I bought a cheap donor motor. The guy that owned it before me bought it for a mustang build decided against the weight and opted for a stroked 302 and left the FE sitting in his back yard... I needed some bottom end parts and even tho the top end was too rusty to rotate the crank the bottom end was good to go. The guy said it was a 390 but "they're all 390's on sale day" and we couldn't rotate the crank or find a piston that happened to be at TDC. The timing chain cover was the same casting as my 360's which is cracked and he sold me the whole motor for less than the cost of buying a new timing chain cover. That being said.. I bought a sweet timing chain cover with a rusty motor attached. now i have absolutely no idea what engine I'm looking at.. I'm starting to believe it's a 360FT. but I'm not sure. here's what i know.


The Crank looks forged (FT trait)but has a 1.375" pulley snout(FE trait), and is stamped with a few different markings. The furthest to the rear just before the fly wheel flange is stamped on a flat the the letter B (428???) the #1 counterweight is stamped on the outside radius with the numbers 17 and 18, one of the middle counter weights is stamped real small with a box with FOMOCO so it's a stock crank right? i found a stamp that looks like it could have at one time been stamped 2T.. but I'm only about 40% sure of that. (can be 360 or 361)
The Rods C7AE-B
the Pistons. inside the piston skirt is cast the number B-172and the pistons are dished
The Intake is cast (C5AE 9425C) and set up with an old school holley 4bbl of unknown CFM (no list# on the choke tower), it had a spacer under the carb plumed into the coolant between the top of the intake and the line to the heater core.
The Heads C8AE-H. 2V.. the valves without being too accurate (micrometer damaged during a cross county move) are 2" and 1.5"
The Block is of absolutely no help there isn't' even a false casting number... and i can't get a clean measurement until i clean it up a little but it does have oil passages for hyd lifters and 4 holes on each side for the engine mount.. which i've heard is an FT trait but have also read where it's for some FE's as well. also the front of the block has the standard 352 cast into it which is pretty much true for all FE's is that for FT's as well?

does anyone have enough experience to put all that together and come up with an estimation of engine size or model year without knowing the punch or stroke? sorry for the long read guys.

 

You might have something more valuable that what you think, but I will let one of the motor gurus say what I think it is.



John

 

yeah that thought crossed my mind when i saw the B stamp on the crank and casting code on the rods... but the crank has to be too small... MAYBE a 390 if not a 360... like i said my mic got bent up during the move from northern washington to so-cal but eyeballing the crank from the center of the main bearing journal to the center of the connecting rod journal it looks like 1.75 inches.. which would give me a throw of 3.5 inches which would make it a 360... with 390 rods.. and a stock 4bbl intake.. this is where the confusion comes in... on the other hand i do feel dumb right now because i looked at the crank in the day light and it is a cast crank.
i got all of the pistons out (finally) and am gonna clean up the holes re-assemble one cylinder and measure it the normal way.. it is a confusing motor.

 

The "B" 428 crank was/is a 1UA for the SCJ. It's missing the telltale counterweight where the std 1U and 1UB or (A) has it normally cast in. Look closely at the edges of the counterweights for a 1U-1UB or 1UA stamping. If it's a 390 crank look for a 2U or 3U stamping on the counterweight edge. Those are 2 of the common 390 cranks out there. Good chance it might have been ground on possibly at some point in time if you don't see anything. I wouldn't go by the B alone unless you can confirm it's a 428 crank. Check this link.... 428 Cobra Jet Crankshaft Identification
The C7 rods are indeed the short FE rods. The SCJ originally came with the LeMans capscrew rods not the C7-B's. But alot can change over the years. Stock rod bolts are 3/8" and the CJ/PI used a thicker 13/32" rod bolt and nut. Some of the typical 360 3.5" cranks are the 2T and 2TA. I know some 3.5" cranks used to have a half moon shape in the flange vs the square cutout on the 390-428's. But I think that was dropped at some point to favor a different machining protocol.

 

Just noticed you think you saw a 2T if so it's a 360 crank. Get a better look with a mag glass if ya can. Sorry I missed that.

 

i've been so busy dealing with the rusted pistons that i didn't even notice until now. there's an X cast into the inside of the block... down under the intake between the #3 and 4 holes... and i put the crank and the one good piston back in and it is a 360 crank.. bu the bore is around 4.3 inches... i dont' know whats up with this engine....

 

so i've just done some math(which i am BAD at) and a 4.375 bore with a 3.5" stroke.. would yield somewhere in the area or 420-421CID.. is that even an engine combo?
i'm gonna use the donor crank in my old block. but i was thinking about using the donor block as a hobby engine...

 

unless you have a genesis or some other after market aluminum block, no FE goes to 4.375 period. And with around a 3.5 in stroke, it sounds like you have a 429. 4.36x3.59.
But it has some Fe/Ft traits too so....

 

what are the differences and what would be the same? this new confusing motor has the same heads and timing chain cover as the 360 already in my truck.

 

Sounds like a regular 1968-1971 360, except for the bore.

If you have a piston out, measure it at the skirt.