Ok, heres my mutt truck,lol. I bought a 76 f-250 about a year and a half ago,love it!, I am 19, I bought the truck to go to school in Phoenix AZ, I live in N.M. I used to truck to drive to and from school and work every day, paying for the gas she drank at 10 miles a gallon, but loved every minute of it, almost needed a second job, but something told me to keep it.

I attended and graduated from motorcycle mechanics institute, so I've got a good mechanical apptitude,
I am trying to find out what the motor is I have, some people have told me 360, 390, and 428, the vin indicates a 360 and c-4 tranny, It does Have a c-6, and the motor I believe is not original as well, I just arrived home and do not have a job yet and therefore the money to tear her apart and figure out the true displacement, I am trying to figure this out as I want to know if the motor is worth rebuilding, if need be and is permitted.
The intake manifold is a C8AE as well as the heads.
I measured the stroke twice to be sure I did not mess up using the wooden dowel in the spark plug method, both times on my ruler I measured a 4" or a hair under stroke, say 3.95, very close to 4.
does a 428 sound like a realistic guess?
maybe a 410?
I know its not much to go on, but I hope it is a 428.
I just figured I would take a whack at it, see what the more knowledgeable might think.
I am not by any means expecting anyone to tell me yes or no, but whats your guess?
ARe the casting numbers and stroke pointing to one of these big blocks or am I nuts?
LOL, I appreciate any help!
thanks

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 28-Aug-01 AT 03:26 AM (EST)[/font][p]Well if you do have a 4" stroke which you may it is either a 410/428 FE or a 400M. The easy way to tell if you have an FE motor is to look at the spark plugs. If they are agled in like this \\// then it is a FE. If not it is a 400. Either way a 4" stroke tells you the motor is not stock. A 428 that runs even halfway decent will have some awesome power. What kind of feel are you getting when you stomp the gas? If it runs right now there is no reason it shouldn't be rebuildable. A 428 is a slightly expensive motor to rebuild but you already got a block and crank to machine so you would still be a lucky man. Scrath the 400M theory. I just read that your casting numbers are C8AE which indicates that your block was made in 1968. Pretty sure its a 428.

 

I'm jealous.

ksd
69 F100 Explorer lwb 2wd FE 360 C6. WANTED: straight/clean styleside long box w/aux fuel tank for 67-69 F series.

 

Thanx for the replies!
The truck DID have awesome power in phoenix, at about sea level, but now im at high elevation and shes runnin rich, like I said it probably does need a rebuild, and a good tune, the distributor is the original d5te or something, the original 360 distributor. so its all old, and the good ol black tape all over the frayed ignition wires. I think if the engine had a better underhood surrounding and wiring, it would run much better. I am excited now, lol, I just need a job now so I can research a lil deeper. If it is a 428 I am seriously considering dropping it into a ranchero or other acceptable car for good power to weight ratio unlike the 6k lbs of f250 the truck itself just needs sooo much body/mechanical work, I do Love that particular truck though, great trucks!
Thanx again

 

sorry if I burst your bubble, but are you measuring it between the top of the stroke and the bottom instead of just all the way at the bottom? put a mark on it when it's at it's top and at it's bottom, if it's a noticeable amount less than 4" I'd say more than 1/32" it's probably not a 428 just because the 428 is only .02 off of 4" for the stroke, but best of luck for you to have a 428, or 410 shortblock, I think C8AE-H's were used on 428's too. the distributor must be a replacement one because ford went to the what is it duraspark or whatever in 1975 and D5 start numbers would be a 1975 distributor

 

OK, well heres what I did, I got a 1/4" wood dowel, and painted it black.
I then placed the no.1 cylinder at top dead center.
I then got a knife and cut a line in the wood flush with the spark plug hole.
I then ran that cylinder to bottom dead center and again cut a line flush with the spark plug hole.
I made sure not to measure the cylinder head, just the stroke, I did it twice to be sure , it was 4" or just below th 4" line, but basically 4 ", like 3.95 or even closer to 4.
had to make due with the primitive method, but that was all the tools I had to work with, I know it is larger than the 3.75" 390 stroke
anyway, Hope that was the correct way to use this method.
PS: I also made sure to place the wood dowel on the same piston surface on both tdc and bdc measurements, so the angle on the dowel was the same.

 

The intake manifold is a C8AE-S

 

When you rip it apart let us know what size your bore is. I hope if its a 428 that it hasn't been bored out to death already.

 

Ill do that, thanks for all the posts, gimme 2-5 months and ill let ya know.