushrod length checker and follow the instructions that the manufacturer gives you.. i had an old guy help me do mine with a stock pushrod and feeler guages, then mic'd everything back out and went from there... long process and it was still off a bit when i got my length checker from summit the next day so i ended up redoing it to be on the safe side.. JMO

 

If you go with the adjustable rockers, you adjust the nut to compensate for the differences..... I did not use any different length pushrods, one package of 16 gets the job done. If your machine shop is up to snuff, they will set you up all the right parts. Mine builds Ford race motors, I tell him what I want and he makes it work in my budget.

--Mike