I just picked up a 76 f150 4x with the 360 fe manual. I live in NW Montana and will use it as my DD with lots of cold starts in the winter. Want it to be reliable starter and runner. Wont be 4xing it but will take it into the mountans to play around occasionally. I know very little about the engine or various aftermarket venders, but do have some family help in putting it togather once I determin what to do.

It has dual 2.5inch exhaust but other then that the engine is pretty stock. I guess 10yrs ago they did an engine core replacment and just swapped all the parts accross if that matters?

It needs a new electronic ignition modual and distributer. That being said I want to find out what some good setups are for how I intend to use it. Would like to queeze whatever performance/milage gain out of it that I can but that isnt my primary objective as stated above. I want to cap off spending around $1500 -2K

My thoughts were to replace the intake manifoled, carb, distributer, coil, wires, Ignition modual. I dont want to short change myself by not doing something if it realy makes since... or by paying to much for a distributer if another brand will get me the same thing in the end.

Thanks for the info

 

JMO but I would:

--secure reliable ignition, up to a new distributor and box if needed.

http://www.performancedistributors.c...stributors.htm

--basic tuneup as listed.

--carb rebuild or reman carb if you have issues.

There are some issues with the 360. It is basically a 390, but with a 3.50 stroke--in other words, a 352 crank. (speculation as to how they did this--overbore the 352 or what I think, use the same block for both 390 and 360) As a result, the piston ends up .120 or so down the hole, and compression is dismal. Thus, it's a low-powered gas hog. There is no easy way to fix this. The fix is to install the 390 crank and rods, use 360 pistons and end up with 9-9.5 compression and better quench characteristics.

So, keep in mind, your $1500 probably isn't going to cover this.

You can spend it all on the 360, adding headers and a 4bbl manifold with a 500 or so cfm 4bbl with an electric choke. That will bring the 360 out of its coma, and into the drowsy mode. But it's going to use just that much more gas for not a terrific amount of additional power.

See any and all posts with "360" in the name and find more info.

I would consider the minimum work here, and save up for a general overhaul, with cam/pistons, perhaps even more stroke. Your engine will go out to 445 or so with an aftermarket crank.

Stand by for more, this is probably one of the most frequently asked and answered question on the site.

 

I am not sure why so many diss the 360. Many are turning over the 3rd and 4th time by now. It is a truck engine and not a street burner. They are extreemly reliable. I have one that has decent power, gets about 14 mpg right now with Dual exhaust, rebuilt carb and general stock cleanup (factory set up and slow engine degunking). Today I am putting a new diz in with a electronic conversion module, New time set that is not retarded (per 70's smog set up) but straight up cam timing and a new oil pump just beacuse I am changing the pan gasket. I did get rid of the choke heater tubes and put in a electronic choke conversion from LMC. Works great. Also hooked up the original air cleaner with hot air damper and hot air manifold stove. Also installed the original cold air intake. Starts every time is warm in 5 min and there is no hessitation. It sounded to me that is what your looking for not a high buck street ripper. Oh mine has 217,000 on it and no smoke good compression. Crappy ole 360....

PS see the air intake, I have since installed my own air cone from the intake duct to the cleaner air horn that is bigger. Out on the highway the cold air makes a differance as it does on a hot day at a stop sign in summer. I also cleaned out the crossover from #3 and #6 exhaust ports through the intake mani to the carb plate to help keep the fuel atomized and not condensing. It all works great. I can't set the tires on fire but this dude just keeps on truckin! Just need to decide what your wanting and stick to your plan.

 

yeah for now I just want something that starts & runs good and hopefully gets 10-12mpg what type of distribe / ei modual are you going with... Im thinking about a ford duraspark with the MSD 6a ??? **** I dont know anything, just what Ive read no real experience with them... the msd distrib is $370!!??? So im looking to alternatives

 

Well I have the mallory conversion and coil. But to tell you the truth I didn't really notice a huge improvement over the points set correctly. Interesting today pulled the time cover and there was some slop but the system was still in fair condition. Pulled the pan and there wasn't any metal or nasty chewed up stuff. Just a bit of sludge in the very bottom and a clear screen. All looked good on the lower end. I think these 360's are marathon runners. Any way gave me a chance to detail paint the rest of the motor.

