Just wondering if anyone has their FE set up to run on regular...

 

You might try the FE forum.

 

whats a FE ?

 

a 352,360,390,427,428

Like what is listed in the FE engine forum.

 

I run mine on 87 and have no complaints.
-Chris

 

Don't have an FE, but I run the cheapest regular (87 octane) I can find in my 460.

 

This is an interesting question. My manual shows I can run regular gas as long as it has an octane rating of 91 or higher. Now, a couple things. I have a rebuilt '73 360 2V.
I belive it to have hardened valves so that it can run unleaded gas without burning up the valves. Since the compression ratio is 8.4 to 1 my understanding is that regular gas should be fine.

I think anything over 9-9.5 compression ratio to 1 might need premium gas.

Take into account that a '73 is timed at 3 deg before top dead center your even more safe I believe.

I appreciate any other points of view on this. I do not want to use premium gas if it's a waste. No pinging so far so I'm OK I think.

;-)

 

Back in the old days "regular gas" use to mean leaded. If your manual say regular gas is it refering to leaded? If you have an engine that was designed to run on leaded gas then you will need to have the heads redone with hardened valve seats.

 

Depends on what year your manual is I believe,
Other than that...yup you hit the nail on the head...it will still run off of unleaded w/o any modifications....it just isnt good for it. By now though....most engines of this age have probably already had the work done by previous owners. Not saying they all were but most have been. Also if its one of the later years closer to say '79 it probably already came with them from the factory....I guess the best way to tell is to look by the gauge for the good ole "Unleaded Only" wording...or possibly on the gas filler door if so equipped.
-Chris

 

Motor rebuilt ~ 1983 with hardened valve seats. Everything else just freshened up. Good point - That is what I was thinking as well. How does this all relate to compression ratio and unleaded gas? Can we use 87 Reg Unleaded after the valve seats have been replaced with hardened ones?

 

Regular gasoline back in the 70's was also about 91 octane with Premium at around 100.

These days 89 or 91 makes 70's engines run better.

 

I was thinking that as well. However, ran premiun in my '87 460 4V Motorhome with like compression. I didn't notice any difference in performance. However, to play it safe I always put 89 or 91 in there when I was towing. ;-)

I'm thinking the same might hold true for this '73 360 2V ??? I think my father in law any ever ran it on regular gas for the 110K plus miles that he put on her. She's now at 220K and seems to be running quite good.

 

If it's not pining or knocking it's ok.

My ears are getting bad(?)... well I don't trust them, so have younger guys when they ride with me, tell me if they hear any pinging.

My 75 360FE with a tinkered-up ;) 2100 2v runs good on anything I've put in it, except the cheapest grade of gasoline in Mexico. No amount of retarding the timing would fix that stuff. :) Especially with the carbon built up on the pistons and valves from the sorry leaky valve guides and seals Ford put in the engine to start with.

Mine had 148,000 miles on it and I drove it to Willcox to a friend's house and we used his boom truck to pull the engine. He had an engine re-builder there in Willcox that did a great(!) job. That was 75,000 miles ago. It still runs better, with more power and better oil(!) and gas mileage than the engine ever did stock.

No kidding on that. :)

I could have rebuilt it myself but wanted a -better job- done on it, than that. :)

A 360 ain't a high compression engine, If you're having trouble with pinging etc sounds like you have carbon built up. (?)

BTDT

My way of doing things includes fixing it -before- it breaks.
As in... "maintenance".

YMMV on that! :)

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
Since this is a website forum and not a newsgroup...
Let me just say... that way of thinking belongs somewhere sideways...

Alvin in AZ

 

No pinging here - I think she's clean inside too. We have been using Chev / Arco / Shell for years. :-) That stuff helps a bit with the carbon build up. I ran it for about 10 miles on the freeway @ 75mph to clean her out recently. She hadn't seen the freeway for years and still loved it !!

Thank you all for your replies .....

 

When your valve guides and/seals are leaking... driving it down the freeway... just adds more carbon! :/ My valves looked like licorice-tootsie-roll-pops and most of my driving has always been highways. :)

--------------------------

A friend of mine in south Arkansas got a job in an oil bottling plant in East Texas. He was really upset when he saw bottles of his favorite brand of motor oil (Havoline) going down the line, getting the same oil, as house brands he'd never heard of.

Believe it?

Ever notice the color changes in the oil... from a specific brand of oil?
I had in the past. :)
After his story i knew why. :/

I specifically asked him if he saw any bottles with "Pennsylvania crude" stamped on them and he claimed there wasn't any of those. So at least they know better than to get caught doing that huh? :)

Alvin in AZ