alright heres the scoop guys. Im kicking ideas around on what to build for my truck. Im deploying again at the end of the month for six months, so that means Ill have time to think and ponder and also money to do something with. Here is what I have now, a 352 in a 66 F100 that is pretty worn. I took compression numbers and they where 110 across the board. It has an isky 262 super cam, edelbrock performer intake, 600 cfm edelbrock carb, headers, dual 2 1/4 inch pipes and small glass packs. The dizzy is a napa rebuild with a petronix in it. I have another 352 that is complete from carb to pan, pulled out of a running 66 truck that runs good. I also have a 390 block, just the block that is out of a fairlane. I drive the piss out of my truck, lots of highway driving, its seen FL to NJ and I put 18,000 miles on it this year. Im torn between building a 390 or rebuilding the spare 352. I havent talked to the machine shop that is close to me about FE stuff, but for other stuff ive had done and heard of they are decently priced. Ive also thought about tearing down the spare 352, re ringing it and checking the crank and have it polished and put new bearings in. Then top it off with the 3 duece edlebrock intake that I have and then piecing together carbs and linkages for it. A little on the truck now, its a 66 F100. It has a c-6 in it, unknown converter, 3.55 rear with 255/60/15s out back. I pull a small trailer around with it sometimes and take it on long trips. Any real deal FE guys out there have some advice for me. Part of me wants the simplicity of the 4 barrel carb, part of me thinks it would be slick to have 3 two barrels on a beater. Im also not sure how much of a gain the 38 cubes would be, compared to a fresh 352. Any advice would be great guys.
I know I am not a fe expert but here is my .02 if you dont mind Take the 390 do a fresh rebuild with a nice smooth aftermarket cam port a set of iron heads stay with the factory ignition and either top it off with the 3x2's or put and edelbrock streetmaster intake. I have heard great things about the streetmaster intake. if your towing a trailer get a good torque cam from comp or isky goodluck.
as a Ford guy I would do the 390 . with the isky cam and intake with the 600 , it should cruise good on the highway
A 352 block has a 4 inch bore stock. The 390 block has a 4.05 bore stock. Build whichever block checks out best and bore it for 352 pistons (if using the 352 crank) or 390 pistons (if changing to a 390 crank). PS: the 360, available as a Police Interceptor option in 1958, used the 4.05 bore. Of course the 360 was used in trucks but I don't know which version has the better deck clearance. I'd just go with .03, .04 or .06 352 oversizes.
I thought the isky 262 would be small on a 390. Eddy heads are way out of the price range, im leaving that for when I do the survival stroker. 445 aluminum head motor in a beater shop truck, its a little over board.
I've owned all of your choices. I vote for the 390 with a 4 barrel. The extra stroke makes a very nice gain in performance. the reason for the carb choice is simplicity. The 390 needs the correct crank to be good. You choose.
Go with the 390/4 bbl, great combo, but be VERY picky about what machine shop you get to do any FE machine work, cam bearings, etc. Most don't seem to know much about FE engines. Seems every time I get a shop to hot tank a block, install block plugs, and knock in cam bearings they always put the cam plug in backwards (like a freezeplug with dished cup facing out), which is wrong for an FE.
boutlaw- thats funny, the motor thats in it had the cam plug in backwards. I found it out when I installed the cam and I pushed it in a bit too far and it unseated the plug and I had an oil leak that was very bad. Ill have to do alot more thinking and all. Maybe ill price out a short block from survival just so that I know all the machine work is good, then just bolt on some heads and intake and all the little odds and ends.
Sonic test both blocks, and build the thickest one. There are 360, 390 AND 352 blocks out there that can go to 4.13.
I have had a 390 and a 352 in the same truck, and if it's a driver, not a race truck, I would go with the 352. The 390 will have the advantage on torque, but a well tuned 352 is much easier on gas and still makes good power. If you go with the 390 and dont plan on towing anything, they make gobs of torque down low. I had a 390 with 3.00 gears and overdrive in a 66 F-100 and cruised easily at 1800 rpm at 80 mph. The last 390 we built had a very mild hydraulic cam and made 430 ft pounds at 2400 rpm and that was the max torque. It may have made more, but that was as low as we could get the Dyno to pull.
If this is about money more than anything else, I'd pull the 352 down and check the cylinders. If it has very little taper, I'd berry hone and put Hastings rings in it and new bearings and oil pump and go. The reason for the Hasting rings is the ring tension is higher and will help seal a cylinder that is loose. All my fe's with age needed more oil pressure. New pump and bearings fix that.
its not all about money, but I cant see building a 7 grand FE to put in a shop truck. Johnny Wishbone- what tranny did you have with overdrive?
It was one of those 80's mustang 3 speed overdrive things. I know, not the right thing, but I was 19 and on a budget.
build a 390, the 352 is a tough engine but the extra power from a 390 is night and day, the extra torque with the longer stroke will work awesome in a truck. aim for 9.5 or 10 to 1 comp ratio. with the performer intakes small ports you dont need to go nuts with the heads, just make sure you do a quality 3 angle valve job. with the decent compression, your isky cam, the performer and a set of headers you will be over 300 hp easy. you wont be able to wipe the smile off your face.
Always remember, The only thing better than cubic inches is MORE cubic inches. By the way, we have a real nice used (like new) Crower high torque hyraulic cam and lifters (all marked in order) we would make you a good deal on.
Take the 390 block and throw a 428 crank in it. Bore it .030 over and have yourself a 416 torque monster. FE motors are bitchin'.
A little off topic here but im looking for the kickdown linkage for 390/cruiseomatic trans, bellcrank and throttle linkage for an FE....Can anyone help? Please PM Me
Either one can make you a nice engine if done right. I'd go with the 390 for the extra 38 cubic inches. It's hard to beat a 390 but a 352 can work too. We are in MD. and very FE friendly if your looking for a very reasonable engine builder. PM me if you're interested.
I've run both the 390 and 352 in a 65 f100, I've also run the ford tripower from a 406 in the same truck. My 390 had twice the power and got better mileage than my 352. They really respond well to headers and electronic ign. I had fun with the tripower set up as well. It had progressive throttle linkage so you could tip in the outer 2 carbs when you wanted a thrill!
Looks like I should go with a 390. When I get back from my deployment ill have to look at pricing things out. Thing is I don't have a complete 390, so id need the crank rods and pistons. Ill have to price stuff out but I bet a 445 rotating assembly from survival would be close to what id have in a 390 rotating assembly.
I suggest you give serious consideration to the FE 406 using a modified block with strengthened main bearing webs, a full roller cam and worked over heads. They are not as popular as the later FE 427's but sure can run just as fast for what may be less money. A good condition FE Ford 427 isn't cheap. Normbc9
Your best bet would be to take Jody up on his offer, he's "one of the boys" and pretty good with FE's (Troublemaker427). Pretty sure he could set you up with a stock 3.78 or 3.98 crank assembly pretty reasonable, and the +.030 block & 3.98 crank 416 would be a sweet engine for your truck. I've got the parts, but the shipping would kill you from here
thats would be a mean engine for a cruiser gene, I was waiting on hearing from you on this subject. Im going to send him some a message and talk to him. I want to learn as much as I can so hopefully we could work something out. Id rather help a local out, and if you give me the advise of talking to him, not to toot ur horn but thats what im going to do. Thanks man!
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