I just bought a 360 motor/tranny. Are all FE motor parts (i.e. intakes, valve covers, cams etc etc.) interchangable? I always see some parts only listing the larger 400+ cid motors while others list the smaller or all the motors. Most of my experience has been with chevy stuff but I didnt want to got the 350/350 route.
332 352 360 390 410 427 428 FE is a fe, as far as bolt ons. 410 and 428s are externally balaned. Use their own fly wheels, cranks and pistons. heads all fit one another. some being better than others. Car/truck heads are differnt than Gt type heads as Gt style bolts are horizonal, not not the same exhaust pattern as trucks and full size cars.
The 360 Ford belongs to one of the most successful performance architectures in Ford's engine arsenal. Think of it as a small block with generous deck heigth. Thi engine family was concieved BEFORE the days of small block/ big block. It was intended to provide a platform by which Ford could compete in the displacement/horsepower race. The 360 was a bread and butter version usually found in pickups. It has a 4.05" bore and a 3.50" stroke. It is simply a short stroke 390. Fe's are very interchangeable. The key issue being some of the very big valved heads will interfere with the cyl wall on the smaller bore engines like the 360 and 390. Don't worry! The smallest valves in any Fe are bigger than the large valve sbc. The thing to do with the 360 is let it breathe. Decent headers and exhaust, a performance matched cam, an Edelbrock, Dove or Blue Thunder manifold and you're in. The only hitch is the 360's low compression(8:1 if memory serves), which is remedied at rebuild time. link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182/
my father bought a new f-350 in 1972 with a 360..it's untouched and still running good today. it has hauled a lot of projects/motors/ junk around for me .that's all i know about 360 fords
The 360 is a good engine but more is easy to get........your basic block is shared by 3 ford engines...........360..........390..........410.......all you need is the crank, rods(your rods are 6.540...390's are 6.488" long) and pistons to change it to a 390.........also there is the 410......only put in mercury cars........428 passenger car crank......need crank, rods, pistons, hym. balancer and flywheel/flexplate because this is an externally balanced engine..all 360/390's are internally balanced........now if you find the heavy duty truck version called FT.......those cranks are forged and externally balanced.......same bore and stroke but to tell the difference on them ford called them 361/391 engines.......the FT only came in those two engines...and for a cheap ing. upgrade look for last 3 or 4 years of the FE production......they had the electronic dist.......
Make sure it is not the FT motor and a real 360 FE. You can easily make more cubes out of this motor by changing the crank to the 390 or larger units. They like head and intake work and you can get gobs of power out of them...but they are a little more pricey to build than the small blocks.
The 360 only came in light trucks, essentially a 390 block with a 352 crank. As was already pointed out, if you want more cubes, swap a 390 or 428 rotating assembly in. I have one in my stock '69 F250. Very reliable. I only drive it 2 or 3 times a year, but it always starts right up and runs good. Not much power though.
....yet the ford 360 combines the weight of a big block, with the performance of a small block. It's a boat anchor, but you can tell folks it's a 390 or 406 or 428, and most of them won't know the difference.
-Which brings to mind the question... what the hell were they thinking?! They took a great truck motor [390] and destroked it, and proceeded to sell it in trucks. Its a guttless gas hog. The engineer who thought that one up, along with the people who OK'ed it should have been beaten, then fired! - Mike
As stated before 390 block and pistons + 352 crank and rods = 360. The best an easiest thing to do to your 360 is to put a 390 crank and rods in it. You can go the 410 route but you will probably have a harder time finding all the parts. The pistons in the 360s that I have torn down have 390 4V stamped on them. I am sure you will be far happier with the performance of a 390 than a 360. I have only been around one 360 I ever liked, that is the one in the 1970 Ford 4X4 pickup that my Dad bought new and I suspect that Ford somehow messed up and put a 390 in that one. I could outrun 360 powered 1/2 ton 2 wheel drive pickups with that 3/4 ton 4X4.
I got an FE 360 shoe horned in my '56 Fairlane club sedan. It's got '68 GT heads, and '63 t-bird ex manifolds. The manifolds bolt on but missing holes. As I know, everything is virgin. Has a '73 2 bbl intake with a holley 2500 series carb. Motor runs great! Does anyone know if this set up? I was done in the mid '90s.
FEs are great engines The 360 is a low compression truck version But parts like cranks and rods can swap like SBCs A 390 crank and rods slide right in Now ya got something 360/390 blocks are the same Find a 428 crank and rods and now we got 400+ cubes Heads are all up to you.
if you are asking about exhaust manifolds bolt patterns, here is some insight https://www.diyford.com/ford-fe-engine-exhaust-systems-complete-guide/ if your asking will 390 heads work on a 360, then yes intake should be fine the intake ports vary with CJ heads
Maybe not a bad thing this thread was revived... a lot has changed in the last 12+ years... The 360 was never a 'performance' motor, it was a low-compression truck motor, designed for good torque and longevity. In that it was successful, I had one that went 250K before shedding the nylon teeth off the cam sprocket. Some more compression and a bit of head work will wake one right up. And the complaints about weight aren't really deserved; compared to other '50s era V8s (with the exception of the SBC), it was lighter than many of them. Look up weights on the Cads, Olds, Buick motors; they were all heavier than the FE. The main complaint was the intake manifold; in cast iron, it was a major job to change one. Switch to aluminum and knock 50 lbs off the weight, add aluminum heads and water pump and you're getting close to small block weight. You'll be hard-pressed to get the weight of the others down that low without some pretty exotic parts. And with the advent of inexpensive stroker kits that have appeared since the original posting, you can take one out to 445" for not much more than the cost of a straight rebuild.
