Idle is a for a manual. You are correct there 250.
The PSI you got at idle should be considered 2x what you need. what is your psi at 2500? If at least 30 you are doin good.

 

"Not to hi-jack thread" But how about "customer SERVICE" we rail about off shore/import STUFF and buy it anyway. "YOU" the consuming public are responsable, put your foot(check book/credit card) down. Demand the best from everyone and every thing, especialy ourselves .We have the technology, we have the skill, we have it all, including "THE LAZIES".

Ooops sorry, that soap box just jumped right out in front of me. I'm seeing some one for the condition.

 

I'm doing good. I have over 45 psi on the freeway, and that is great. Now if it just stays there, and doesn't continue to drop. It should be good.

 

So now that your oil pressure is straightened out are you happy with the engine as a whole? Glad you did the swap or would you have rather rebuilt the original 390?

 

91Bronc300, I'm glad you asked that question. I, too, want to know more about the performance!

 

back in the day, we all used stewert warner. auto meter was what you bought if you were broke, and needed a set of guages to impress your friends. my sreet rods all have dolphins in them, and I am quite pleased with them, although they are pricey.

 

Thanks for asking. I am very happy with the engine now that I can drive without one eye on the psi!! Lol. It is really impressive with quite a bit of power, and I always smile when the secondaries come on. I haven't towed with it so I don't know what it will do, but I think it will do real well. And I sure do like the mpg too. I can't wait to put the gear vendor in and reach close to 20 mpg, close. That will really make me feel good. I still say I have the power of the 390 with a 2v carb.

Having said that, I grew up with sbc being THE engine of choice. This is not close to a modified sbc. But it is also in a truck and it's just a different engine. And I accept that and enjoy it for what it is...a peppy, fun, inline 300. I am very happy with the swap. I don't know how it would be with a 300 hp Clifford engine. But my thinking was that if I was going to be using the same amount of fuel, why not stay with a v8.

Yeps, I'm glad I did the swap. Even with the melt down of the first engine, the time I spent with friends building it and wrenching on it, researching, b.s.'ing, etc., was all the best fun in a long time. I'm glad I did it. (Although it would have been a lot cheaper to have only done it once. Don't laugh.)

I want to adjust the trans to shift a bit later, and I will soon be swapping out the cam with new (non knocking) timing gears, and installing a new Summit cross flow radiator with a duel fan set up. The fans are out of a Ford WindStar van. It is a huge set up, and costs only $40 for the fans from the J. yard. I love it when I can get good stuff from the boneyard, and save serious cash too.

Lessons learned: Never grab a plug wire of a high energy ignition system when the engine is running! You'll only do it once. "Yeee haaaaw.!"

Always install the cam before the bottom end.

Have the machine shop check cam journal alignment FIRST.

Buy the very best.

Listen to experienced pros.

When ever you re-use a part on a rebuilt engine, you're creating the weak link.

Ask about return policy before buying something.

Hedman headers suck badly.

If you can smash a brake vacuum line in your hand, toss it before it flattens out like a used rubber.

HP parts for the 300 are few and far between.

During assembly, never guess, never try to 'eyeball' something. Measure, then confirm the specs called for.

And my favorite: ALWAYS remove the breaker bar from the v. dampener nut before turning the engine over with the key.

And there sure as heck ought to be a retailer with copper head gaskets, copper and/or soft aluminum exhaust gaskets, cross flow heads with huge valves, forged cranks, forged flat top pistons!!!!!, rods, and as many trick parts as available for sbc's. You can wake me up any time.

 

Glad You finally have a nice solid engine. Enjoy!

"And there sure as heck ought to be a retailer with copper head gaskets, copper and/or soft aluminum exhaust gaskets, cross flow heads with huge valves, forged cranks, forged flat top pistons!!!!!, rods, and as many trick parts as available for sbc's. You can wake me up any time."

This is why I always tell the Chevy guys "All you need to drive a Hot Rod Ford is a real mechanic and cubic money" us Ford guys get no respect.

Keep us posted on the joys of having a Hot Rod 300. I am looking forward to getting my kit and 309 finished. This gives me hope.

Take Care
Jim
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Well I'm real glad to hear you are so pleased with everything. I bet you went 'what the crap was that?' when you turned the engine over and slammed the breaker bar into whatever it hit LOL. I'm sure you will be pleased with the towing grunt your new mill is going to turn out. The funny thing is, compared to the chev 350 and the ford 351 the 300 is obviously slower, not as much get up and go. So after having towed with those medium size v8s I figured towing with the 300 would be worse than them. I was actually suprised. The 300 get up and go was somewhat less than a smallblock but when towing is actually somewhat better than a smallblock. I can't explain why, because to my mind it doesn't matter what configuration an engine is in, TQ and HP numbers should be directly comparable. But anyway, I think that now that your inline is hopped up it should tow very well for you. Granted, you are 90 cubic inches down from your original engine, instead of just 50, but I don't think that matters with the work you've done. Good job!

 

It's all in the power band. At what rpm range you build your torque and horsepower.