A fella I work with told me if I swap a set of 352 heads onto my 360 that it will bump up my horse power and fuel mileage by raiseing my compression ratio. He claimed a buddy of his went from about 12 mpg to 17 mpg by doing this and he could really tell a diffrence in power. Any input would be greatly appreciated as this idea sounds great with the cost of fuel going through the roof. Thanks y'all.

 

Three words, "smaller combustion chambers". Bumps the compression up.

 

Thanks for the post bear! Do you think it will make as big a diffrence as he claims? I guess I'm askin if it would be worth it or am I just hanging on high hopes?

 

another three words.. AIN'T NO WAY! it'll help but not that much, maybe 1 mpg across the board and then some power too, not a whole lot though.. i'd save my time and money and build a 390. it'll probably get better fuel mileage and have a TON more power!! til then, drive that ole 360 like ya stole it and have fun!!

 

The 360 is fresh (1500mi maybe) and runs strong! I'm quite pleased with the few mods i've done to it but I guess we always look to improve. Rite now I get around 12mpg and havent had any problems towing or pulling. If It wont be a noticeable gain I don't see it as being worth pulling an 80 pound intake off again!!!! LOL! Thanks for your input raceboy.
WOW I MADE 100 POSTS!!!

 

Ever, unless your friend had 352HP heads, it won't help. Actually, it will lower compressioon and hurt performance. Heres why...the 360, if it is wearing it's original heads, has a pair of C8AE-H or D2TE-AA heads on top. The combustion chamber is the smallest Ford made for a normal FE head. The intakes in these heads were redesigned after Ford learned lots of stuff about flow when they made the C5AE-F medium riser heads. The 352, if it has the most common heads, would be C4AE-G or C6AE-Rs. There are also earlier heads, C1, C2, and C3s that are similar. The earlier heads have a larger intake port, bigger than a 352 needs, or even can use. The combustion chambers are a large, sharp edged D shape. Putting 352 heads on a 360 would lower compression from the kidney bean shaped chambers of the C8AE-H or D2TE-AA heads. The only exception is if you happen to find a pair of 352HP heads. There weren't that many of them, but if you find a set, they would be good to have. You can recognize the HP heads by their very small, 'pinched bean' chamber shape, it is even smaller than the C8AE-H or D2 chamber. But usually a seller that has the 352HP knows what he has and wants some decent money for them. The best way to 'improve' a 360 is by making it a 390. You could do that cheaper and easier than hunting down some rare and exspensive heads. DinosaurFan, @ his Dad's house

 

Three more words...Thank you all!!!!! Dino fan, Glad to have your input! I guess I'll keep it like it is for now. I was mostly looking to get the mileage increase by swapping heads, hp would just have been an added bonus. So far I can't complain at all about the ol' 360 she gets around 12 mpg and is plenty peppy. If she ever lets me down I think I'd like to go with a 406 or 410...something a little diffrent. Hopefully later much later on down the road. Thanks again fellas!!!!