Hello All,
Well, on my 1965 F-350, I pulled the motor out. Tonight I really dug into it and pulled the timing cover and chain, heads, crankshaft and all related bearings, and removed all the pistons too. The only thing left in the block is the camshaft. Before I pulled it, the truck was smoking excessivly and had broken the pushrod for the intake valve on cylinder #1. What I found tonight:
Timing chain extremely loose, and the teeth on the big gear were all badly worn or worse.
Bearings, crankshaft looked okay.
Pistons had lots and lots of carbon buildup on top of them.
The other thing was the piston where the pushrod broke had an indentation where it had been hit with the side of a valve.
So, I am assuming that the loose timing chain had something to do with the major smoking problems and possibly the broken pushrod and the indentation on the piston. What I have not yet done is look at the valves on the head. Here is my question (sorry took a while to get here) What exactly am I looking for when I check my valves? Is there a way to see if a valve is "bad" or to see if it was operating correctly? No one I talked to tonight has done valve work on their motors, so any help, tips, or hints are greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot
Garrett

 

Garrett, One thing to check for is for any exhaust valves to be sunken into the head.

If you can lay hands on a 74-76 360 and build it back as a 390 you would have more power for the truck and the heads should have hardened valve seats that are better with the unleaded gas.

John

 

Sorry it took so long to reply, I've been busy lately.
When you say the exhaust valves are sunken into the heads, do you mean the whole valve, or is there some sort of seat that the valve sits on, and the seat itself is sunk in? Again, I havent seen valves before. I never thought about the fact that this motor was designed for unleaded gas. Is it worth rebuilding it at all if this is the case? Also, what is needed to rebuild a 360 into a 390? thank you very much for your help
Garrett

 

Garrett, These engines were designed to run on leaded gas. Yes the valve can be recesses into the head.

The 360 engine is a 390 block with a 352 rotating assembly, You need a 390 crank, rods and pistons and you will have a 390 engine.

Question for you, Do you know what a Super A is?

John

 

Yes I do know what a Super A is. Farmall made them in the 40's and 50's. They are awesome little tractors. Did you need any specific info on them? I can try to help you out however I can
Thanks
Garrett

 

Thanks, we have one on our family farm.

John

 

Garrett: If a valve even kisses a piston, consider it bent and in need of replacement.
I would highly second John's recommendation to get a '76 or earlier 360 or 390.

As for the sunken valves, John was referring to engines with earlier valve seats running on unleaded gas. The seats are softer prior to '73, and have a tendency to give way when burning unleaded.

If you can get a 390 from a '73 - '76 390 with 4bbl, A/C and all the accessories, you'll get the brackets and pulleys you will want for those features. It will all bolt up to your truck. If you can, get the whole truck. You can sell the parts you don't need, and can get everything you need for power disc brakes and power steering.

But I digress.

This is rough comparison:

352 and 360 share the same crank, and stroke - 3.5".

360 and 390 share the same bore

The 390 crank is a 3.75" stroke.

For all practical purposes, from '65 to '76, they all have the same block (except bore, of course), cam, sheet metal, oil pump, etc, and heads. There are differences in the pistons, of course, as well as treated valve seats after '72, but earlier ones can be replaced so that you can use unleaded gas.

I would highly recommend you research the FE forum here at FTE; they can give you more details than you ever want to know!

 

Thank you very much for the reply. The consenus seems to be that its better to buy a whole different motor instead of rebuilding the 352. This may be an ambiguous question, but how much is reasonable to pay for a 360/390 in good running condition? I havent ever researched motor prices before and dont want to get ripped off.
Thanks again
Garrett

 

excessive smoke could also mean valve seals

 

Stick in a 460! Bolt in deal with all Ford parts. If you don't want to do that, go for the 360/390. Pretty much the same engine and if you are just ridin around it doesn't matter if it's a 360 or 390. Just get a good running engine and put it in.