Hearing what you want to do, If I were you I would just start putting the unit back the way she was designed. Concentrate on the carb, choke and air intake systems so you can get the truck to start and take you anywhere you want to go. These are awesome trucks. Start a regiment of high detergent over time and get er guts clean. Check out the rocker shafts they like to collect crap and stop oiling. Make sure your cooling system is up to snuff.

 

The 360 is a reliable but otherwise undistinguished engine. My 360 must have had a few hundred thousand miles on it when I had it rebuilt. I regret that I didn't change the crank then, because when I got the rest of the truck the way I wanted it, the lack of oomph was dissapointing. I am in the final stage of replacing it with a 410 that I bought much cheaper than I could have built (and it is a nice build). I really look forward to wasting gas in the 410, but the other than a little issue I had with the engine boiling gas in the carb (solved by putting a spacer under the carb), the 360 didn't let me down.

I had headers, a 4v, and electronic ignition on it.

 

Like Kennewick I find the 360 I inherited in my truck to be a reliable engine. Needed work when I bought it. Got rid of the egr intake and replaced with a non-egr intake. Had a 2100 manual choke Autolite rebuilt. Cleaned out the drain holes and the rocker assembly when the manifold was changed. Replaced the dented oil pan and put in new shaft and pump. Put on a new non-retarded timing chain set and then overhauled the distributor. Thoroughly cleaned the insides, changed the heavy spring out, put in Pertronix, and set back with intial timing at 12 and mechanical at 26 all in by 2500 rpm. Starts up immediately and really isn't that much of a pudge when driving around compared to when I got it. I'm happy even though I have 390 rods and crank sitting in the garage. Besides if I want old fashioned power there is the 410 in the big Merc and the modified 302 in the Cougar.

 

If the bushings in the dist. are good just buy a Pertronics ignition module and install it. Cheap, works good and you only have to check and if necessary adjust the timing after the install.

 

Yeah I am ready to dump this Mallory. The Pertronics sound as if they have a real good track record on this forum.

 

Pulled the 360 over the last couple of weekends and got the 410 running today. Night and day. The truck looked great but was very ordinary with the 360, and there was nothing wrong with the 360, but the 410 transforms the truck.

We may put a 390 crank in the 360, but then I'll need a car to put it in.

 

Hey yellow have you documented the 410 details on this forum I for one would love to look at what you have done?

 

Well, I cheated. I bought it from the guy that built it! All we had to do was slip it in - which turns out was no slip in. We spent about 3 hours trying to get the pilot bushing to slip over the input shaft. We could not get the clutch alignment to the point where the two parts would mate even with an alignment tool. In the end one of us lay on the floor and backed off all the pressure plate to flywheel bolts while the other turned the engine over from the balancer bolt, then with the clutch loosened off we could wiggle the engine and get the input shaft to seat.

The rest was pretty ordinary, I had to buy a flywheel (the 410 came out of an automatic, so I bought a McLeod 428 Detroit balanced flywheel and moved the pilot bushing over from the 360), we had to move the oil pan, oil pick up, and one of the main bearing cap bolts (one of them has a smaller bolt set into it to hold the oil pickup bracket), and moved over my Edelbrock carb and MSD ignition and distributor.

Our only moment of panic came when we fired the 410 (it started right away) and there was a really strange noise coming from the front. We removed the belts one by one until all the accessories were off, and it still made the sound. My buddy realized that when he put the balancer on that the timing pointer was very close to the balancer, so he backed it away with a screw driver, problem solved, pulse returned to normal.

The guy who built the motor has a lot of pictures of the build, I'll try to get them and post them.

 

Thats awesome. I have been studying a 410 build and would like to see what ever you have. On specs and such.
I hope you took a few pics.

 

I should probably mention that this was not actually a 410 build, it was an orignal 410, but the work was done to port and polish the heads, open up the oil passages out of the filter, and restrict the oil passages into the heads.

 

Im replacing the carb and intake manifold & I need to replace the distributer and electronic ignician box as they are in bad shape (connectors etc) they could give up at any time. Does anyone have some suggestions here for solid aftermarket parts? I want somthing I can depend on and is fairly easy to work with.. not drag strip performance. Guess Im really supprised more people arent chiming in??? Seems like it would be a no brainer type answer... I also ride enduro bikes and do all my own work on them, would be a simple answer there..

Sorry if you guys are just sic of anwsering stupid questions but I really dont know this stuff.