anybody know what the most economical way is to go with a rebuild of the heads, and go with a bigger bore and pistons, but not mess with the crank or rods? i am looking to beef the motor up a little. i found a complete 428 cobra jet engine a while ago for 3 grand but procrastinated and didnt get it, maybe i can have something equivilent to a 410? or just a beefy 390 ish motor, (with 360 crank and rods ofcourse) 300 hp would be nice.

 

You can't bore it out enough to make a difference in performance. .040 is about it, according to what I read here, which is also what the rest of this post is based on.

The 360 suffers low compression, a below-deck TDC, and according to some posts, relatively weak rods. Finding pistons with proper pin height and compression is difficult and/or expensive.

Thus, the change to the 390 crank/rods/pistons is suggested if you want anything near 300hp. One poster used 360 pistons with 390 crank and rods and ended up with 9-9.5 compression--just about perfect for this engine and for the gas you can get.

I think you can get to 300 horse on stock heads, but check the cost to rebuild vs. aftermarket heads. Better seals, hardened seats, springs good for 6000 rpm, new or reconditioned rocker shafts, proper lifters and very important, correct pushrod length. (not that you're going to need 6000 rpm, but if you want 300 horse, you are looking at 5000, and stock valve set ups in 360s start to crap out at 4800 or so according to several posts here)

Intake manifolds are the subject of several threads in the FE forums. 600 CFM vacuum secondary electric choke 4bbl would be good.

Cam--the old 390 GT grind is good, some like rv cams, again, you won't need some 1500 rpm idle cam to make 300 horse, but the stock cam and timing set from a 360 isn't going to let you have 300 horse.

Headers: a must for 300 horse. (300 net, not the old gross hp, which was probably with headers in the dyno room, not the flat-against-the-head manifolds installed on the line...)

Some recommend this book regarding the FE:

Amazon.com: How To Rebuild BIG-BLOCK FORD ENGINES: Steve Christ: Books

The 428 crank gets you a 410 with this bore, and there are stroker cranks good for about 445 with your bore as well.

I know you don't want to fool with the crank, but if you want power, it's unavoidable.

You can clean up the 360 with a different timing set, headers, manifold etc, but it will never be much of a powerhouse unless you fix the compression. Some posters are quite happy with that level of performance, and it would be a lot cheaper....

Check the FE forums and look at anything that says "360", "360 to 390", "390" etc.

Good luck. You'll get more postings as there are tons of these out there and tons of ways to skin one out.

 

Go with NOS or a turbo and that compression thing is solved. Course a rods gonna go, but it'll be fun till then.
Seriously, the rods and crank will probably handle 300 hp, but you are gonna have to change the pistons. I read that the Edsals (sp?) piston with a 361 ci engine will fit for a 9.5:1 CR and 0 deck height. Possible course of action, but of course that means getting into the lower end.
If you want 300 hp to the wheels you'll need different pistons. Which case there's no need to stay with a 360, but rather switch to 390 lower end and pistons.
If it's novelty you're after the Edsol pistons route will work and I'd add a little work on the heads, port match and exhaust clean up, ie th. hump.

 

1970 FORD F-100 PICKUP ENGINE

this looks cool for 1300 bucks i can put the intake and dizzy on it and just slap it in my truck,

 

Ask them about compression. 9 to 9.5 is preferred, your 360 was in the 8s, if that, maybe high 7s. Note they have several 390s available. Car engines had the higher compression, but if I read the link correctly, they give the same info for a '68 Galaxie 500 engine as for your 70 PU engine. The Galaxie motor would have been 9.5 or 10:1 CR, the PU engine might have been in the 8s. So, it sounds pretty good, and they do offer options, so it won't cost much to ask.

If they bump the compression, give you the GT cam*, a 4v manifold and a set of headers with 600 cfm vacuum seconday 4bbl, you'll be good to go. I wouldn't spin it to the moon, but the nature of this beast is such that between 2000 and 4500 rpm it will be fairly stout.

Good luck with it.

*serving suggestion, other fine cams exist....

 

Hey, that sounds like a pretty good deal, thanks for the info!!

 

The 360's have the SAME bore as a 390: 4.05"

Only the pistons, piston rings, rods and crank separate a 360 from a 390.

Everything else is exactly the same, including the block, heads and all the internal parts.

 

Bills right on the money everytime!
as much as i'd love to do the rebuild myself and swap crank and rods theres just some projects i dont wanna touch with a ten foot pole cuz theyll never get done! hei dizzy, 4v manifold, ed 600 carb, headers, cam, i already got all that stuff, but the motor is old and decrepid, i ofcourse wont do this swap until it blows up on me, which will most likely be a long long long time