I am in need of a FE engine master. I'm getting ready to buy everything this guy has and it's all FE. I already bought a 429CJ long block and a true 428CJ (running) from him. He's got blocks, heads, short blocks, complete engines everywhere. I'm buying it all for one price. What I need to know is the easiest way to ID these engines. I can see the extra webbing in a few blocks with the oil pans off, but I know they are not 428CJ's already. I've already looked at the blocks and heads to make sure there are no CJ's there, but that's the extent of my knowledge on FE engines. I will probably keep one good 390 and just sell/swap the rest off. I just need to know how to tell a 352/360/390 apart without a bore micrometer. Can a person tell a 360 head from a 390 head? Are the valves the same size? All the heads are two bold exhaust so there are no "S" code heads in the mix either.
Anybody with numbers or a link that will make this job easy for me would be appreciated.
By the way, (because I know somebody will ask) the 428CJ is a standard bore, standard crank, had fresh rings & bearings, running engine from a 69 Mach 1 "R" code car. It's got a Comp Cam and a "C7" date code 427 aluminum intake. You should hear this thing run!! WOW! The engine was rebuilt 4 years ago and installed in a restoration project. The engine has never been driven on the road, only ran in the garage and to load on/off a trailer twice. I've been searching for an "R" code Mustang to put it back in but can't find a worthwhile shell in my price range. I will probably just sell the CJ. I won't be giving this engine away, I do know it's worth. I will probably go to a Mustang guy trying to find the real CJ for his "R" code Mustang. For the right price it can go anywhere!
Anyway, any help with 352-390 engine/head ID's would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am not an expert, but I know a little. 352 bore and stroke: 4.000 x 3.50. 360 Bore and stroke: 4.050 x 3.50. 390 bore and stroke 4.050 x 3.78. "common" heads on these engines are pretty much the same. I have heard you can check the stroke by putting the engine at TDC #1, and pulling #1 and #4 spark plugs, putting a wooden dowel down into the cylinders, and measureing the difference. You can not tell the difference between a 352 and a 360 with this method, you have to pull the head. A 429 is a completely different engine. I believe the transmission bolt pattern is different, and the motor mounts are different. I think it shares some parts with the 460. The 427 is a FE engine. You might be able to check the bore on the engines from the bottom. but it would be difficult

 

Well you have your work cut out for you thats for sure! I know just enough about IDing to no better than to answer this question the "right" way!

Now my Bud FFR428 (Glenn will chime in here before long I'am sure! If anyone can tell you trick ways of IDing blocks he can... I dont even fool myself into thinking I have it down as well as he does...lol...

Wake up Glenn...your being called upon!! LOL..

RJ

 

Well thanks for the kind works Russ. I'm still a rookie compared to some other guys out there. But here's a start. First that sounds like a pretty cool stash you've stumbled across. The first thing I'd do is get Steve Christ book, How to rebuild big block Ford engines. While it has it's errors it's a fast handy reference book to have. Everything will be straight forward. And casting numbers are your best bet on most of the parts except the blocks. Heads are easy and yes most std heads shared the same valve size. Just the chambers, port sizes and bolt patterns vary. Any heads with a very late 66 date code and up were the veloctiy port design. Except the CJ's. Cranks, rods and most of the other stuff is easy. The blocks are the tricky thing and the casting numbers in most (but not all) cases are PMU. Dave Shoe on the net54 forum came up with the "drill bit test" for field checking blocks and what wallcores they had cast into them. You simply remove the blocks six core plugs and use drill bit shanks to gauge the gap between the cyl's. This is just a rough field test to see what wallcores the block has. 17/64" drill bit shank fits snugly in most 352,360,390 wall cores. 13/64" fits 406,428 FE and some 361 and 391 FT's. 7/64" for most 427 and some 406 wallcores. Keep in mind coreshift can spoil things so a sonic map can be doen if boring towards the outer limits of the cyl walls. If you put a block with the HD webbing and a std block side by side you'll see not only the webbing differnce but the cranksaddle area has much more beef on the HD casting. Some early blocks have the crossbolt bosses used on the 406's and 427's. This has also been found on some of the HD truck blocks also. Vertical ribs on the outside of the block are a good clue for 69 and later castings. 69 and later date codes have 2 dots under the first number. This tells them apart from 59 and later 60's blocks. Some people will want to know date codes so learn how to decode them. Very easy. I could go on for pages with everything but the best thing is to get a copy of the Christ book. That will get you through most of the parts you have. We can help you with the other. Bill here (numbers dummy) has quite a collection of part numbers and I'm sure can tell you quite a bit. I have some good books and such also but no where near the collection Bill has. I'm sure a bunch of the guys will chime in for you also. Where are you located?

G.