I have a 1960 T-bird with a 352, during Paso car show weekend the carb blew up breaking a piece of a venturey off in the intake and melted. I am hoping it did not go to far. Anyone have any suggestions where to start to look or where to get a motor.
A 390 Ford will bolt right in. There are tons of them out there. A 390 is much more common than a a 352 and has more power...
I guess you'll have to take the intake off then the heads until you find the piece. As long as it didn't cause major damage, you shouldn't need a new motor. If it made it into a cylinder and scored it up, you could just get that cylinder sleeved or rebore it as a 390. (4.000" diameter to 4.050") If you rebore it to 390 size, you will have all kinds of crankshaft and piston choices.
Yes!! From approx. 1963 to the mid '70s, there are still a bunch of them out there.... and the aftermarket is definitely out there for them if you need anything. Malcolm
The Blurr: In case you didn't know, you have to be very careful when looking for an FE. Measure the stroke and check the casting numbers. 352's, 360's, 390's and 428's look identical. Definitely! You just gotta look a little harder for them than for example, 351 or 429/460 parts.
Depending on how big the piece was would depend on whether it went through the throttle plate. If it went through there then it might still be sitting at the intake port depending on how long it was run after you became aware of the problem. I have been running a 64 T-Bird since 1974 and have had all kinds of problems with the old Autolite 4-barrel carb. The last couple of years I have been running off the front two barrels due to the poor quality of secondary actuator diaphragms and the little check valve ball that gets gummed up in the actuator air passage. What a pain. I should have put a Holley on years ago.
I guess the Holley/Autolite carb debate is about like the Ford/Chevy, PC/MAC debates. Pros and cons to each. I've heard just the opposite about the two carbs that the Autolite was the better way to go. Got any pics? What do you mean something broke off the carb? Nearly all of the FE blocks will have a "352" cast in the front. Pay it no mind though. Craigslist is a good source. Lots of trucks had the 360's & 390's. Probably find one running in an old farm truck that you can hear run.
As you look down the carb into the the primary the round doughnut looking thing that sticks out in the middle. That was broken in half and to my horror I saw a molten piece of metal sitting on on the throttle plate. So I removed the carb and I did see tiny beads with in the intake but that is as far as I got. So thought I would ask some people who are smarter than I what to do before I tear in to it like a rabid pitbull on crack .
There is not much metal in half an air horn. If the melted drippings and the melt BBs in the manifold account for most of the lost material the engine might not suffer too much. They eat a lot of hard carbon all the time. If the compression checks OK on all eight cylinders you might try a different carb or repair yours and see what happens. The worst case would be valve or cylinder wall damage but that pot metal is pretty soft. You just never know. Spinning is over with the plugs out, while checking compressions, might blow most of the remnants out if the BBs are pretty small.
Be VERY carefull with FE casting numbers as alot are generic. If you are going to spend good money on an FE you really need to do your homework . I like to inspect them unassembled as you have a far greater chance of knowing what you are truely getting...JMO
nuther thing, shy away from the 360's, they'll live forever but use a lot of fuel doing it.... 390/428's are a better choice...
Yes but a 360 is really a 390 in sheeps clothing. You can probably score a decent 360 for $50 because nobody wants them. They are the same as the light truck 390 in every way except stroke. They are a essentially a 4.05" bore 390 block with the 352 3.5" stroke crank. They have excellent port/valve area for their displacement.
I would get a buddy (or three) and pull the intake off. Its a heavy MOFO, so don't do it yourself. From there you can look down the intake runners with a small light and get one of those extendable magnet pickup tools and go fishing for metal. I'm betting you'll be fine so long as none of it made it past the valves.
There are a lot fo FE out there. Right now on Craig's list there are 10 or more in trucks around my hood. The best one I owned, I took my Mums 1966 390, punched to to 428, cammed it and used the 390 heads. Zero-40 it was a dog, after that a rocket sled on wheels Its now sitting in a friends 27 bucket which he cant drive if it rains
Here is a 352 on craigslist, in Turlock, if you need it. http://modesto.craigslist.org/for/386977056.html
The Jalopy Journal
