Is there a 10:1 piston available for the 360 because that would save me alot of time and work?

 

Stumbling across a 410 Mercury would be really cool. :)
Somehow building one doesn't seem that cool unless you just happen to
have the parts or something. A child can lay money on a sales counter.

But yeah, if I knew then, what I know now, I would have went with a 390
twice so far. ;)

dinosaurfan wrote:
>"The 360 is good for nothing..."

What about piston-speed and the fact that ->a certain pickup<- would spend
almost all of its time at freeway speeds with it's rather low geared axle...

Do you think a 360's shorter stroke would ever pay its way in reduced wear
or longevity or anything? :)

Colodado wrote:
>"Is there a 10:1 piston available for the 360... ?"

He's not the only interested in that information. ;)

Alvin in AZ 360FE 2100 T18 252/252 Comp Economy Cam

 

Years ago, I had a 1969 F100 pickup with a 360 engine. I tried, but could not blow it up. It kept on going and going. It had very little power, so I pulled it out and replaced it with a 390. The 390 had more power and got better mpg. Later on I pulled the still running 390 out and put in a 428. More power and better mpg than the 390. Both the 390 and the 428 had a Holley 1850 600 cfm carburetor. After that, I only bought and built 428's and 427's.
So this is a long winded way to say I agree with dinosaurfan, in that the 360 is not a very good FE engine, unless your main concern is longevity.
Also back in 1969 I had a 1966 Ford Fairlane 390 GT, which I pulled out the 390 and installed a 427.
Once you have a 428 you do not want to go back to a 390, and once you have a 390 you do not want to go back to the 360. At least that is my opinion.
So far as a stroker engine goes, as long as you purchase pistons to reduce your compression ration to around 9:1 and use a mild cam, then the stroker would be fine for use in a pickup, especially if you were pulling a heavy load.
I built a 9:1 428 engine for our old 1973 F250 and it was a great engine for pulling our old 5th wheel.

 

If the 390 rods are only 1/16th longer, then how about a 360 crank 390 rod and a stock 360 piston?

 

The 390 rods are shorter, so you're farther down the hole.

Others have said it's hard to find higher compression 360 pistons.

390 crank and rods, 360 pistons, according to other posters, a CR in the 9s, right about where you want it for pump gas & iron heads.

Seems it's an eternal question. From 2004:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...n-a-390-a.html

 

Right I had it backwards! That wouldn't help my performance much Sorry about that! So I've found the silvolite 1131 pistons to be 8.2:1 in my research with a compression distance of 1.760 the TRW L2291's have a compression disrance of 1.776 and thus creates a higher Comp Ratio correct?

 

OK, this calculator will compute CR:

CUBIC INCH CALCULATOR and COMPRESSION RATIO

They are asking for combustion chamber size, and gasket thickness. If you're piston is down the hole, it may work to just add that number to gasket thickness.

Anything down the hole is bad bad bad for CR and performance.

Check that previous thread, they show the stock 360 piston at 1.776.

360 crank, rod, piston:

1.75 + 6.57 + 1.776 = 10.066 with a deck at 10.17--that's the stock 360, low compression.

390 crank, 390 rod, 360 piston:

1.89 + 6.488 + 1.776 = 10.154, which is a darn site closer to 10.17 and the magic "zero deck".

390 crank, 360 rod, 360 piston:

1.89 + 6.57 + 1.776 = 10.236 or, as they say "clank".

 

Ah I see! I didn't know the stock compression distance but now I do! So that still brings up the Question what about a higher compression piston, are they available?

 

Others have said no. Some said 'expensive'. I looked one day, could only find the stockers.

You can probably get 352 pistons up to .060 over, which only gives you .010 to clean up your bore.

I found a reference that says there was a 1.798 compression height 352 piston.

Looking For 352 Ford Piston Specs

But, I can't find any in Sealed Power listings on the web. So search out the 352 piston if you like, it may or may not work.

However, the 390 crank & rod and 360 piston DOES work, according to other members.....

 

Howsabout we cheat and copy out of this kid's notebook:
United Engine and Machine Co.

If you notice, part number 1131 is listed for both the 360 and 390. the descriptions give two different CRs for the two different engines.

 

I've been building FE's for a long time, and one problem has always been a lack of good piston designs that are inexpensive. There just isn't anything out there. There are some OK cast pistons that you can make due with, but that's it.

We're building a number of 390's right now, one with a little larger budget and a 4.250 crank, one with a 428 crank, and the others with std 390 cranks. The std 390's are all using better forged pistons, except one. We don't even typically do 360's. I keep 390 & 428 cranks in stock to "correct" that "problem" for customers. While the strokers are great, this discussion is aimed at the more budget oriented approach.

The reason I ignore the 360's is that the std 360 cast piston, like the H395P, will sit .120" in the hole with a 10.170 deck, and give 7.1:1 compression with a 74cc head. Even using a 352 piston will only get you up to .064 in the hole and 8:1CR with it's 1.816" comp height.

The 390 doesn't have a whole lot better choices. The best you can do with a cast piston is to mill the decks to 10.150", (leaving .013" in hole), the heads to 72cc, and you'll end up with 9.4-9.5:1. At 10.150 we don't have a problem, but if the heads are milled, you should mill the cyl head intake faces to keep the intake fitting easily. Now Keith Black has a cast 390 piston with a nice tall 1.780"CHT, but they included a compression killing 20cc dish that gives 8.5:1, even if you mill the decks to 10.160 and have .002" deck clearance.

Once you move up to forged pistons, there are a number of choices that work better, although some of those pistons have little pit falls to be aware of too.

For my customers that have 352/360's, we move them into a 390/410, and if they are budgeted for cast pistons, the best that can be done without milling the heads a bunch is mid 9.5:1 or so compression.

Now, the other view point is that optimizing compression and quench is great and all, but many an FE has run just fine with 7.5:1 and a piston down in the hole. Very true. Definitely avoids detonation. But most folks that are into their vehicles like to optimize their stuff a bit more than just the generic reman type approach. And for our altitude here in Colorado, more compression is certainly a plus.

Rob McQuarie
Blue Oval Performance

 

do they make a higher compression 352 piston that you can get in .060? you could just hone it out the .010... Or do the 352 ones just come in stock form also?

 

Contact the piston manufacturer. Car 352's were 10 or maybe even 10.5 : 1. Later truck engines were in the 8s or so.

Another way to go is custom pistons, look at $100+ each:

Arias Pistons

 

when rebuilding my 352 I kinda recall the ring set was unique and pricier than the 360/390 stuff IIRC