A destroked 390 eh? I'm not familiar with these engines, but it seems like the shorter stroke could make for a fun higher rpm motor. Maybe all it's lacking is a decent compression ratio, a nice cam grind aimed at high rpm power, intake and headers and some short gearing to make for a screamer. Any reason why this isn't practical?
They could be made to run. Back in high school, I acquired a 352 PI out of a '59 Ford that I rebuilt in auto shop. Being a broke student and not being able to afford brand new parts, I picked up a used 427 solid cam and lifters, a 428 PI aluminum intake, and had bigger valves installed upon advice. I then handicapped myself by installing it in a '58 Ranch Wagon and with 3.56 gears (the lowest I could afford), it wasn't great off the line. But on a 20 mph rolling start, I could run with the hot small blocks no problem. With a full-syncro 3.03 three-speed, it would pull 115 mph in second gear. No one would believe it was a lowly 352...
in stock form, a 352 is much better than a 360 I have had 352s, several 360s, and a 390 in trucks all in stock form the 360 was my least favorite of the 3, just in terms of fun, no mechanical issues, just slow. if its gonna drink the same gas a 390 does, it needs to perform like one the piston height is the main issue with the 360 and stock cam specs. I have seen a couple with improved cams and compression perform much better than stock. a 352 PI engine is no comparison to a stock 360
The early 352 engines had flat top pistons and a 4 bbl version was rated at 300 HP. in 65 they used a dished piston with eyebrows. lower compression and hp rated at 250 Hp. the down in the bore 360 is a low compression mill. Now in my hoard I have a 58 332 engine. same bore as a 352 and shorter stroke. Now If I had some .060 over pistons for it with the short stroke it might be something different.
I know little about Ford's but stumbled into a '75 4x4 that I got for next to nothing. Did a .040-over rebuild with stock spec cam, factory iron 4bbl intake that came with the truck, cleaned up the heads and valves, etc. The only nod to performance is a 600 Edelbrock carb and headers. It runs really smooth and torquey down low with a real heavy crank and flywheel but loves gas and is really doggy on acceleration. I didn't have the resources or connections to source a 390 crank and didn't want to spend the money to get the MUCH lighter aluminum intake. Did find out that the earlier 360's had a better cam than the smog era later ones after I already ordered the master rebuild kit with crappier one.
Not that you would ever be able to find one, but don't forget the 406. The cranks on most FE engines are cast nodular iron, and are more than adequate, but if you intend to build a max performance engine, the bigger truck engines, FT series, used a forged crank that will fit. The only change that has to be made is, that the nose of the crank has to be machined to match the nodular crank. Caution is required, if you intend to bore more than .030. I had one that was bored .100, and the cylinder wall failed in normal use. An aluminum intake will reduce the weight of the engine by 70 lbs, if memory serves. You can use the GT heads on an engine that came with the standard heads, and you can use the regular or the GT exhaust manifolds, as the heads are drilled for both types. This can sometimes solve clearance issues. Again, there is one thing, some heads have the exhaust ports at a different height, so you will need to check to make certain that the manifolds or headers match the ports on the heads. I got caught on that once, when I ordered headers and couldn't use them because the ports didn't match. I have not checked lately, but the FE engines were very common, and used in trucks, at least in Canada, until 1978. I am still running a car with a 390, and a truck with a 428. There are some excellent books on the FE, probably out of print, but here are a couple of titles: There is a Ford FE performance book in a magazine format that is pure gold. I have misplaced my copy, but when I find it, I will post it later. It designates all the parts in the FE performance engines.. Here are some great books that will be very helpful: "How to Rebuild your Big-Block Ford", Steve Christ, HP Books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=How+to+rebuild+your+Big-Block+Ford&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&ref=nb_sb_noss "Ford Performance", Pat Ganahl, SA Design https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Ford+Performance,+Pat+Ganahl,+SA+Design&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&ref=nb_sb_noss "Super 60s Fords", John Smith, SA Design Even though they are out of print, it is possible to find them in Amazon used books. https://www.amazon.com/Super-60s-Fords-John-Smith/dp/1884089690 I also used to call myself a GM guy, but I can't say that anymore, because I own as many Ford engines as Chevy. Bob
I believe you are correct. I was just writing from memory, and was probably thinking of the fact that the standard heads only have the provision for the vertical bolts. I don't recall ever seeing GT heads that didn't have both bold patterns. Bob
The Ford book I was thinking of is called, "Muscle Parts", by Ford. It is in a magazine format, published by Ford, and has all the information. It describes the various stages of performance to build anything from an awesome street machine, to an all out race engine, including excellent descriptions of the engines. It includes writeups on building each stage, and includes the part and casting numbers. It is a valuable reference on the parts that are common to more than one stage, and any machine work that would be required. It is an excellent source Bob
It was the C6 most had that killed the fuel mileage. I had one in a '68 F100, three on tree, 2.8 rear gears, manual steering/brakes. While certainly not a rocket, it'd deliver 20+ mpg on the highway no problem. The guy that sold it to me told me it got that, and I figured him for a liar. But at the time (2nd gas 'crisis') 1/2 ton trucks were hard to find used, 3/4T were a glut on the market. This one ran the best, so I bought it. Turned out the guy wasn't lying. Best truck I ever owned, would have rebuilt it if my ex hadn't beat the body up so badly...
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