Kind of a strange question. Few years ago I bought a supposedly 390 out of an old mud truck from a guy. Turns out it was an FT block someone had previously rebuilt as a 360 with a edelbrock performer intake. But I needed an engine so I rebuilt it again, had the crnk machined, etc. About a year later I was running through a mud pit and she started knocking and chirping. I actually snapped a rod bolt and spun the bearing, wrecking the drive shaft. I've put a few greaser engines in since then and now I have a good 360 in her now. Now I'm getting to where I can fix the truck up nice. I have all the replacement drivetrain components to rebuild. I still have that FT block. I am mostly wondering what ya'll think about using the FT block into a 428. I know crank rods, pistons and heads, but where could I find info about the right combos to make it work? I'm looking at new crank, pistons rods and cam, but think I should find used 428 heads or just buy knew. Also, anyone know if the old performer intake would work on 428 heads? Sorry about the rambling, but I'm excited at the chance to finally fix up my baby right.

 

The FT block should go out to the 4.130" 428 size bore. But to make sure, take it to a machine shop and have the cylinder walls sonic tested.

You can find out about which combinations should work right here. Take a look around the forums, do some research, and get back to us with exactly what you expect the motor to do. Then we'll recommend a build, discuss, and so on.

There are a number of ways you could go on the heads. You could run the 360 heads, with porting, polishing, and having CJ size valves installed. You could find a set of early 390 or 428 heads, and do the same porting and polishing. You could waste your money on Edelbrock heads. Oops, did I say that out loud? I meant you could invest in Edelbrock heads.

Stock Edelbrock heads will flow just a hair less than well ported 360 heads. Early 390 or 428 heads will outflow both by a significant margin when ported, and would be on par with ported Edelbrock heads. The Edelbrock heads are aluminum and will save on weight though.

I'd skip the Performer intake. A stock 4 barrel will flow slightly better. I'd run either a Performer RPM, one of the Blue Thunder intakes (I think their 427MR intake would match up good with ported 360 heads...), or a 428 Police Interceptor intake. Or you could go single plane with an Edelbrock Streetmaster 390 or an Edelbrock Victor.

The options are out there. It all depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend.

 

Verify that you really have a FT block. Does it have the reverse 105, and 3rd web supporting the crankshaft mains? If so, you could bore it 0.03 over std or up to 0.06 over and not worry about trying to reach the 428 bore. You'd have stronger cylinder walls and potentially better ring sealing. My FT block is 0.03 over with 428 crank to give you 416 CID. Pretty close to a 428. Has lots more torque than a 390. A rancher friend has the 390 and had to admit mine really scoots. He'd buy my 416 in a heartbeat if I put it up for sale. Point is you don't need those extra 12 cubes to have a good runner. You could do all sorts of $$ changes to get that last bit of performance if you want. Or keep the cost lower by just using the heads you have, but bronze guides, larger cj exhaust valves, headers would help. Lots of cam choices depending on how much rough idle you can stand. Put in a good electronic ignition. I had a performer intake, worked well enough. I'd block off the heat crossover cause those aluminum intakes will boil the gas in the carb on a hot summer day with no crossover at all. Hope this helps.