Looking for some opinions here. I'm thinking that it's about time I went through the bone stock 390 FE in my 64 merc;new intake,cam, headers..... But for about the same cost of rebuilding it I could buy another 390 FE that already has most of the work done to it. What do you guys think? I'm leaning more towards the swap myself, but it's nice to hear what you guys and gals think. Thanks in advance
I'd have mine rebuilt as I just had to rebuild a just rebuilt FE cause the thing was reassembled wrong. You need a machinest that knows FE's not a SBC guy. One common mistake made on mine was putting the rear cam plug in backwards also their are two different front cam set ups.
I would not get hung up on the numbers matching deal. It won't mean much on a 64 Ford unless it's 427. For me it comes down to the condition of the replacement Vrs the original engine. One question is...is it smoking, knocking or do you just think it's time?
It seems to have developed a slight knock recently so I feel it is that time again, been about 6 years since the last rebuild
I rebuilt mine in 07 but i studied the FE bible by steve christbefore i took it to the machinist.yeah a sbc guys gonna put the cam plug in backwards if you dont tell himhow it goes in. No problems since 07 on mine.
It never hurts to have a spare. You could always buy the rebuilt one, double check everything and keep the original. I think I have 3 spares sitting around.
Before you condemn that motor, check the fuel pump real well. I have seen many FE's where the fuel pump arm gets worn at the pivot which causes the arm to slap the cam and make a nasty noise that sounds like the engine is going bad. Easy to check, just remove the pump and run the engine on a gravity feed can.
I'm currently waiting to hear more details on the second motor.The fuel pump was replaced about 5 years ago. Can a fuel pump get worn out that quickly?
Yep.Your doing real well at 5 years, as most parts sold today are effin' junk. Only takes 10 mins to check it out and be sure.When I was a 14 year old kid (bout 40 years ago) my first car was '63 1/2 and it developed a rattle. My dad and I rebuilt a another engine for it as the car had the original with 150,000+ miles. We had just finished the new motor,when the fuel pump went out on the original. When I replaced it, the noise majically disapeared. Some things you never forget. Have seen others do this as well.
Check to see if the spring in the fuel pump that pushes on the cam arm is still there or broken they will still run without it but it will make a tapping noise.
Id rebuild the one you have and be done with it! And like someone else said, you wont have any unknowns when doing it yourself.
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