390 FE question?
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 360
Likes: 3
From: Napa
I'm not sure what you'd want to accomplish by that- a 390 isn't really big enough to support those kind of heads unless you really wind it up, bottom end would be pretty lame. Putting smaller valves in would be pretty expensive, and again, what's to be gained? JMHO, but you'd be much better off going with an E-bock 390-428 head w/ standard LR valve sizes, and Barry R's slightly modified sets are a pretty good deal.
BTW, most any head with 2.19/1.73 or bigger valves are NOT friendly with the 390 bore size, including the MR. Most of the big-valve heads also have a wider guide spacing, putting the outside edges of the valves even further out. I have a set of late low-riser "big H" heads, which have the standard guide spacing, but with 2.19/1.75 valves, and there's only about .023 between the valves- pretty tight, which is why the big-valve heads have the guides pushed further apart- and were designed to fit the 427 bore size
BTW, most any head with 2.19/1.73 or bigger valves are NOT friendly with the 390 bore size, including the MR. Most of the big-valve heads also have a wider guide spacing, putting the outside edges of the valves even further out. I have a set of late low-riser "big H" heads, which have the standard guide spacing, but with 2.19/1.75 valves, and there's only about .023 between the valves- pretty tight, which is why the big-valve heads have the guides pushed further apart- and were designed to fit the 427 bore size
